2. What is schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it difficult to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses, and to behave normally in social situations
3. Schizophrenia No one really knows what causes this disease There is also no cure just medications that sedate the hallucinations There does seem to be a genetic link as many people in the same family do get schizophrenia
4. Schizophrenia It affects about 1% of the words population Both genders get it equally but women seem to get it later in life and have a milder case of it It usually begins in early adulthood but can sometimes not set in until as late as 45 years of age
5. Environmental factors Researchers believe that environmental factors can speed up the effects of schizophrenia with people that already have the disease Complications during birth or traumatic events can cause schizophrenia to take hold earlier
6. Symptoms Psychological symptoms of schizophrenia include Having visual or auditory Hallucinations Catatonic behavior Delusions Moods that show no emotion
7. Mental difficulties People with schizophrenia often have problems staying on task or paying attention Their thoughts can also jump around causing them to become confused or disoriented
8. Symptoms can vary among patients Paranoid patients often fell as if there life and family are in jeopardy, are anxious and and sometimes angry Disorganized patients often seem childlike and have difficulties expressing their emotions or thoughts
9. Varying Symptoms Catatonic patients are in a constant period of unrest, they also have rigid bodies and facial expressions and can be less responsive than normal. Some patients might have symptoms of all these types of patients Residual Types have some of these symptoms but not as bad as a full blown schizophrenic
10. Signs of Schizophrenia There is no medical test that for sure test for schizophrenia but there are some signs that they look at Family and genetic History Developmental background Response to medication Changes in behavior due to illness
11. Treatment When ever someone has a episode, they should stay in a hospital that can provide them the basic needs under supervision There are some medications for it, but they suppress the symptoms and have many negative side effects( Sedation and weight gain)
12. Schizophrenia Many people deal with schizophrenia through family and support groups Many people have been able to be able to control many of their symptoms after years of having the illness.
13. Living with it My name is Rylan Baker and I am a paranoid schizophrenic I was born with it but it didn’t really set in til my second year of grad school My psychologist thinks that the high stress of my school work made the illness come on earlier
14. What I have I am a paranoid schizophrenic I suffer from disillusions and auditory and visual hallucinations I did not know what I had until I was observed talking in a room by myself
15. Hallucinations I believed that I was secretly working for The Company, an agency that secretly was controlling many of the things that where going on in our country Everything was going well until I crossed them and went on the run, I ran across the country believing someone was after me when it was all in my head
16. Effects on Family I had been married for one year when I was diagnosed with schizophrenia My wife was scared to death when I would wake her up in the middle of the night with a gun saying that the Company was coming for us I almost shot my neighbor when he came over to borrow some milk from my wife
17. Family My wife and children had to learn to deal with my hallucinations and how to deal with me when they happened After the medications took hold I was able to do things with my kids because I was so sedated and lethargic
18. The medication I took the pills that my psychiatrist gave me so my wife wouldn’t be scared to live in the same house with me The pills stopped some of my visual hallucinations but they made be heavily sedated and I gained thirty pounds in two months
19. Aftermath After fighting schizophrenia for over twenty years I have been somewhat able to controll it I was able to go back to work and became somewhat able to discern between real life and hallucinations Schizophrenia was by far the hardest thing ive ever had to deal with in my life
20. Disclaimer This is a project for a high school AP Psychology course. This is a fictionalized account of having a psychological ailment.For questions about this blog project or its content please email the teacher Chris Jocham at jocham@fultonschools.org
