Schizophrenia: Impact and Magnitude

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Investigative Report on Schizophrenia
Introduction
Schizophrenia is one of the mental health disorders whose diverse symptoms and manifestations in patients account for adverse effects on their quality of life and overall well-being. Mental health disease is characteristic of various symptoms affecting over 20 million people globally. Among the symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, distorted thinking, delusions, and even mood swings. Schizophrenia often leads to low quality of life among patients, with severe cases leading to physical impairments and even fatalities. It is a psychosocial disorder caused by a complex integration of factors, including the genetic background history of patients and stimulation from environmental factors. The complex nature of its genesis or integration of its causative factors further influences its equally diverse manifestation in patients, including the differences in severity of its subsequent complications. It is, therefore, important to have a comprehensive understanding of the mental health disorder for effective management and treatment of the same and mitigation of various adverse effects on the quality of life of a person with schizophrenia. Provided herein is a report detailing the findings of a comprehensive investigation into the mental health disorder, including its impact and magnitude in the world, symptoms, causative factors, and the management and treatment interventions for the disease.
Schizophrenia; Impact and Magnitude
Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder caused by a complex integration of factors leading to a wide range of symptomatic manifestations in people diagnosed with the illness. It is a psychiatric health problem affecting a person's cognitive, emotional, and behavioural well-being. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the mental health disorder affects over 20 million people around the world CITATION Wor194 \l 1033 (World Health Organization). The American Psychiatric Association further posit that the chronic mental disorder affects one in 200 people in the United States, translating to less than 1% of the country's population CITATION Ame201 \l 1033 (American Psychiatric Association). The mental health disorder affects people during their early adulthood. Women, for instance, may showcase symptoms of schizophrenia while in between their 20s and early 30s, and men experiencing the symptoms in their early 20s CITATION Ame201 \l 1033 (American Psychiatric Association). The symptoms should be monitored for approximately six months upon detection before initiating the diagnosis. People diagnosed with schizophrenia tend to have a low quality of life, affecting both their abilities to perform according to their potentials in both academic and occupational engagements (Patel, 640). Such underperformances share strong correlations to the susceptibility of persons with schizophrenia to discrimination, stigma, and human rights infringements across the social, political, cultural, and economic social dimensions. The fact that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia are exposed to other chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, physical illnesses or impairments, and metabolic complications lowers their rates of life expectancy compared to the general populationCITATION Wor194 \l 1033 (World Health Organization).
Symptoms
The symptoms of schizophrenia can be classified into three categories, including positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms. The positive symptoms refer to the psychotic manifestations of the disease, including delusions, hallucinations, and distorted or unreal perceptions (Patel, 642). Delusions refer to false beliefs based on abnormal interpretation of reality, while hallucinations entail hearing and seeing non-existing things. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include lack of motivation, emotional disturbance, and anti-social behaviour. Disorganized symptoms of schizophrenia, on the other hand, refer to cases of disorderly thinking and speech patterns characterized by disorderly behaviors. An example of disorganized symptoms in a person with schizophrenia is catatonia...