Wrapping Your Head Around Schizophrenia

A schizophrenic's world can be a dreadful place. Constant voices in their head, fear for their life and insane hallucinations blur the lines between fiction and reality. All of this stress and chaos in their lives may lead them to believe that suicide is the only solution to their problems. Let's take a look inside this hazy illness.

Symptoms:

• trouble with determining the difference between real and unreal
• Unable to think clearly
• Hard time managing emotions
• Delusions
• Hallucinations
• Disorganized

Five types:

• Paranoid: Usually have hallucinations and are always in a panicked state of mind
• Catatonic: Patients usually have stupors and physical immobility
• Disorganized: Disorganized thinking and speech, loses touch with reality
• Undifferentiated: When the person does not fit any of these other categories
• Residual: Once symptoms begin to disappear

Treatment:

• Drugs: antipsychotics
• Antipsychotic drugs affect the amount of dopamine (a neurotransmitter) in your brain by blocking the dopamine receptors

In the 1950s, treatments were first found:

• Psychotherapy
• Shock therapy (electroconvulsive therapy)
• 14 % of people who take antipsychotics show no improvement
• About 100,000 Americans receive ECT every year

Medication:

• Abilify
• Clozaril
• Depakote
• Eskalith
• Fanapt
• Fluphenazine
• Geodon
• Invega
• Lamictal
• Lithobid
• Loxitane
• Moban
• Navane
• Risperdal
• Stelazine
• Symbyax
• Tegretol
• Thorazine
• Zyprexia

Possible side effects

• weight gain
• restlessness
• stiff muscles
• drowsiness
• muscle spasms

Statistics

• People affected with schizophrenia worldwide: 1-5%
• People with schizophrenia who tried to commit suicide: 40%
• Patients with schizophrenia who live in supervised homes: 20%
• Patients with schizophrenia who did commit suicide: 10-13%
• People who suffer from schizophrenia: 50 million
• Money spent on treatment each year: $60 billion
• Famous people who have struggled with schizophrenia:
• Peter Green: Fleetwood Mac founder and guitarist
• Brian Wilson: Vocalist and main composer for the Beach Boys
• Andy Goram: Scottish national Glasgow Rangers goalkeeper
• Megan Fox: Model/actress
• Eduard Einstein: Son of Alberta Einstein
• Wesley Willis: Singer
• John Nash: Professor of mathematics and Nobel Prize winner. Depicted in the movie "Beautiful Mind"
• Syd Barrett: Pink Floyd founder
• Mary Todd Lincoln: Wife of Abraham Lincoln
• Tom Harrell: Jazz musician
• Nathaniel Ayers: Cello player depicted in the move "The Soloist"
• Vaslav Nijinsky: Russian male ballet dancer
• Lionel Aldrige: American football player from the 1960s
• Clara Bow: Hollywood actress
• Veronica Lake: Actress
• Charles Bolden: Founder of jazz music
• Jack Karouac: Beatnik writer in the 1950s
• Vincent van Gogh: Famous painter