The Disorder

The term ‘Schizophrenia’ was first coined by Swiss psychiatrist Emil Bleulur from the Greek skhizein "to split" + phren "mind," the idea being that schizophrenics suffer a break from reality, causing them to perceive the world in a bizarre or fantastical way. Biological theories on the cause of schizophrenia include problems arising from physical abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and the ventricles of the brain, prenatal difficulties such as prenatal hypoxia and exposure to the influenza virus during the second trimester, and imbalances in neurotransmitters, namely dopamine. Psychological theories tend to lay the blame on early childhood trauma, namely severe abuse from the primary caregivers. Schizophrenia has such a wide and varying range of symptoms that it is often considered more of a conglomerate of symptoms than a distinctly identifiable disorder. Even the symptoms themselves can be broken down into two main groupings: Negative and Positive symptoms.

Negative Symptoms

Negative, or Type II symptoms of schizophrenia involve losses or deficits in certain areas of functioning. There are three types of negative symptoms recognized by the DSM-IV as core symptoms of schizophrenia:

· Affective flattening – A severe reduction or complete lack of emotional responses to the environment.

· Alogia – A severe reduction or complete lack of speech.

· Avolition – An inability to persist at common, goal-oriented tasks.

Positive Symptoms

· Delusions – Beliefs with little or no basis in reality (e.g. beliefs that you are being persecuted or beliefs that you are the Messiah)

· Hallucinations – Unreal perceptual or sensory experiences (e.g. hearing, seeing, or feeling things that are not there.)

· Disorganized thought and speech – Grossly disorganized pattern of speech (e.g. complete incoherence, linking together words because of sound instead of meaning)

· Disorganized or catatonic behavior – Behavior that is highly unpredictable, bizarre, and/or shows a complete lack of responsiveness to the outside world (e.g. becoming completely motionless for long periods, sudden, untriggered outbursts.)

Of these positive symptoms delusions, in particular, can be broken down into smaller subsets:

· Persecutory delusions – False beliefs that one’s self or one’s loved ones are being persecuted, watched, or conspired against by others.

· Delusions of being controlled – Belief that one’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviors are being imposed or controlled by some external force

· Thought broadcasting – Belief that one’s thoughts are being broadcast from one’s mind for others to hear

· Thought insertion – Belief that another person or object is inserting thoughts into one’s head

· Thought withdrawal – Belief that thoughts are being removed from one’s head by another person or object

· Delusions of guilt or sin – False belief that one has committed a terrible act or is responsible for come terrible event

· Somatic delusions – False belief that one’s appearance or part of one’s body is diseased or altered

· Grandiose delusions – False belief that one has great power, knowledge, or talent or that one is a famous and powerful person

These positive symptoms are the source of the fantastical imagery that comes with many types of schizophrenia, and this imagery, when chronicled by the victim of schizophrenia, allows us to view the progression of the disorder over time.

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