Major Symptoms of Schizophrenia - Essay Example

a) Phobia - an anxiety disorder characterized by an extreme and irrational fear of simple things or social situations.
- shunning dreadful subjects is one way of reducing phobia.
b) General Anxiety Disorder – a disorder characterized by chronic free-floating anxiety.
- Symptoms include tension, sweating, trembling, and irritability
- keeping away from the frightening matter.

c) Bruxism – involuntarily or unconsciously clenching or grinding of the teeth typically during sleep.
-This develops into a habit and is thus hard to do away with.

d) Obsessive-compulsive disorder - an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and persistent thoughts and feelings and ritualized behaviors.
-Antidepressant drugs treat the disorder

e) Isomnia – an inability to sleep; chronic sleeplessness.
- The patient is given a specific dose of sleep-inducing peels.
f) Narcolepsy – sleep disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep.
- Anti-sleep drugs help in their treatment.
g) Fluoxetine – a selective –serotonin reuptake inhibitor commonly prescribed as an antidepressant (trade name Prozac or Sarafem)
- Work by increasing the activity of serotonin in the brain.

-It is a chloride compound i.e. fluoxetine hydrochloride.
h) Benzodiazepine – any of several similar lipophilic amines used as tranquilizers, sedatives, hypnotics, or muscular relaxants
i) Sleep Apnea – a disorder characterized by low breathing during sleep for 10 seconds to minutes and may happen up to 30 times in an hour.
- Categorized into central, obstructive, and complex sleep apnea.

J) REM behavior disorder – sleep disorder involving abnormal behavior in time of sleep with violent movements.
- Muscular paralysis is the main cause and a low dose of clonazepam treats it.
The four major schizophrenia symptoms include:
Delusions; The patient has an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary and a low ability to intellectually evaluate his surroundings and relationships with others. This is a positive symptom that responds well to medication

Social withdrawal; patients seem to pull out from the company of friends and relatives who are close to them. Loneliness can cause severe depression and even suicide. It is a negative symptom of not responding well to medication.
Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior is extreme laxness of limbs and a positive symptom that responds well to medication.
Hallucinations; are likely to be delusions and the patient tends to see and hear a thing that is not true. It is a positive symptom as it is not common to all patients with schizophrenia.