Schiz

Le Figaro on the Web currently offers three very interesting podcasts on recognizing, treating, and living with schizophrenia. What was new to me in listening to these (16,17 minutes each) is not so much the progress but the greater humanity with which the subject is discussed compared to the days of Ken Kesey' Cuckoo's Nest. Today, the term is recognized as a catch-all for any confused thinking and behavior, for which there is a recognized physical manifestation is either over- or under-activity in various areas of the brain, and it is treated with drugs which alter dopamine (a transmitter of information between neurons) production.

Can it be a passing thing; it is really an illness. Symptoms are quite variable: positive symptoms include hallucinations, voices in the brain; negative symptoms might be a withdrawal from social activity, an inability to function; confusion symptoms include generalized disorder and incoherence. Older forms of medication just blocked dopamine, resulting in stiffness and lack of facial expression. The newer drugs, interestingly, might try to stimulate dopamine presence in certain parts of the brain. People with schiz are helped to function socially, and many attain near-normal lives. The key is treatment: the person's environment has to make sure that those in need receive it, and quickly. Since it is a condition that strikes the young adult, 16 to 30 years of age, it is imperative that no one be allowed to drift into incoherence for years on end. Coming back from that is terribly difficult.

There is a genetic pre-disposition to this illness but no one gene involved: we know that an identical twin has a 50-50 chance of being ill if his sibling is. People born in winter are more likely to develop the illness so that it is thought that a virus affecting brain development might be at work; various environmental traumatisms are suspected as well, physical and moral. Very heavy usage of cannabis before age 16 is a recognized causal factor.

The pods discuss the social aspects of the question in France: some 50% of homeless people are schizophrenic, a good number of people in prison are as well. These people are more likely victims than criminals.

Depression might mask schizophrenia for a while but the two are actually opposite conditions: Depressed people are hyper-sensitive and concerned about their image in the environment. The mentally ill are disconnected.

Those who receive treatment at the behest of their families are often very thankful afterwards: those who receive it as a function of legal enactments less so. A very few commit suicide once they realize how ill they are. Psychological help is needed to help the subject accept that he or she has a psychiatric condition.

Once it has set in, it is a lifelong condition but the subsequent life-progress is dramatically different from what it used to be. The patient has to grieve the passing of certain aspects of self and develop his or her strengths.