what exactly is schezophrenia?

Question

Psychology

Answer 1

schizophrenia - a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought (as in hallucinations and delusions), and conduct -- called also dementia praecox

paranoid schizophrenia - schizophrenia characterized especially by persecutory or grandiose delusions or hallucinations or by delusional jealousy

Answer 2

Schizophrenia is a mental condition in which the sufferer has various hallucinations, but generally the hallucinations are primarily auditory hallucinations. The sufferer has difficulty distinguishing between imagination, and reality. Hence people talk about "hearing voices."

If you have seen the movie "A Beautiful Mind" the main character has Schizophrenia - and the movie does an excellent job of portraying it.

Unfortunately there is no known cure for schizophrenia, though there are a variety of drugs available that do help to control the symptoms. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses.

Contrary to popular belief schizophrenia has nothing to do with split, or multiple personalities.

Answer 3

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder. It affects about 1 percent of people all over the world (including 2.4 million Americans) and has been recognized throughout recorded history.

People with schizophrenia may hear voices other people don't hear or believe that others are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. These experiences are terrifying and can cause fearfulness, withdrawal, or extreme agitation. People with schizophrenia may not make sense when they talk, may sit for hours without moving or talking much, or can seem perfectly fine until they talk about what they are really thinking. Since many people with schizophrenia have difficulty holding a job or caring for themselves, the burden on their families and society is significant as well.

Available treatments can relieve many of the disorder's symptoms, but most people who have schizophrenia must cope with some residual symptoms as long as they live. Nevertheless, this is a time of hope for people with schizophrenia and their families. Many people with the disorder now lead rewarding and meaningful lives in the community. Researchers are developing more effective medications and using new research tools to understand the causes of schizophrenia and find ways to prevent and treat it.

Answer 4

It is spelled schizophrenia.
Defined as: Any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances. Schizophrenia is associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and defects of the frontal lobe and is caused by genetic, other biological, and psychosocial factors.

Multiple personalities is associated with it in some cases but that disorder is called Associative Personality Disorder.

Answer 5

Schizophrenia is NOT having multiple personalities like many people think.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder and loss of contact with reality.

You can read more detailed information about schizophrenia at this website: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/schizoph.cfm#symptoms

Answer 6

Doctors think its a misfiring of electrical impulses or chemical imbalances in the brain causing delusions and hallucinations.

Answer 7

Mental disorder characterised by a split personality.

Answer 8

Schizophrenia is when you have multiple personalities or you hear voices in your head.

Answer 9

NO IT IS NOT WHEN YOU HAVE MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES. i would like to make that clear for everyone

Answer 10

a myth ... http://www.antipsychiatry.org/schizoph.htm