Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia 1 Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder marked by the loss of contact with reality. When a persons thinking, feeling, and behavior is so far from normal as to interfere with his or her ability to function in everyday life, and delusions, hallucinations, irregular thinking or emotions are produced, then he or she has a mental illness called schizophrenia. About one hundred years ago schizophrenia was first recognized as a mental disorder and researchers have been searching for a cure since. The exact cause of schizophrenia is still unknown and scientists are certain that schizophrenia has more than one cause. ... The Genetic Theory argues that schizophrenia is caused by traits in a persons genetic makeup. ... Researchers believe that problems with these genes can cause schizophrenia. ... Due to the fact that identical twins have the exact same genetic make up researchers will be able Schizophrenia 2 to determine if heredity is the main cause of schizophrenia. ... Identical twins are relatively rare, especially twins who are both diagnosed with schizophrenia. Further defending the theory, studies have shown that children with one parent diagnosed with schizophrenia have a ten percent chance of suffering from schizophrenia. ... The Environmental Theory is built mainly on the effects stress has on human behavior, however, most researchers agree that stress alone cannot be the main cause of schizophrenia. ... Like stress, certain drugs, such as amphetamines, can make psychotic symptoms worse if a person already has schizophrenia. Furthermore, these drugs can create schizophrenia - like symptoms in normal persons when the dosage is large. ... The Bio-Chemical Theory suggests that schizophrenia is caused by mixed up signals to the brain. ... These impulses allow us to feel pain, smell, and they also manage our thought Schizophrenia 3 processes. ... Following the injection, the animals exhibit the same behavior as humans who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, such as standing still for long periods of time or continuously pacing. ... In conclusion, researchers believe that an increased amount of dopamine to the brain causes abnormal behavior, however, they cannot safely say that this is the sole cause of schizophrenia. ... They suggest that environmental and social problems have Schizophrenia 4 to be considered along with biological problems. ... " (Schizophrenia, Douglas W. ... Studies have been done in Ireland and it appears that one in every twenty-five people show signs of schizophrenia, opposed to one in every hundred in the United States. ... The idea that schizophrenia in Ireland is caused by the potato is not as far fetched as people might believe. ... This may lead us to believe that a mental disorder can be caused by too Schizophrenia 5 much exposure or lack of a certain type of food. ... Despite all these theories, it is quite evident that the cause of schizophrenia is still a mystery. ... The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and an imbalance of the brains chemical system has been suspected as the main cause of schizophrenia for a long time.