Schizophrenia and Personality Disorders

Schizophrenia Characterized by a loss of touch with reality Usually develops in early adulthood Symptoms include: Hallucinationsloss of social skills Delusions loss of emotional responsiveness Though disorders Social withdrawal

Types Paranoid: characterized by delusions and auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) John Nash Disorganized: thoughts scattered; incoherent Catatonic: manifests in changes in the body movement (may hold an unusual position for long periods)

Personality Disorders Defined as inflexible traits that disrupt social life or work Personality disorders are an integral part of the individual; other psychological disorders are something separate for the personality of the individual

Types Paranoid: suspicious and distrustful of others; often are cold and isolated- unlike paranoid schizophrenia, they don’t have delusions or distorted reality, they are just distrustful Antisocial: characterized by a persistent disregard for and violation of the rights of others; they feel no remorse and do not fear social sanctions

Causes of Psychological Disorders Psychological Views Personality disorders: lack of development of a conscience; children may “learn” how to respond or not through their childhood experiences Schizophrenia: overwhelming urges from the unconscious mind may cause the individual to not be able to distinguish reality from fantasy

Biological Schizophrenia: underdeveloped brains (small brains), problems with loss of connections between the parts of the frontal lobe of brain Personality: suggestion of a genetic component