Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
Although there have been fewer studies on schizophrenia in children compared
to adults, researchers are finding that in children as young as 6 years old can
be found to have all the symptoms of their adult counterparts and to continue to
have those symptoms into adulthood.
What is the history of schizophrenia?
The term schizophrenia has only been in use since 1911. Soon before that, it
was deemed a separate mental illness in 1887 by Emil Kraepelin. Despite
that relatively recent history, it has been described throughout written
history. Ancient Egyptian, Hindu, Chinese, Greek, and Roman writings described
symptoms similar to the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. During medieval
times, schizophrenia, like other illnesses, was often viewed as evidence of the
sufferer being possessed by spirits or evil powers.
A number of accomplished individuals suffer from schizophrenia. The film
A Beautiful Mind depicts the life of John Nash, a noted scientist, and
his struggles with paranoid schizophrenia. The film The
Soloist explores the challenges faced by Juilliard-trained musician Nathaniel Ayers as a
result of schizophrenia.
What are causes of schizophrenia? Is it hereditary?
One frequently asked question about schizophrenia is if it is hereditary. As
with most other mental disorders, schizophrenia is not directly passed from one
generation to another genetically, and there is no single cause for this
illness. Rather, it is the result of a complex group of genetic, psychological,
and environmental factors. Genetically, schizophrenia
and bipolar disorder have much in common, in that the two disorders share a
number of the same risk genes. However, the fact is that both illnesses also
have some genetic factors that are unique. There are some genetic commonalities with schizophrenia and epilepsy as well.
Environmentally, the risks of developing schizophrenia can even occur before
birth. For example, the risk of schizophrenia is increased in individuals whose
mother had one of certain infections during pregnancy.
Difficult life circumstances during childhood, like the early loss of a parent,
parental poverty, bullying, witnessing parental violence; being the victim of emotional, sexual, or
physical abuse or of physical or emotional neglect; and insecure attachment have been
associated with the development of this illness. Even factors like how well
represented an ethnic group is in a neighborhood can be a risk or protective
factor for developing schizophrenia. For example, some research indicates that
ethnic minorities may be more at risk for developing this disorder if there are
fewer members of the ethnic group to which the individual belongs in their
neighborhood.
Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts and affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. The principal types of depression are major depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disease (also called manic-depressive disease).
Alcoholism is a disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law.
Suicide is the process of intentionally ending one's own life. Approximately 1 million people worldwide commit suicide each year, and 10 million to 20 million attempt suicide annually.
Bipolar disorder (or manic depression) is a mental illness characterized by depression, mania, and severe mood swings. Treatment may incorporate mood stabilizer medications, antidepressants, and psychotherapy.
Dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder or split personality disorder) is a mental illness in which a person has at least two distinct personalities. Symptoms and signs include lapses in memory, feeling unreal, blackouts in time, hearing voices in their head that are not their own, not recognizing themselves in the mirror, and finding items in one's possession but not recalling how they were acquired. Treatment usually involves psychotherapy, medications, and sometimes hypnosis.
Drug addiction is a chronic disease that causes drug-seeking behavior and drug use despite negative consequences to the user and those around him. Though the initial decision to use drugs is voluntary, changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self-control and ability to make the right decisions and increase the urge to take drugs. Drug abuse and addiction are preventable.
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has many symptoms, signs, and causes. Therapy is one treatment option for antisocial personality disorder. It is closely related to other personality disorders (PD), such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
Psychotic disorders are a group of serious illnesses that affect the mind. Different types of psychotic disorders include schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, brief psychotic disorder, shared psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, substance-induced psychotic disorder, paraphrenia, and psychotic disorders due to medical conditions.
Schizoaffective disorder is a mental illness that features schizophrenia and a mood disorder, either major depression or bipolar disorder. Symptoms include agitation, suicidal thoughts, little need for sleep, delusions, hallucinations, and poor motivation. Treatment may involve psychotherapy, medication, skills training, or hospitalization.
Mental illness is any disease or condition affecting the brain that influence the way a person thinks, feels, behaves, and/or relates to others. Mental illness is caused by heredity, biology, psychological trauma and environmental stressors.
Compulsive gambling is a disorder that affects millions in the U.S. Symptoms and signs include a preoccupation with gambling, lying to family or loved ones to hide gambling, committing crimes to finance gambling, and risking importance relationships and employment due to gambling. Treatment may incorporate participation in Gamblers' Anonymous, psychotherapy, and medications like carbamazepine, topiramate, lithium, naltrexone, antidepressants, clomipramine, and fluvoxamine.
About 5 million children and adolescents in the U.S. suffer from a serious mental illness such as eating disorders, anxiety disorders, disruptive behavior disorders, pervasive development disorders, elimination disorders, learning disorders, schizophrenia, tic disorders, and mood disorders. Symptoms of mental illness include frequent outbursts of anger, hyperactivity, fear of gaining weight, excessive worrying, frequent temper tantrums, and hearing voices that aren't there. Treatment may involve medication, psychotherapy, and creative therapies.
Brief psychotic disorder is a short-term mental illness that features psychotic symptoms. There are three forms of brief psychotic disorder. The first occurs shortly after a major stress, the second has no apparent trauma that triggers the illness, and the third is associated with postpartum onset. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, unusual behavior, disorientation, changes in eating and sleeping, and speech that doesn't make sense. Treatment typically involves medication and psychotherapy.
Factitious disorders are conditions in which people pretend to have physical or mental illnesses when they aren't sick. These people may lie about or fake symptoms to obtain the sympathy and attention given to people who are genuinely ill. Symptoms of factitious disorders include dramatic, inconsistent medical history, the presence of many surgical scars, and a history of seeking treatment at many different hospitals.
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