In another thread, I said some things about shizophrenia. Iona told me I knew nothing on the subject, but did nothing more to enlighten me. So, I went to the web and read up a bit more on the subject and learned some that I did not know or had forgotten. Here's some of what I found.

(Coincidentally, on reading more, Iona doesn't appear to me to be a very good fit for what is described here. But since she firmly believes I am too close-minded to change my mind, I find I have an obligation to fullfill and must not disappoint her expectiations of me. So, officially, I am a jerk and she is as crazy as a loon. But that is only if anyone asks.)

About Shizophrenia:

Approximately 1 percent of the population develop schizophrenia during their lives. The first psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia are often seen in the teens or twenties in men and in the twenties or early thirties in women.

HALLUCINATIONS: The world of a schizophrenic individual may be filled with hallucinations; a person actually may sense things that in reality do not exist, such as hearing voices telling the person to do certain things, seeing people or objects that are not really there, or feeling invisible fingers touching his or her body. These hallucinations may be quite frightening. Hearing voices that other people don't hear is the most common type of hallucination in schizophrenia. Such voices may describe the patient's activities, carry on a conversation, warn of impending dangers, or tell the person what to do.

DELUSIONS: Delusions are false personal beliefs that are not subject to reason or contradictory evidence and are not part of the person's culture. They are common symptoms of schizophrenia and can involve themes of persecution or grandeur, for example. Sometimes delusions in schizophrenia are quite bizarre - for instance, believing that a neighbor is controlling the schizophrenic individual's behavior with magnetic waves, or that people on television are directing special messages specifically at him or her, or are broadcasting the individual's thoughts aloud to other people. Delusions of persecution, which are common in paranoid schizophrenia, are false and irrational beliefs that a person is being cheated, harassed, poisoned, or conspired against. The patient may believe that he or she, or a member of the family or other group, is the focus of this imagined persecution.

From a case study (Shakil, age 32):

He claimed to be a prophet of Abu-Lafram, and that he had been chosen as his first earthly disciple. Abu-Lafram talked to him throughout the day in a sonorous male voice, 'realer than the realest reality'. The thoughts he had had since knowing Abu-Lafram were 'the purest of pure'' and were broadcast out of Shakil's head by Abu-Lafram for 'the benefit of all mankind'. Shakil did not believe that he was ill, but was adamant that he was a 'chosen one'. From another case study (Jane, age 18):

The consultant talked to her through the door, and finally persuaded her to trust him sufficiently to let him in to her room. He found that Jane was a tall, thin girl with a pale face. The room smelt of urine, and the walls had been covered in a fine, spidery writing. When the consultant tried to read what it said, she shouted at him. Jane looked at him suspiciously and, at times seemed to be conferring with an unseen person as to how trustworthy the doctor was. The doctor could see scratch marks on her neck where Jane had cut herself with the blade of a pair of scissors. She said that this was 'to let the bad blood out'. Jane appeared alert and knew the day and the time. When asked about her refusal to eat, Jane mumbled about her parents trying to poison her.

The Predictable Signs And Symptoms

Alterations of the senses

These changes range from enhancement in the early stages of schizophrenic breakdown to a blunting of sensations in the later stages, e.g., pain. The patient may experience flooding of the mind by sensory stimuli or thoughts. Some patients develop excessive religious preoccupation and have "peak experiences."

Inability to synthesize and to respond

- also known as "thought disorder"

The patient's difficulty in synthesizing visual and auditory stimuli results in inappropriate responses which hamper interpersonal relations. The altered synthesis produces thought patterns characterized by impaired logic, loose associations, blocking, ambivalence in responses and actions, neologisms, and "word salad."

Altered sense of self

Due to the inability to synthesize and to sort visual and tactile stimuli, which enable us to differentiate our bodies from the external world of objects and persons, the schizophrenic person experiences distortions and confusion regarding the boundaries between his/her self and other people or things. Body parts may be experienced as dissociated or detached, with lives of their own. Or the person may be confused about his/her sexual characteristics.

As an outgrowth of body boundary distortions, sensory overacuteness, faulty synthesis of incoming stimuli and inappropriate responses, the schizophrenic person experiences:

Delusions

These are basically false ideas which the patient believes to be true, but which cannot be or are not validated by members of his/her culture and to which he adheres in the face of reason. Delusions are also the product of a person's culture, experienced as a logical and coherent pattern, and can only be evaluated in this context. Two common kinds are:

paranoid delusions, characterized by a belief that one is being watched, followed, controlled, persecuted, attacked (when frightening enough, they may precipitate an attack in self-defense) and

grandiose delusions, centered on the belief that one is an exalted figure, often political or religious, and that the patient can exert mind control over others.

Hallucinations

Hallucinations can be auditory (the most common kind), visual, or auditory-visual combined. They may originate in a stimulus, but are a gross distortion of sensory overacuteness - even to the point of representing something that is not there or was not said.

Changes in emotions

The earliest changes are fluctuations and exaggerations in feelings. Guilt and fear often predominate. The emotions expressed may be inappropriate, laughter at death, crying over a joke, or they may be flattened, thus impairing empathy with another or others. The physical result is apathy, slowness in movement, lack of drive, often thought to be drug effects, but in actuality a product of the disease itself. Mentally, the person may exhibit poverty of thought and speech; emotionally, he becomes detached from objects and people.

Changes in behavior

- secondary signs

Withdrawal is one of the major changes. It is a defensive maneuver to slow down sensory inputs and allow time to integrate them or to avoid the horror of other symptoms. Behavior becomes ritualistic, with posturing, gesturing, parroting what others say. Repetitious movements may develop - tics, tremors, tongue movements, and sucking. These movements are, in some cases, side effects of antipsychotic medications. However, they were also observed before such medications were available and, in some cases, were caused by the disease itself.

The apparent "craziness" in everything a schizophrenic person sees and does has its roots in the disordered brain function that produces erroneous sensory data and disordered thinking. Given the disordered brain function as a starting point, many schizophrenic persons are heroic in their attempts to keep a mental equilibrium. And the proper response of those who care about the unfortunate persons with this disease is patience and understanding.

-- Miserable SOB (misery@misery.com), April 30, 2001

Answers

MSOB--

Informative summary. Thanks. You didn't mention treatment. I think there are drugs available that help alot. Problem is that the drugs have unpleasant side effects so the patient is inclined to stop taking them after some improvement occurs. Then the symptoms begin anew.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), April 30, 2001.

I've also read that in some cases diet can reduce or remove the symptoms of the disease.

-- Dr. Pibb (dr.pibb@zdnetonebox.com), April 30, 2001.

I hate to play the "politically correct" one on this thread, but isn't this disease referenced these days as "Bipolar"?

I had a neighbor once who had a lover with this disorder. He made her life miserable. That's a misnomer. SHE made her life miserable by living with this guy. *I* liked her because she was the only neighbor I had who jogged with me three times a week, but after hearing the stories of what he did while living with her, I thought SHE was nuts for putting up with it all. SHE was a stockbroker and had moved to Texas to maybe escape a bad marriage in Missouri. She was BEAUTIFUL. She could have had ANY man, but she chose THIS guy, who did NOTHING but criticize her. He would watch T.V. until all hours of the night in the bedroom, KNOWING that she had work in the morning. Despite her constant workouts, he would constantly criticize her body. If he left her for a few weeks, she would spend those weeks at home crying in her bed, not attending work, nor attending any other functions. During those periods, her children went totally neglected.

It's for these reasons, perhaps more than any other that I think SHE had a greater problem than HE did. He finally moved back to Wisconsin, moving back in with his parents. I don't know if he kept up with the treatment for his bi-polar disease or not, and I don't even care. SHE moved on to buy a house in another area of Texas, and we lost touch with each other [heh ...by my design].

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), April 30, 2001.

HOME BRITISH NEWS WORLD NEWS SPORT BUSINESS TUESDAY APRIL 10 2001 Virus in DNA 'is cause of mental illness' BY MARK HENDERSON SCHIZOPHRENIA may often be caused by a virus, according to research that could lead to improvements in the way the mental illness is treated. American and German scientists have discovered the genetic signature of a virus in the brains and spinal fluid of up to 30 per cent of patients with schizophrenia, indicating a strong link to the disease.

It is thought that the virus, from a family known as HERV-W, may be present in the environment. More commonly it is found in a patient’s DNA and is thought somehow to be “switched on” in some of those who contract the disease.Researchers hope the discovery will lead to the creation of a drug that could kill the virus or prevent the viral element in DNA from becoming active.

In the study scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and at the University of Heidelberg examined cerebrospinal fluid — which bathes the brain and spinal cord — of 35 patients with schizophrenia and compared it with that of 12 control subjects without the condition. They discovered a trace of the virus in 29 per cent of the patients with acute schizophrenia its early stage and in 7 per cent of those with the chronic later form of the disease. The virus was not present in the control group. Details are published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Viruses from the HERV-W family are retroviruses — the same class of pathogen as HIV — which are particularly good at incorporating themselves into the genetic material of their hosts. The human genome includes large chunks of viral DNA that has “written itself in” over millions of years, normally causing no harmful effects.

Robert Yolken, a neurovirologist at Johns Hopkins, said the virus probably accounted for a significant portion of schizophrenia cases.

Researchers are investigating possible links between retroviruses and multiple sclerosis, arthritis and diabetes. Copyright 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website. HELP CROSSWORD SEARCH CONTACT US TERMS & CONDITIONS

-- Pam (Pam@j.o.e), April 30, 2001.

Another symptom of schizophrenia... it causes people to spell it as "shizophrenia" without the c.

-- cyber freud (takes one @ to. know one), April 30, 2001.

Anita, bi-polar is the PC name for manic-depressive disorder. I'm not sure how manic-depression compares to schizophrenia but they are different.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), May 01, 2001.

Anita, could your friend have had some kind of co-dependency problem going on there? Just wondering. suzy

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.now), May 01, 2001.

Lots of good info here along with a coupla bad guesses. Schizos ideate a bunch while MD (bipolar) types generally don't. Lars is correct. New meds have definately helped both disorders.

Are we pickin on somebody here or is this just general discussion?

-- Carlos (riffraff@cybertime.net), May 01, 2001.

Are we pickin on somebody here or is this just general discussion?

You and almost everyone else might be having a discussion but Miserable's sadly deficient ego needed to demonstrate that he's "right" and Iona - from another thread - is somehow "wrong", leaving us with more than enough info on Miserable's mental health to psychoanalyze for days to come. But why bother? It only serves to feed the Troll.

-- 1 (2@3.com), May 01, 2001.

SOB, you gave Iona a free "diagnosis" on the other thread and now this. Iona did nothing to warrant your reaction. Hope you feel better now. BTW I put the word in quotes because it shouldn't be taken literally; it doesn't represent a statement made by anyone on the other thread.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), May 01, 2001.

Well, DERN! I guess these folks had told me that the folks involved had bipolar disorder and I'd just ASSUMED that was a new name for Schizophrenia. Their personalities sure changed enough for me to believe that. Thanks, Lars, and Carlos.

Susy: I'm not convinced that this woman didn't have a disorder far exceeding the disorder of the man she lived with. It went WAY beyond co-dependence, IMO.

Miserable SOB: Haven't schizophrenics found some relief in serotonin reuptake inhibitors? I remember doing quite a bit of research a while back on serotonin and I seem to remember that being associated with the disorder.

I suffer from occasional bouts of panic anxiety disorder. Some call it PAD. It's a REALLY creepy feeling when it occurs, and it requires no impetus at all. My doctor first thought it was due to lack of serotonin and put me on Bu-Spar, which is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Not only was the Bu-Spar EXTREMELY expensive, but it didn't seem to help. The next checkup, the doctor prescribed a very mild [.25mg] dosage of Alprazolam. My research tells me that it's a mild tranquilizer. Like most tranquilizers, there's a danger of abuse [and maybe an eventual built-up tolerance]. The drug also encourages diarrhea, so two fears are created out of one. Will I suffer from a panic attack at the job or in the store, or will I suffer from diarrhea? If these fears aren't fought, it's easy to become agoraphobic. [Am I spelling all this right?] I visited a few PAD sites, but it became clear to me that one mental disorder could quite easily lead to others if one engaged in enough discussions with folks with those disorders.

Daughter #2's visit was quite uneventful regarding the PAD. I'd made up my mind that I wasn't going to take the medication but concentrate on dietary supplements instead. On her last morning here, I woke up feeling "funny." I took one of the Alprazolam tablets. Several hours later, she was cutting my hair and she said, "Is something wrong?" I said, "Yeah...I'm feeling REALLY jumpy." She said, "Well, you SHOULD be. Your kid is cutting your hair off." I said, "That has nothing to do with it. I could be reading the funny papers and the same thing could happen. Let me take one of my pills [and, yeah...let me go to the bathroom], and while I'm doing that, call your sister and see if she can drive you to the airport, as I really don't feel comfortable on the road when this happens." Her sister drove her to the airport and she didn't feel at all bad about that. All we do is cry at airports anyway, and we BOTH knew it.

Life is an oddity. We never know when our brains will stop sending messages correctly, and I'm not so sure we have a handle on WHY our brains stop sending messages correctly. We can correct the situation temporarily with drugs [all of which seem to have SOME side-effect], but is it just age, or a change in diet or exercise that provides the "trigger"? The field of psychiatrics is just now BEGINNING to get a feel for how the brain works. Actually, even medically, we're not so estranged from the period wherein doctors used leaches to purify our systems.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 01, 2001.

Anita, I have a friend I've known over 23 years. He was diagnosed Bi- Polar. It has cost him everything. He also sits in front of tv for hours, and I mean HOURS on end. Recently he did a horrible thing, I wont say what, but he is facing jail time. he has not seen a doctor for awhile, but now will go, I sure hope he gets help. He needs it desperately. His Mom and I looked up bi-polar on net, very interesting reading. And yes PC is bi-polar, I also had a girlfriend who was back then diagnosed manic-depressive.

This disease is similar to Scizophrenia (sp?) in that those diagnosed usually are in denial, thus dont take the meds regular as prescribed. My girlfriend, during here mania episode lost her children, and her marriage. Now she wanders the streets. She is only 37. It is a sad disease.

Re: Anxiety, I too suffer from it at times. I tried the buspar, it didnt work as well as xanex. I take 1/2 at nite, it helps me to sleep also. I get so hyper it is unreal @ times.

Hope all is well with you. As for the airport, shoot, I drop my family off and pick them up. I hate goodbyes!!!! I never go into the terminal, UNLESS its pickup time and they havent been here awhile. Other than that, I drop um off at the doors and pickup also, saves parking and hassle.

-- sumer (shh@aol.con), May 01, 2001.

I heard that a psychiatrist can give a person a test (detailed - usually takes 30-40 minutes to fill it out) to determine whether or not a person is manic depressive. I'm looking for a similiar test, only for schizophrenia. I can't find any such thing on google search. Maybe something like that isn't available on the net(?). Can anyone help me out, please?

-- (bygrace@thru.faith), May 01, 2001.

By grace, I cant help, sorry. IF you find something, please post it here., okay?

I would think a blood test would be able to tell re: schizophrenia? sp?

Does anyone know *if* a test has EVER been done to determine TRUE Clinical Depression? I was told it goes by a question type of deal. If thats the case, certainly tooo many people (imho) would then be mis-diagnosed?

-- sumer (sh@aol.con), May 01, 2001.

sumer -

If I find anything, I'll let you know. Don't hold your breath though - I've looked and looked and looked.......

Can anyone find a detailed questionare used in determining whether or not a person is schizophrenic? It should be obvious by the symptoms, but I'd really like to see a test. Anyone got a psychiatrist friend who specializes in schizophrenia that would give you such a test and results and you could post it here? Please?

-- (bygrace@thru.faith), May 01, 2001.

Schizophrenia, then, is a disorder of the brain. The distinguished neurologist C. S. Sherrington once referred to a normal brain as "as enchanted loom," taking the threads of experience and weaving them into the fabric of life. For persons whose brains are affliced with schizophrenia the loom is broken, and in some cases appears to have been replaced by a Waring blender which produce jumbled thoughts and loose association. Given the resulting cerebral cacophony, is it any wonder that patients with this disease often describe their life as like being in the Twilight Zone?

Some people with schizophrenia are aware of the misfunctioning of their brain; this is what is called insight. A few of them even tell those around them in the early stages of illness that somethihng is going wrong with their head. One mother remembered her son holding his head and pleading: "Help me, Mom, something is wrong in my head." John Hinckley wrote a letter to his parents (but never sent it), in which he said: 'I don't know what's the matter. Things are not going well. I think there's something wrong with my head." One of the most poignant stories I have ever heard concerned a very bright teenage boy who realized that something was going wrong with his brain in the earliest stages of the disease and then spent months in the local medical libraries researching the illness before his symptoms became too severe. I another instance a parent told me that her son "had diagnosed himself as having schizophrenia" before anyone in the family fully realized that he was sick.

Such insight is usually lost as the disease becomes fully manifest. This is not surprising since it is the brain which is malfunctioning and it is also the brain which we use to think about ourselves. In fact I am always surprised at the many patients with schizophrenia who have ingsight. Even in the stage of chronic illness an occasional person with schizophrenia will exhibit surprising insight. One woman, afflicted by schizophrenia for many years, wrote me that she would gladly "sacrifice my right arm to make my brain work." Another woman who has had severe schizophrenia for seven years, when I asked her what she was asking for at Christmas, looked at me sadly, paused for a moment, and then replied: "A mind."

Imagine what it would be like to have the alterations of the senses, the inability to interpret incoming stimuli, the delusions and hallucinations, changes in bodily boundaries, emotions, and movements that are described above. Imagine what it would be like to no longer be able to trust your brain when it told you something. As one very articulate woman with schizophrenia axplained to me, the problem is one of "a self-measuring ruler" - that is you must use your malfunctioning brain to assess the malfunction of your brain. Is it any wonder that people with this disease get depressed? Is it any wonder that they frequently feel humiliated by their own behavior? If a worse disease that schizophrenia exists, it has not come to light.

-- E. Fuller Torrey, M.D...... clinical and research psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia.

-- (bygrace@thru.faith), May 01, 2001.

test

-- (Devil m@y .care), May 01, 2001.

hawk needs to take the BPD test at that site.

sumer needs to take the anxiety and depression test.

everybody on this board needs to take those tests because we're all looney.

-- (it @helped.me), May 01, 2001.

Easy now and repeat after me...sumer is not depressed. Okay?

There you feel better? BTW, anyone around here care to define normal?

-- sumer (sh@aol.con), May 01, 2001.

7 out of 20 on BPD test

is this bad? lol

-- (just@wondering.not really), May 01, 2001.

it -- speak for yourself. Everything around me is looney, but I myself am FINE.

-- helen (not_looney@all.here), May 01, 2001.

http://www.theonion.com/onion3716/god_diagnosed_bipolar.html

Can somebody link this for me?

-- helen (helpful@all.times), May 01, 2001.

Helen 's Link

-- (ass'tlibrarian@work.now), May 02, 2001.

My brother had schizophrenia and commited suicide a few months ago by overdose , We didnt realize how bad he was ...we just thought he was depressed and a bit weird....he had the whole paranoid thing and was convinced people were after him etc....I think he done the right thing in the end rather than going to an institution... when I last spoke to him it seemed he was getting worse by the week.....not a pleasant disease

-- Ray (ray2000@breathe.com), January 01, 2003.