Schizophrenia

   Schizophrenia is a mental disorder categorized by a breakdown of thought process and by having poor emotional responsiveness. People with this disease experience having hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and thinking. Schizophrenia is a disease that makes it hard to tell what is real and what is, to be able to think clearly and act normal in social situations. 

   I guess in society people with Schizophrenia are viewed as being crazy, but really in a way they just have a hard time and different way of processing things. There are different categories of this disease which are called: acute and chronic. Acute Schizophrenia has a sudden onset with a good chance of living with such a disease for recovery while the latter has a gradual onset and more of a long term outcome, meaning that people usually do not recover. The symptoms of Schizophrenia are also separated into two different groups which are "positive symptoms" and "negative symptoms." Behaviors that were initially developed because of Schizophrenia are known as the positive symptoms and behaviors that have been lessened/reduced because of Schizophrenia are referred as the negative symptoms. Here's a brief breakdown    of the symptoms: 

   

   Positive:

Hallucinations: hearing voices, seeing, feeling, or smelling things that are not actually there

Delusions: believing things that are not real or true

Disorganized speech and behavior: difficulty organizing thoughts, remembering things or keeping several ideas in mind at the same time

Paranoia: believing people or things are trying to harm you or are out to get you

   

   Negative: 

Limited emotional expression (also called a "flat affect"): a person's face does not move or he or she talks in a dull or monotonous voice

Lack of motivation: difficulty starting and following through with activities

Impaired reasoning: inability to think through actions and plan activities related to daily living

Limited speech: speaking little, even when forced to interact

Lack of pleasure in everyday life

    Genetics, early environment, neurobiology, and psychological and social processes appear to be important contributory factors; some recreational and prescription drugs appear to cause or worsen symptoms.

The research that has been done on Schizophrenia has barely scratched the surface. There are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding this disease. Approximately, 1% of people suffer from this disease. I actually have an uncle who married into my family who is a Schizophrenic. I know I mentioned earlier that maybe not all people with this disease are necessarily considered to be "crazy," but I really feel whenever he is around that he is unsafe...I can not imagine though how it may feel to live with such a disease. Hopefully, in years to come there is a better understanding of this disease.

   Here is a brief video of a day in the life of someone with this disease:

Mood disorders

Major Depressive Disorder

   I'm sure everyone at one point in their life will feel discouraged or a bit down, but usually will always be able to rise above it. However, there are some people who are not able to rise above and fall into a more intense depression. This can cause a person to feel major depression everyday for weeks at a time. In the book it mentions that, people with depression have thoughts of suicide, trouble sleeping and concentrating, find little pleasure in things that they normally enjoy, and have a hard time thinking they can be happy again.
    Major depression is diagnosed twice as often in women as it is in men. I wonder why that may be? I do kind of know more women who have said that they feel "depressed" for any little reason. There are many circumstances that can lead to someone feeling depressed such as: Alcohol or drug abuse, sleeping problems, stressful life events, such as breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, failing a class,death or illness of someone close to you, divorce, childhood abuse or neglect, job loss,social isolation ( mostly common in the elderly).
   Do anti-depressants really work or do they just increase the problem? The exact cause of depression is not known...but I do know that there are different types of medication to help cure people who have depression.  Prozac and Zoloft are the most common forms of medication, but I do not think this is the right way of handling the situation because pretty soon that person is going to have to depend on the drug to help them feel better with whatever it is their experiencing. Why be dependent on a drug? I personally think that psychotherapy would be the best form of mediation. This is also referred to as talk therapy, types of talk therapy include: Cognitive behavioral therapy which teaches you how to fight off negative thoughts. As well as being taught problem solving skills. Psychotherapy can eventually help you understand the issues that may be behind your thoughts and feelings.

Here is a video where a psychiatrist better explains Major Depressive Disorder 

Here is another detailed video about non-medicated ways to deal with major depression 

Stress and Emotions

Decision Making

   Ever wondered how our emotions have an affect on our decision making? In fact, our emotions are linked to a certain part of our brain which in turn helps us distinguish what is morally right or wrong. This area of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex according to Wikipedia is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain. The region itself is associated with planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making and moderating social behavior. These are where your thoughts and actions develop in accordance with your internal goals.

   If you for whatever reason have some kind of damage done to your prefrontal cortex it was discovered that one can suffer from lack of emotions, irrational thinking, eratic decision making. As mentioned in the book, in the case of the man in 1994 where he experienced damage to his prerefrontal cortex he would almost express no emotions. He understood the consequences of a good or bad decision, but still did not know which one he would choose because he wouldn't know how it would make him feel.They choose the bad decision because of their lack to feel those emotions. In the book it also states that we basically make decisions based on how it will make us feel after the decision is made. So the fact that people with damage to the prefrontal cortex act more on impulse is because those senses have become damaged. 

   We base most of our important decisions on how we think it will make us feel in the long run. When you think about it there is a moral decision making behind it as well. Without having a proper functioning prefrontal cortex we would never be able to distinguish what is morally right and wrong. Like the man who experienced damage to his prefrontal cortex we would have difficulties trying to establish what is right or wrong because we would not know how they made us feel. 

I had a hard time trying to find a video that focused solely on how emotions can be affected if damage to the prefrontal cortex occurred. So, I found this brief video that explains possible cases when damage to the "frontal lobes" occurs...