An Overview of Schizophrenia

Published on: 14 March 2016 Last Updated on: 12 July 2021

Schizophrenia remains one of the most misunderstood mental health disorders in the U.S. Many people assume that schizophrenia refers to a complete inability to accept life. However, schizophrenia actually describes a severe, chronic brain disorder characterized by abnormal thought processes and rationale. Many of the symptoms of schizophrenia are similar to other mental health conditions, which makes accurate diagnoses difficult for mental rehabilitation experts.

Prevalence of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia affects between 0.5 percent and 1 percent of individuals around the globe. The first episode tends to occur at age 21 for men and age 27 for women, explains the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). About 33 percent of those with schizophrenia attempt suicide and 10 percent will succeed. In a Canadian study, schizophrenia diagnoses resulted in a total cost of $6.85 billion for the U.S. and Canada.

Risk factors

Across mental health facilities, mental health professionals have yet to determine an exact cause of schizophrenia. However, a family history of schizophrenia, exposure to toxins while in utero, increased immune system response, older age of a person’s father, and exposure to psychotropic substances during adolescence have been thought to be the primary risk factors for developing schizophrenia (Mayo Clinic).

Signs and symptoms

The signs and symptoms vary from person to person. According to the Mayo Clinic, most signs and symptoms reveal abnormal brain functioning and include the following:

1. Hallucinations :

Hallucinations may involve any of the five senses; however, hearing voices is the most common hallucination

2. Delusions:

Delusions are similar to hallucinations. Delusions occur when a person has a false belief about a given event or situation. For example, a person may believe he or she has a role in global politics when it is not true

3. Thought disorders:

Thought disorders are unusual, counter-productive ways of thinking

4. Movement disorders:

Movement disorders are characterized by repetitive, involuntary movements, which are most commonly noticed in the face. Alternatively, someone with schizophrenia may become catatonic, which means he or she does not move at all

5. Disruptive emotions and behaviors:

Emotional states in schizophrenic individuals may mirror the ups and downs of other mental health disorders, such as bipolar disorder.

6. Poor cognitive functioning:

Someone with schizophrenia may be incapable of understanding information and making decisions on the basis of the information. Furthermore, working memory and difficulty concentrating are common aspects of poor cognitive functioning

Treatment Options

Depending on the severity of the episode, treatment for schizophrenia may occur in inpatient mental health facilities. However, outpatient treatment is a vital aspect of treatment after discharge.

1. Antipsychotic medications:

Antipsychotic and atypical antipsychotic medications focus on eradicating the symptoms of schizophrenia. Some of these medications may cause serious side effects

2. Psychosocial treatment:

Psychosocial treatment involves teaching a person to readapt to life through physical, speech, and occupational therapy

3. Integrated Treatment :

If a person with schizophrenia has a co-occurring mental health disorder, the treatment must include address all other disorders

Although schizophrenia can present some of the most difficult symptoms in mental health therapies, the disorder can be effectively managed. However, understanding the symptoms and treatment options of schizophrenia plays a significant role in preventing the disorder from developing further.

Abdul Aziz Mondol

Abdul Aziz Mondol is a professional blogger who is having a colossal interest in writing blogs and other jones of calligraphies. In terms of his professional commitments, he loves to share content related to business, finance, technology, and the gaming niche.

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8 Home Remedies to Banish Acne Scars and Discoloration for Good (Info-graphic )

If your blemishes leave behind discolorations or scars, you're not alone. Acne scarring is a problem that afflicts many teens and adults. When a pimple heals, the body produces collagen to repair the damaged skin. If the body doesn't produce the correct amount of collagen, a scar forms. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to minimize acne scarring, ranging from tea tree oil to lemon juice. Here are a few of the best natural remedies for acne scars. Honey If you're dealing with leftover inflammation from your last breakout, honey is a great way to speed up the healing process. Honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, which can help to reduce the size of current acne and stimulate healthy healing. If you decide to use honey as a topical treatment, make sure you only use raw, unprocessed honey. Honey that's been treated may not have the necessary acne-fighting properties. Then apply a thin layer of honey to the face, and leave it on for 15 minutes. Rinse thoroughly when you're done. Aloe Vera Aloe vera is famous for its soothing properties, but it can also help to repair the skin. That's because it promotes healthy collagen formation. If the body produces the correct amount of collagen during the healing process, it's likely to result in a smaller, less noticeable scar. To use aloe vera as a scar reduction treatment, simply apply a pure aloe vera liquid to existing scars once a day. You should see an improvement within a few weeks. Lemon Juice Like all citrus fruits, lemons are chock full of Vitamin C. Because Vitamin C is known to stimulate collagen production, a healthy dose of lemon juice can reduce the appearance of acne scarring. If you want to get the most benefit out of your lemon juice, squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into a cotton ball. Swipe the cotton ball over the affected areas, and then leave the juice on the skin for ten minutes. Wash the juice off afterward. Due to its acidity, it can irritate the skin if left on too long. Tea Tree Oil If you're dealing with persistent acne, you should try tea tree oil. This natural acne-fighting option has potent antibacterial and antioxidant properties, which can help get rid of existing acne and leftover acne scars. To use tea tree oil for acne scarring, place a few drops of tea tree oil onto a cotton swab and then rub the oil into the scarred areas. Tea tree oil can be irritating to sensitive skin, so do a spot check before using it all over your face. Apple Cider Vinegar Apple cider vinegar is a well-known natural disinfectant, and it's a popular ingredient in many acne-fighting remedies. It not only helps to get rid of existing acne, however, it can also help diminish the appearance of acne scars. It can be used as a natural exfoliator, helping the skin shed dead skin cells. This speeds up the healing process. If you want to use apple cider vinegar for acne scarring, swipe a teaspoon-sized amount of vinegar onto the scars. Leave it on the skin for ten minutes, and then rinse. Shea Butter If you have acne-prone skin, you may be using a number of harsh, acne-fighting ingredients, like salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. While these ingredients can help get rid of acne, they can also leave it feeling dry, dull, and irritated. Skin can't repair itself, however, if it's not hydrated and healthy. Shea butter contains antioxidants and fatty acids, which can help skin repair itself. It also offers the skin a healthy dose of hydration. When skin is healthier, it is better able to heal itself. Since purchasing a raw shea butter product from your local health food store, and apply it to the skin once or twice a day. Fresh Tomato Facial Tomatoes have used in DIY acne treatments for years, and for good reason. The tomato can do everything from exfoliating the skin to provide it with antioxidant protection. It can also help to fade and eliminate leftover acne scars. That's because tomatoes contain nutrients like potassium and iron, which can help to minimize scar formation. To get the best results from your tomato skin treatment, use a blender to puree a fresh tomato. Apply the mixture to the skin, and let it sit for 20 minutes. You can also take fresh tomato slices and rub the juice into the skin. Emu Oil Emu oil is known to have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It's also packed with omega fatty acids, which penetrate deep into the skin to deliver much-needed nourishment. To use emu oil to treat your leftover scars, simply rub a small amount of the oil into the scarred areas once or twice a day. This hydrating oil is beneficial to the skin, and you don't need to worry about rinsing it off afterward. You can leave it on overnight to enhance its efficacy. There are many natural ways to reduce post-acne scarring and pigmentation. From hydrating oils to natural extracts, these at-home remedies are a great way to help the skin heal. Your skin will be looking as good as new in no time! 8 Home Remedies to Banish Acne Scars ( Infographic) If you want to know more about how you can make most of the natural power, here is an infographic, 10 Fantastic Herbs to Fight Acne, brought to you by beskinhost.com. Read also: Top 4 Natural Combination For You To Eliminate Blackheads (Infographics)

Hemp Oil Can Save Lives

Marijuana Moods and Mexico Do you know why marijuana and hemp derived products are illegal in the United States of America? The only reason for this is the combination of race, drugs, and drug policy that has propelled all of the drug scheduling in the United States of America that is done in a disproportionate, and problematic way. Unfortunately, everything wrong with America can be linked back to the racist history of this country and there is quite literally always a racist reason for whatever ails this ridiculous place, consistently. The only reason that marijuana is illegal in the United States is due to Mexican immigrants in the 1930s. The United States of America instituted a policy of strict segregation that placed whites atop society in the 1880s, after ten years of allowing African-Americans to be members of the legislative bodies that controlled this country. Sadly, white Americans have consistently found ways to exclude others and have created drug laws to match up with the prejudices they want to exist in society. The drug scheduling program was created to help states and citizens assess the relative danger of a drug. Sadly, marijuana is scheduled as a Class 1 drug, which means that until very recently, marijuana was argued by the United States government to be just as dangerous as heroin. Does that make any sort of sense to you whatsoever? It probably should not, because it is absolutely untrue that a synthesized drug created by the Bayer company is the same level of danger as marijuana. Sadly, in order to try to curb Mexican immigration due to white people being threatened by the high quality of work that Mexicans were doing, marijuana was made illegal to try to target the Mexican community and was buttressed by propagandist films full of racist garbage and lies like Reefer Madness. Cannabis Classifications Does this sound familiar to you? It should be because this is the exact same system that was used to exclude Asian-Americans as a result of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which was by that point the first racist immigration law that the United States enacted. The decision to make hemp and marijuana illegal was a direct response to that legislation that kept Mexican immigration to America legal on paper but targeted Mexicans with surgical precision, the same way that Asian-American immigrants were targeted despite the fact that Asian Americans almost singlehandedly built California. They were pigeonholed and lied about in the news media as people who were bringing and exploiting locals with opium, and thus, racism reared its ugly head again. The exact same technique was used to target Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Therefore nowadays when you purchase hemp products online, you are walking in a tradition of reclaiming the unfairness that has been doled out to numerous communities in America: simply put, if you are not white and you are out-working white people, they will find a way to call you lazy via the drugs and alcohol you use and will find a way to focus on an essentialist notion of who you are in order to lessen your social and economic threats to white people. Just like they used Asian-Americans and Asian immigrants to build their railroads and the Western states, only to discard these people when it was no longer convenient, Mexicans were treated the same way. Marijuana was thus used as a pawn in the battle to keep the United States of America as white as possible. Do you see the connections between how these people were treated in the past and how non-white people are treated in America today? People are quick to say horrible things about Mexicans to this day, and in 2015 when our 44th President declared his intention to run for the presidency, he used racist imagery and commentary about Mexicans in order to bolster his road to the nomination, knowing that it would likely be incredibly successful. One of the few ways you can influence American voters is to invoke some sort of racist notion, and it will help white voters to coalesce around that specific idea in order to create a problematic and scary voting bloc. Iconic Indica Indications Hemp oil is actually good for you and can be a great alternative to more addictive items that can be used as painkillers. Just as we rely on many hard drugs to get us through more painful episodes in life, hemp-derived products like hemp oils and hemp creams are now being used to help people through pain. There are even hemp creams and lotions that can be used by women to combat menstrual cramps, and many women who have been diagnosed with endometriosis have found that hemp and marijuana-related products have been instrumental in helping them combat the pain of their condition while also getting and keeping their pregnancies. In this way, hemp can truly change your life if you allow it to, and it is really important that you do so while knowing that our ancestors were discriminated against for no good reason other than typical American racism. Instead, nowadays we learn more about different cultures and the importance of hemp products to give us a new lease on life. There are probably other substances and items that could be really helpful to us that have been made illegal by Americans whose hubris and racism superseded their ability to recognize the importance of working together to make the world a better place. Read Also: The Nutritional Value of Hemp Oil for PetsWhy Hemp Products Are Becoming A New TrendHow To Choose The Right CBD Capsules For Your Needs

Some Famous People Who Have Battled with Depression

If you have ever wondered if celebrities and all the successful people you know ever had to deal with stress and all the negativity “normal people” struggle with daily? The truth is they also do. They suffer pain, loss, and depression, just like everyone else. It’s possible you have heard of celebrities with depression or who even suffered from mental breakdowns; they had to be checked into rehab. But this article isn’t about famous people who have visited rehab before but those who have one time dealt with depression. So without wasting time, below are some of the celebrities you know who have suffered depression in their lives. Dwayne Johnson Now, if you think ‘’The Rock” is one stone-cold machismo character, well, he is when he is on screen. But when the 6ft 4inches tall celebrity is off-screen, he certainly has a lot to contend with like everyone else. In a recent talk with British newspaper Express, he opened up to being depressed, and the dude didn’t have any serious reasons for being so, aside from being human. And he encouraged guys specially to do better than bottle everything in. “Depression Never Discriminate.” He shared later on his tweeter page. Katy Perry American female pop sensation Katy Perry has also revealed on time on a live stream tour on YouTube about how she too fights depression and is never ashamed to say so. She urged her fans to keep it real with themselves and everyone watching the need to take mental health seriously. Lady Gaga With many hit songs and billboard toppers to her name, one wouldn’t be surprised that her royal highness Lady Gaga would have had to weather through stormy days. And if there is anything to learn from the celebrity is that we can rise above our challenges. She opened up about how she uses medication to battle depression and anxiety and advised her fans to be open about their health. You can find out here what you should do when you are faced with a nervous breakdown. Michael Phelps If you have won a series of gold medals for competitive swimming, you would surely know how to recover from any drowning situation. But it will interest you to discover that the world record swimmer Michael Phelps almost ended his life sometime after the 2012 Olympics. And if there is anything we’ve found out from successful people is that success comes at a price. So Phelps had to sober up and get the help he needed. So if you want to conquer depression, you want to pay the price and get the right help. J.K Rowling It is no surprise that celebrity author of the Harry Potter Books, J.K Rowling, would appear on the list of celebrities who have battled depression. For someone who has put smiles on the faces of millions could only have done so by sacrificing a bit of theirs. And for J.K, it wasn’t that she was sad, as she described it on Oprah, “it’s that cold absence of feeling.” Jim Carrey The only man crazy enough to pull off the stunts in ‘’The Mask.” And also stared in some of the funniest character movies of all time, Ace Ventura comes to mind is also on the list of celebrities who have suffered from depression. And what’s interesting about Carrey’s situation is that he doesn’t use medication such as anti-depressants or alcohol to help deal with life's issues. He faces them squarely and urges you to do so too. There are useful tips on this page https://www.verywellmind.com/overcoming-addiction-4157285 about fighting addiction. Johnny Depp Actor Johnny Depp could be one of Hollywood’s most anxious celebrities, and it is no secret that he works with therapists even while on movie sets to help manage his anxiety. Although he does a fine job with his character while on stage, he easily shows his anxiety during interview sessions. Eminem Another famous celebrity on the list is Eminem, and it is no secret that the rapper has had to battle with a lot of challenging situations. One of them is the unending conflict with his ex-wife, which the artist often rapped about in some of his verses. Depression can affect your health negatively and should not be taken likely. You want to look out for signs that you may be in a depressive state and seek expert help if you are too deep. Read Also: Are You Wondering About The Risk Factors For Depression? 6 Healthy Habits That Will Change Your Life Natural and Practical Methods of Tackling Insomnia

An Overview of Schizophrenia

Prevalence of schizophrenia

Risk factors