Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder involving a breakdown in thought, emotion and behavior. It causes symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking. It is treated with antipsychotic medications which help control symptoms, though they come with side effects. Living with schizophrenia is challenging due to the distressing voices and paranoid thoughts, but treatment and social support can help improve quality of life.

1. SCHIZOPHRENIA
By: Schizophrenia 101

2. Disclaimer
◦ This is an alternative final for an AP Psychology Course. This is a fictionalized scenario of
having a psychological disorder.

3. Introduction
◦ Schizophrenia is 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.
◦ This means that I have trouble functioning. I hear voices In my head and influence my
thinking.
◦ I take Thorazine as a medication, but the voices in my head tell me to not take them
because they will make everything worse.

4. History of Schizophrenia
◦ The cause of Schizophrenia is thought to be too much dopamine.
◦ The word “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mind)
to describe the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder.
◦ The first recording of schizophrenia was in 1887, but it can be traced back to thousands
of years ago.

5. Signs and Symptoms
◦ Positive Symptoms
-Hallucinations: are things a person sees, hears, smells, or feels that no one else
can see, hear, smell, or feel.
-Delusions: are false beliefs that are not part of the person’s culture and do not
change.
-Thought disorders: are unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking.
-Movement disorders: agitated body movements

6. Signs and Symptoms
◦ Negative symptoms
-Flat affect: a person’s face does not move or he or she talks in a dull or
monotonous voice
-Lack of pleasure in everyday life
-Lack of ability to begin and sustain planned activities
-Speaking little, even when forced to interact

7. Signs and Symptoms
◦ Cognitive symptoms
-poor “executive functioning” (the ability to understand information and use it to
make decisions)
-trouble focusing or paying attention
problems with “working memory” (the ability to use information immediately
after learning it)

8. Treatments
◦ Antipsychotic medications
-Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
-Haloperidol (Haldol)
-Perphenazine (Etrafon, Trilafon)
-Fluphenazine (Prolixin)
◦ Antipsychotic medications have been available since the mid 1950s.

9. Treatments
◦ Clozapine (Clozaril) is an effective medication that treats psychotic symptoms,
hallucinations, and breaks with reality.
◦ This type of medication was developed in the 1990s. It is considered the second
generation of medications, or “atypical” antipsychotics.

10. Side effects from Medication
◦ Drowsiness
◦ Dizziness when changing positions
◦ Blurred vision
◦ Rapid heartbeat
◦ Sensitivity to the sun
◦ Skin rashes
◦ Menstrual problems for women

11. Psychosocial treatments
◦ These help patients deal with the everyday challenges of the illness, such as difficulty
with communication, self-care, work, and forming and keeping relationships.
◦ Learning and using coping mechanisms to address these problems allow people with
schizophrenia to socialize and attend school and work.
◦ People who have these treatments are more likely to take their medications.

12. Psychosocial treatments
◦ Illness management skills
◦ Integrated treatment for co-occurring substance abuse
◦ Rehabilitation
◦ Family education
◦ Cognitive behavioral therapy
◦ Self-help groups

13. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ I can never be at peace because the voices in my head keep telling me that
something is wrong and that everyone is against me.

14. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ The medications I take are the miracle in my life. It helps the voices in my head go
away for sometime. Every since I started taking medications, my life has started to
become normal.

15. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ Because of the voices in my head, I do not have any friends because I do not trust any
of them.

16. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ The voices in my head tell me not to take medications. I agree with the voices until I
am forced to take medications.

17. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ I sometimes talk with the voices in my head. They are quite negative.

18. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ I think my family is plotting against me. I think that they think I am a freak because of
the voices in my head.

19. Life with Schizophrenia
◦ Like most schizophrenics, I am addicted to nicotine.

20. How did I become Schizophrenic?
◦ Schizophrenia runs in my family. I guess luck was not on my side.

21. Cure?
◦ Hopefully there will be a cure, I can’t stand the voices in my head. Plus, no one will
have to go through this torture in the future.