Gender Differences In Schizophrenia Research

The prevalence of schizophrenia is thought to be about 1% of the population around the world. The disorder is considered to be one of the top ten causes of long-term disability worldwide. Late adolescence and early adulthood are periods for the onset of schizophrenia. In 40% of men and 23% of women diagnosed with schizophrenia, the condition manifested before the age of 19 (Addington, Cadenhead, Cannon, 2007).These are critical years in a young adult’s social and vocational development.

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that places considerable burden on the individuals who have it, their families, and society (Eack 2012). Someone who has schizophrenia may have the following symptoms, but not all: faulty perceptions, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation (Oxford Dictionary). The two most commonly used interventions are drug and family intervention. Often times patients with a

Changes in key brain functions, such as awareness, emotion, and behavior lead experts to conclude that the brain is the biological site of schizophrenia. Some important risk factors to consider are genetics, viral infections, fetal malnutrition, and stress during early life, childhood abuse or trauma, and drugs.

Although schizophrenia is the well-known disease to affect so much of a person, a lot about the history and the origin of the disease are so unknown.

There is no known cause of schizophrenia, although some psychologists believe that it could be caused by heredity, or biological and environmental factors, such as a disease, immune deficiency disorder, or having an abusive or erroneous childhood. There are multiple signs and symptoms of schizophrenia, including hearing or seeing something that doesn’t exist, a change in personality, an obsession with religion and other supernatural entities, eccentric ways of communicating, and behavior that is deemed odd or inappropriate. As with some other mental disorders, schizophrenia is a spectrum. This spectrum includes schizotypal personality disorder, other psychotic disorders like catatonia, delusional disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and brief psychotic disorder. There is no known cure for schizophrenia, but people with schizophrenia can seek treatment with therapy, medication, or both.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (2013) defines Schizophrenia as one of the most common serious mental health conditions affecting men and women equally. It is a chronic condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms including hallucinations (hearing or seeing things that do not exist) and delusions (believing in things that are untrue). These symptoms are often referred to as ‘symptoms of psychosis’, when an individual cannot distinguish between reality and their imagination (DSM, 2013). Wahashi et al. (2007) suggest that patients with schizophrenia often have difficulty in coping with everyday stressors and suffer emotional withdrawal and poor social functioning this can be particularly pronounced in patients living in an institutionalised setting (Wahashi et al. 2007).

Schizophrenia is the disorder that most closely corresponds to popular concepts of insanity, madness, or lunacy (Nevid, 2006). Nevid (2006) also states that schizophrenia comes from Greek roots meaning “split brain”. There are quite a few people in the United States that have schizophrenia. According to the National Institute of Mental Health approximately 2.4 million American adults or about 1.1 percent of the population age eighteen and older in a given year have schizophrenia (2013). Schizophrenia is found in men more than women. Men also tend to develop the disorder earlier than women and experience more severe cases of the disorder (Nevid, 2006). When being diagnosed with schizophrenia there are phases the doctor will test. These stages are prodromal, active or acute, remission, and relapse (Frese, 2012).

What do you typically assume when you hear the word schizophrenia? Most people would answer this question immediately by saying “crazy,” “scary,” or “unpredictable.” Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by a wide array of cognitive as well as emotional dysfunctions. These dysfunctions include, the most commonly thought of, delusions and hallucinations, but that is not all. Individuals with this disorder also experience disorganized speech and behavior, as well as inappropriate emotions. This means that schizophrenia has evident negative effects on a person’s ability to relate to other people. Consequently, not only are people fearful of individuals with schizophrenia, these individuals also have challenges with successfully

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that still challenges the healthcare community today. This mental disorder has plagued people throughout history, from great artists and thinkers to your average run of the mill individual. People living with the disorder may hear voices others around them do not hear. “They may believe other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. This can terrify people with the illness and make them withdrawn or extremely agitated.” (Schizophrenia. (n.d.) Because of this internal battle, it becomes much harder for people with the disorder to hold down a job or have intimate relationships. “People with schizophrenia may not make sense when they talk. They may sit for hours without

Pharmacological treatments use antipsychotic medications to treat their patients. These antipsychotic drugs often help schizophrenic patients cope with their problems by helping them relieve stress (Castle and Buckley, 2008, p. 61). However, since these drugs can be abused, psychological treatment is recommended for many patients. They undergo different types of therapies that focus on treating their anxiety, social skills, and illicit substance uses (Castle and Buckley, 2008, p. 79). This indicates that psychological methods aim to cure the symptoms of schizophrenia in a better way by building emotional stability and by exercising healthy relationships between the patient’s thoughts, feelings, and

The exact causation of schizophrenia is not yet fully understood, since it has a very complex relation between genetics, brain chemistry and environmental factors.

Schizophrenia does not target a certain race or ethnic back ground, however, men usually develop schizophrenia earlier in life than women. The types of this disorder

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that usually begins in early adulthood, between the ages of 16 and 30. Schizophrenia can occur in all societies regardless of color, class, or religion. Although there are some variations in terms of incidence and outcomes for different groups of people (Murray, 2005). Men tend to develop the condition earlier than women; (average onset for men is 18 years of age) whereas women develop symptoms much later (25 years of age). Schizophrenia is very rare for people under the age of 10, and over the age of 40. The diagram below shows the general age for

hallucination, delusion) show signs of the mental illness and continue over a period of time. These symptoms have a significant impact on your work, personal life, your relationships, and self-care of your personal body(Eaton). Schizophrenia has affected more than 21 million people worldwide and is more in males (12 million), than females (9 million); also, on average starts earlier in men (WHO,

Schizophrenia is considered one of the most serious types of psychological disorders. People who are diagnosed with schizophrenia have a difficult time distinguishing reality from imagination. The cause of schizophrenia is still unclear; the parents could have given it to their offspring. Some researchers predict that there is an imbalance of chemicals in the brain which result in schizophrenia (Mental Health America). The most likely age of developing schizophrenia is late adolescent age. Studies done by psychologists show that male and females has the same chance of getting schizophrenia, but males are more likely to obtain it (Carpenter and Parekh). Schizophrenia has different types, which are permanent and may inhibit functions