Week 4 Post 2: Schizophrenia

     Schizophrenia is a psychotic mental disorder that entails episodes of delusions, hallucinations, etc.. Schizophrenia's prevalence rate is between 0.5% and 1% and is considered to be one of the "highest impact" and most expensive mental disorders. Onset Schizophrenia is typically between the ages 15 and 35, with males being more likely to get it earlier in life (around 21) and females later (around 27). First degree relatives with Schizophrenia increases chances by 10%. The risk of suicide among people with Schizophrenia increases by 5%, and the risk of suicide increases with the factors of being male, younger, having a high level of education, a family history of suicide, and comorbid substance use. Premature mortality increases with Schizophrenia by 40%. The Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) gives the sum of years of potentially lost life of a person with Schizophrenia due to premature mortality. Criterion A of the diagnosis includes showing symptoms for 6+ months with 1 month of active symptoms. Positive symptoms (symptoms that happen more often than wanted) include Delusions, Disorganized Speech, Hallucinations, and Disorganized or Abnormal Motor Behavior. Negative symptoms (symptoms that are not happening enough) include Flat Effect (reduced emotions in facial expressions and tone of voice), Alogia (poverty of speech-- reflects impoverished thought processes), and Avolition (depression, lack of self-care or personal hygiene, etc.). The course of Schizophrenia includes the Prodromal Stage (showing signs of negative symptoms and declines in functioning), the Active Phase (showing positive and/or negative symptoms), and the Residual Phase (positive symptoms have been remitted with medication, but some negative symptoms can remain). Medication for Schizophrenia does not always work; up to one quarter of people show no improvement with medication. However, patients with more positive symptoms than negative symptoms can show more improvement with anti-psychotic medication. Medication can also include psycho-education and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (although CBT normally shows a small range of improvement). 

   Schizophrenia heavily impacts every aspect of patients' lives while also impacting communities and the overall world. In 2012, England spent the equivalent of 15 billion U.S. dollars for Schizophrenia means. Since 2012, mental illness has not depleted in any part of the world. The failures of medication make it even more difficult to treat such an intense illness as Schizophrenia. Expenses and lack of solutions for Schizophrenia will hurt the world's progress on solving mental health crisis. Schizophrenia is also widely misunderstood throughout the world; it is seen as a label for "crazy people" instead of for what it really is-- a clinical illness. The stigma around Schizophrenia and mental illness hinders the fight for mental health-- who will take it seriously enough to try and find solutions while it's believed that mental illness is the same thing as mental insanity? Those who struggle with one of the highest impacting mental illnesses will not reach any sense of recovery without changes made to systems and communities. Expenses, lack of solutions, and lack of awareness all around the world are impacting every aspect of human lives as mental health continues to decline.