Running head: SCHIZOPHRENIA 1

Schizophrenia

Name

University
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Introduction

Schizophrenia is a psychological condition that causes its patients to experience surreal

delusions, causing the mind to create fantasies, in which they are victims of persecution. This

condition alters the thinking, behavior and perception of a person, and at times takes them

through an emotional turmoil. Psychologically, it is categorized as a mental condition whose

state alleviates or deteriorates depending on environmental factors such as stress or drugs. Its

victims often have a hard time differentiating between the real and surreal worlds since their

sight is clouded by the imaginative perception that is often active at certain times and inactive in

other. It feels like a person dreams with wide open eyes without the ability to distinguish which

characters are real and which ones are not. As a result, it manifests in confusion and anxiety.

Typical behavior of the victims is panic and always wanting to hide from a monster or someone

whom everyone else can hardly see.

Most of the time, this disease is associated with old age. However, recent studies indicate

that any disease can affect anyone, whether it is genetic, psychotic, or by lifestyle orientation.

Research in schizophrenia in children maintains a low profile due to the small number of

reported cases that exist. Despite the unlikelihood of having the condition, it is still real.

Onset of Childhood Schizophrenia and History of the Disease

At times, a child may experience certain symptoms that resemble those for schizophrenia.

Most of the time, these alarms are false, but indicate a likelihood of another psychological

condition that needs urgent expert attention. In the early stages of development, a child may

possess panic attacks and anxiety, claiming to perceive things that are unrealistic. The conditions
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with similar characteristics as schizophrenia include autism and acute bipolar. However, there

are distinct characters that distinguish the three diseases. Even though autism also causes

children to have hallucinations, it is usually diagnosed by the time a child is three years of age.

Schizophrenia causes to hallucinate for extended periods of time such as 6 months consecutively.

In most cases, the disease it attacks children who are above the age of 7 (Russell). It is distinctive

from bipolar disorder conditions, which causes abrupt personality shifts that are commonly

observed among the affective and dissociative children. In the adolescents may at times suffer

acute bipolar disorder which manifests in the signs of a single tree.

Study 1: The central theme is the symptom of the topic that manifests in the childhood of

a person. According to Andrew Russell, the disease attacks a person after or the 12th birthday. In

a survey conducted in UCLA, involving 35 children showed that 80% experienced auditory

hallucinations.74% of these children exhibited a flat affect, 37% with visual hallucinations, 63%

with delusions and the paper estimates that the mean average of infestation is about 4.6%

(Russell).

Study 2: talks about the distinction between autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

The journal article is a result of review of more 3662 articles that were primary research

publications after careful observations of Schizophrenics; works spanning 18 years involving the

study of various children aged 13-18. Many diseases are cause a lot of discomfort, but there is no

a painful thing as seeing a child in confusion and anxiety. This condition in children is

devastating. The article talks about its history, with the first case being detected in the 1940s in a

child who showed an autistic spectrum that was unusual. The outcome of the research showed
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moderate to severe disability, signs that were predictable by low intellectual functioning,

childhood onset and low premorbid level of functionality (GARRALDA).

Study 3: discusses the precursors to acquiring schizophrenia. The research involved 291

promodal participants. 28% of them had become psychotic within 2.5 years of promodal

detection. Its primary focus is the promodal stage of the disease, its diagnosis and therapy.

Mental illnesses have increased in the interest in unearthing mental illnesses in the recent past.

This interest is proportional to the rise in the number of mental cases within the last 50 years.

The outcome of the research for which this paper was written indicates that augmented

antipsychotic medication given in small doses has the potential to delay the beginning of

psychosis in certain individuals. This outcome is not conclusive but opens up the topic to the

world of researchers in the world (Larson, Walker and Compton).

Study 4: This paper’s main objective was to assess the premorbid medical history of 23

children diagnosed with schizophrenia that commences before the age of 12. The participants

were selected after meeting the DSM-III-R criteria. The method- the participants were put under

observation for a year, which is the clinically estimated period before the onset of the psychotic

symptoms. The observations-interviews, clinical records, tests and rating scales-, were carefully

documented.

The results showed that there were similarities between Schizophrenia and autism in

certain developmental disabilities. Later-onset schizophrenics showed high tendencies of

learning, language and disruptive behavior disorders (ALAGHBAND-RAD, MCKENNA and

GORDON). This research is essential in early detection and prevention of schizophrenia for

better management.
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Study 5: This paper talks about causes of schizophrenia that arise from the mental and

psychological make-up of a human being. The author is a victim of schizophrenia, having

acquired it as a result of mental torture. This paper is written from personal experience. He has

an academic medical background and therefore the paper is of high value, coming from him. He

espouses the notion that people who get exposed to extreme violence and cruelty often create a

fantastical world to get away from reality. This ‘solution’ is a probable cause of delusions and

other psychotic symptoms exhibited by schizophrenia. MacPherson says that it is possible to

recover from schizophrenia if the patient establishes strong psychological boundaries with his or

her parents and a healthy self (MacPherson).

Conclusion

All the peer-reviewed articles that form the subject of this paper are related to finding out

what exactly causes schizophrenia. Previously, as an old-age disease but history proved

otherwise. Children and adults developed schizophrenia in a ‘random’ manner whose pattern is

yet to be discovered. There are two major themes covered: the history of the condition and how it

affects children.
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References

ALAGHBAND-RAD, JAVAD, et al. "Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia: The Severity of

Premorbid Course." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent psychiatry

34.10 (1995): 1278-83.

GARRALDA, ELENA. "Schizophrenia in children and adolescents." J Neurol Neurosurg

Psychiatry 71.3 (2001). 417.

Larson, Molly K, Elaine F Walker and Michael T Compton. "Early signs, diagnosis and

therapeutics of the prodromal phase of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders."

NCBI 10.8 (2010): 1347-1359.

MacPherson, M. "Psychological Causes of Schizophrenia." Schizophr Bulletin 35.2 (2009): 284-

286.

Russell, Andrew T. "The Clinical Presentation of Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia." Scizophrenia

bulletin 20.4 (1994): 31-36.