Schizophrenia

From Psy3241

Schizophrenia (from the Greek roots schizein "to split" and phrēn "mind") is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that affects about 1.1 percent of the U.S. population in their lifetime. This mental illness is characterized by impairments in perception that include hallucinations, delusions, and behavior can be disorganized. Schizophrenia affects both men and women, men usually earlier than women, anywhere from the late teens to early thirties.

At the beginning, schizophrenia was characterized in three ways which were: disorganized, catatonic and paranoid. Now there are 5 sub-classifications that include: -disorganized (hebephrenic) -catatonic -paranoid -residual -undifferentiated