Schizophrenia
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Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that is characterized by severe impaired thinking, behaviors, and emotions. In 1908 a Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuker, coined the term schizophrenia. Schizophrenia derived from 2 Greek words, schzein meaning "to split", and phren, meaning "mind". Dr. Bleuler used this term to explain the splitting apart of mental functions that he believed was the essential nature of the condition. [Gale Research (1999)]
Characteristics of schizophrenia can fall into two categories, positive or negative. Positive symptoms often reflect a distortion or excess of normal functions, whereas negative symptoms consist of a loss of normal functions. Positive symptoms include distortion of thoughts (delusions), hallucinations, disorganized speech, and grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior. Characteristics of negative symptoms include lack of emotional expressions, restrictions in productivity of thought and speech, and reduction in goal productive behavior. [DSM-IV-TR (2000)]
Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness...