Schizophrenia in Society essays

Schizophrenia in Society essays Schizophrenia is defined as a chronic and debilitating mental illness which causes the distortion of reality. It is one of the most severe mental illnesses known to the scientific community. In a day and age where over 22.1 percent of Americans have diagnosable mental illnesses, schizophrenia seems to be the king. In 1998 statistics showed that over 2.2 million people had schizophrenia. It is estimated that 1.1 percent of the world population have schizophrenia in a given year. Schizophrenia affects men women in the same way. People usually develop schizophrenia between the ages of 18-25, but usually men get it earlier. Schizophrenia has many variations of itself. These variations are called subtypes. One subtype of schizophrenia is catatonic schizophrenia. When someone has catatonic schizophrenia they exhibit extremes in their behavior. People with catatonic schizophrenia may also develop catalepsy, echolalia, or echopraxia. Catalepsy is a lack of response to external stimuli and muscular rigidity causing the limbs to stay in the position where they are last placed. Catalepsy is also common among people with epilepsy. Echolalia and echopraxia are similar in the fact that they are both imitations of something. Often people with catatonic schizophrenia imitate sound (Echolalia) movements (Echophraxia). People with these can explode into a jumpy, erratic behavior causing them to repeat purposeless movements. Catatonic Schizophrenia is rare today, but will always be referred to as one of the most advanced types of schizophrenia before modern treatment. Another type of schizophrenia is Disorganized Schizophrenia. People with this subtype are often very disorganized in their actions and speech. These peoples actions may seem flat and inappropriate at times. When disorganized schizophrenia is developed it disturbs a persons behavior, communication, and thought. People with this may be more eccentric than most people as many dressy...