Schizophernia

Schizophrenia, a psychiatric disorder, affects approximately two and a half million American people today. This life altering disease interferes with a person's ability to think clearly, handle emotions, make decisions, and relate to others (Psychlaws). Roughly about one percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime. This brain disease sheds difficulties on a person as it can trigger hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and significant lack of motivation (Peace Health). The disease affects mainly both males and females, although the disorder often appears in males first, usually in the late teens or early twenties, than in women, generally affected in the twenties to early thirties. Schizophrenia can not be prevented nor can it be ignored. It affects one's work, family, and more importantly one's life (mhscc).

No clear answer has been given to the question of what causes schizophrenia, but as technology improves so does the research to what plays a vital role in developing this disorder. So far there have been three main contributing factors scientists are researching: genetics and heredity, chemistry, and complications during pregnancy and birth (mhscc). Firstly, it appears that multiple genes are involved in creating a predisposition to develop the disorder. Factors such as prenatal difficulties like intrauterine starvation or viral infections, prenatal complications, and various nonspecific stressors, seem to influence the development of schizophrenia. Secondly, with the use of chemistry, one can figure, through the use of genetics, how the brain uses certain chemicals. People with schizophrenia have a chemical imbalance within them; this means that the person diagnosed have either very sensitive to or produce an excessive amount of dopamine, a brain chemical. Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, allows nerve cells in the brain to send certain messages to each other. The imbalance of this chemical can affect the way a person's brain may react to a stimuli. Lastly, some researchers suspect a viral infection or improper nutrition during a pregnancy of a child. These birth complications may increase the chances of a person developing schizophrenia. Although many other causes may attribute to the disease, genetics, chemistry, and complications during a pregnancy generally describes how schizophrenia may be caused.

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