SCHIZOPHRENIA: slide 1: A long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation. slide 14: Types: • Paranoid-type schizophrenia is characterized by delusions and auditory hallucinations (hearing voices that don't exist) but relatively normal intellectual functioning and expression of emotions. People with paranoid-type schizophrenia can exhibit anger, aloofness, anxiety, and can be argumentative. • Disorganized-type schizophrenia is characterized by speech and behavior that are disorganized or difficult to understand, and flattening or inappropriate emotions. People with disorganized-type schizophrenia may laugh inappropriately for no apparent reason, make illogical statements, or seem preoccupied with their own thoughts or perceptions. Their disorganized behavior may disrupt normal activities, such as showering, dressing, and preparing meals. • Undifferentiated-type schizophrenia is characterized by some symptoms seen in all of the above types, but not enough of any one of them to define it as another particular type of schizophrenia. • Residual-type schizophrenia is characterized by a past history of at least one episode of schizophrenia, but the person currently has no "positive" symptoms (such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, or behavior). It may represent a transition between a full-blown episode and complete remission, or it may continue for years without any further psychotic episodes. Catatonic Schizophrenia This type of schizophrenia includes extremes of behavior, including: Catatonic excitement - overexcitement or hyperactivity, in which the patient may mimic sounds (echolalia) or movements (achopraxia) around them. Catatonic stupor - a dramatic reduction in activity in which the patient cannot speak, move or respond. Virtually all movements stops. Conclusion It is clear now, through the use of genetic linkage studies and microbiology, that schizophrenia does indeed have a biological explanation. However, the biological explanation is only part of the story. A yet unknown combination of intense stress, sociocultural situations, and cognitive processes may lead to the actual onset of schizophrenia aided by natural precursors. The most compelling explanation seems to be that a genetically inherited biological abnormality gives rise to hallucinations/delusions as a result of intense stress and eventually leads to other negative symptoms in reaction to the hallucinations/ delusions. At any rate, the current understanding of schizophrenia explains that the symptoms, however easily identifiable, are the result of a complex interaction between nature and nurture that can be treated adequately through the use of atypical anti psychotic drugs and psychotherapy.