Is Schizophrenia A Brain Disorder - 1946 Words

What is Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that effects the way an individual experiences the world. The disorder is characterized by psychotic, positive symptoms, deficit, negative symptoms, and cognitive impairment (Hung Choy Wong Van Tol, 2003). Positive symptoms are expressed as delusions, hallucinations and/or disorganized thoughts. Delusions are beliefs that are false, for example, your neighbor Joe starts to believe that he is the president of the United States of America. Hallucinations are perceptions, any form, that are false; the more common are visual and auditory. For example, your other neighbor Donnie starts to see and communicate with a white bunny rabbit named Frank. Disorganized thoughts can be seen†¦show more content†¦From the first months of life, premorbid developmental impairments are recorded in more than half of those who develop childhood onset schizophrenia; childhood onset is usually insidious and suggests early disruption of brain development (Masi, Muc ci and Pari, 2006). There are genetic and environmental factors to schizophrenia. Clinical Diagnosis Table 1 displays the proposed criteria for schizophrenia for DSM-V. As new research is conducted and new advancements are made the definition and criteria for schizophrenia developes. There are changes in the criteria for schizophrenia from DSM-IV to DSM-V. For criterion A, at least one of the two characteristic symptoms must include delusions, hallucinations and/or disorganized speech. For criterion F, other communication disorder of childhood onset was added to the section. In addition to the criterion changes, in the DSM-V there was the elimination of the classic subtypes of schizophrenia, a clarification of the longitudinal and cross-section specifiers, an addition of unique psychopathological dimensions and the elimination of Scheiderian first-rank symptoms (Tandon et al., 2013). Table 1. Proposed criteria for schizophrenia in DSM-5 Criterion A. Characteristics symptoms: Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less if successfully treated). At least