Abstract
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness because of its symptoms. Patients who not only hallucinate but also are quite paranoid could inflict harm not only on their own lives and well-being rather; their negative traits could also influence badly on the lives of those close by. Because of the same paranoia, these patients are quite likely to shut themselves out from the rest of the world and to choose social isolation. These situations could be quite problematic for not just the patient rather for the people that surround him/her as well. Considering how many people suffer from the mental illness in each and every culture, it is essential to have the ability to identify the symptoms that could be taken as warning signs. Awareness, in this case, is important to the well-being of many. This is why we would be discussing schizophrenia in detail in this paper, and we are going to relate the problem to how it was represented in the movie ‘A beautiful mind.'
Schizophrenia is the illness of the mind which is likely to hit close to one percent of the population of every culture, and the rate of its prevalence is just as high in men as it is in women. The only way the ailment distinguishes between the two sexes is the relative age at which it strikes. That is later during their years amongst women but for men, the symptoms become clear earlier on. The identification of the ailment by the medical professionals involves the division of symptoms into positive and negative. The positive symptoms include hallucinations, voices within the patient’s head, delusions and paranoia. The negative symptoms, on the other hand, involve the loss of pleasure for the patient, social withdrawal and the loss of motivation towards life.
We could see the character of ‘John Nash’ in the movie ‘A beautiful Mind’ struggle with pretty much the same symptoms when his disease tells him that he is a secret spy working for the American government. He sees people in his mind and even the first part of the movie had us convinced of the reality of the three characters which were no more than the figments of his imagination. The character could help us pretty much understand the struggles that a schizophrenic person may face during the battle with the disease although, in some parts of the movie, we could realize that the representation of the problem was a little too exaggerated. So to speak, there is no problem with the accuracy of the symptoms that are represented as consequences of schizophrenia because most of the stated symptoms are what patients, in reality, have to go through. There may although be a little if not too much misrepresentation with the intensity of the symptoms and how much they could affect the proper functioning of a suffering patient.
There are a number of different risk factors which increase the likelihood of a person suffering from the effects of schizophrenia in his/her lifetime. One of these risk factors states that schizophrenia is a problem which runs in the genes, and the risk of suffering from it could be passed down in the family’s genes. Studies also say that if there is a relative in the family who suffers from the disorder, the risk of any single person also becoming a patient is higher if the patient is closely related to the person in question. Another risk factor which could further encourage the disease is a prenatal or perinatal event. Meaning, if a pregnant woman is subjected to conditions like the famine or excessive exposure to radiation, the likelihood of schizophrenia in the fetus could rise that much higher. Likewise, some professionals also believe that if a child is exposed to infection after his/her birth, the chances of later onset of schizophrenia elevate further.
There are also certain environmental factors the exposure to which could considerably increase the risk of an individual suffering from the effects of schizophrenia. These environmental factors could include the use of marijuana, of other drugs and dependency on them, any trauma suffered during early years, and also various conditions which may be promoting stress and other intense emotions. There could also be other important environmental factors which may later determine the onset of the problem in children during their later childhood. Many professionals point to child abuse as a very key reason for the onset of symptoms of schizophrenia amongst those affected. This child abuse in the opinions of many may later translate into the manifestations of hallucinations and these hallucinations, in particular, would involve voices which are commanding to the child.
With a number of mental disorders that come forth inform of hallucinations, there remain a number of these disorders to rule out before the professionals could become certain that a patient suffers from schizophrenia, and this is why the diagnosis of the disorder is quite complex. Substance abuse is a problem which could produce symptoms very similar to those of schizophrenia, and this is the reason why a person who makes a habit of abusing drugs cannot be diagnosed with schizophrenia. So for those who make use of drugs on a regular basis would first have to cleanse themselves of the habit before they could present themselves in front of the medical professionals for the diagnosis.
The patients also go through a drug screening as a regular part of their diagnosis to rule out this particular possibility. These psychotic symptoms could also point towards bipolar disorder and severe depression. Despite that, the diagnosing of a mood disorder takes precedence over the diagnosis of schizophrenia. This means that if a professional concludes that the patient is not suffering from depression or from bipolar disorder, these mood disorders are also ruled out in the process of the diagnosis.
Even though the process which is used to diagnose a patient with schizophrenia is thorough and extensive, this diagnosis is very often seen to change even a person is ruled as a schizophrenic. Many of the diagnosis which changed from schizophrenia were later on classified as either bipolar disorder or as other organic disorders. Delirium is another problem the symptoms of which extensively resemble those of schizophrenia. The very basic difference between the two problems is timing and the pace of which the signs and symptoms become evident in the patients. Schizophrenics develop the signs and symptoms over the course of weeks and even months, but with Delirium, the development of the same symptoms is quite rapid. The process of diagnosing the patients also has to be changed a little depending on the race of the patient who is under diagnosis. For instance, the black people are more likely compared to those of all other races to exhibit symptoms that relate to schizophrenia. The similarity of the problem to many other psychological worries is why the diagnosis of schizophrenia makes the acquiring of a complete history of the patients very essential.
With all of the symptoms that characterize schizophrenia in a patient, the one which takes the greatest rank in terms of how much it could affect the life of the patient is the effect of the hallucinations and this is why the treatment of this symptom could take us a long way towards the treatment. This is why any treatment which aims at controlling the hallucinations is the one which I would recommend. As many side effects as they may have, the antipsychotic medication is also of great use when it comes to controlling the frequency and the onset of the hallucinations and this is why they are also quite important. Even though the efficiency of every type of antipsychotic is different but overall, 12 months of the use of the drugs could bring down the symptoms of hallucinations down by 60%. Cognitive behavioral is also a treatment plan which could provide significant relief for the patients of a number of psychological anomalies, and schizophrenia is no exception here.
For the patient who suffers from schizophrenia, the effects that the symptoms may have on the personal and the professional life of the patient could become quite profound and in some cases, quite unmanageable too. We saw how the character in the movie John Nash could not even function properly because of the problem. He could not please his wife; we could not keep friendly relationships, and he could not even function as a proper professional when he goes back to Princeton. He keeps seeing the agent who was visible to no one but him and his interaction with that imaginary person was affecting him and scaring those around him. He had that one roommate for a friend who was later revealed as just another side effect of the mental illness.
The reality for the patients of schizophrenia is not much different. They have to struggle with most of their life aspects, and they find it harder to get through their days when they are seen as freaks who talk to themselves. Another way in which the life of a schizophrenic is affected by the problem is when there is an exhibition of violence because of the disease, and this is a manifestation of the problem which could scare the family and the friends of the patient and put that much distance in between. There has been an evaluation of a number of studies which say that there is, in fact, a very convincing relationship in between violence and schizophrenia although there is little research which links societal violence to schizophrenia. These are all dimensions which explain how and why the patients face problems functioning properly within their personal and professional lives when in grips of a problem like schizophrenia.
Seeing how the problem could stand in the way of a patient leading a normal life and forming personal connections with others, it is important that the problem be handled as soon as can be possible so that the patient could lead as normal a life a can be. It might help for the family to watch out closely for the warning signs in the patient like paranoia and hallucinations. Many professionals agree that an early diagnosis is a key to timely management of the disorder. Besides, the longer the symptoms stay, the more time it may take for the sufferer to return to a life of normal behavior. It is also important to point out here that the support of the family and loved ones is a factor which could help the patient travel a long way towards betterment, and this is why the support of family and friends is always encouraged.
Works Cited
Carol A. Tamminga, Deborah R. Medoff. "The biology of schizophrenia." Dialogues in clinical Neuroscience (2000): 339-248.
Elizibeth Walsh, Alec Bachanan and Thomas Fahy. "Violence and schizophrenia: examining the evidence." British Journal of Psychiatry (2002): 490-495.
Huijun Li, Melissa Pearrow, Shane R. Jimerson. Identifying, Assessing, and Treating Early Onset Schizophrenia at School. Springer Science and Business Media, 2010.
Iris E. C. Sommer, Christina W. Slotema. "The Treatment of Hallucinations in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders." 24 February 2012. Schizophrenia Bulletin. <http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/02/24/schbul.sbs034.full.pdf+html>.
STEPHEN H. SCHULTZ, STEPHEN W. NORTH, and CLEVELAND G. SHIELDS. "Schizophrenia: A Review." American Family Physician (2007): 1821-1829.
