V:

V

1. Of, relating to, or affected with schizophrenia.
2. Of, relating to, or characterized by the coexistence of disparate or antagonistic elements.

:

One who is affected with schizophrenia?

And infantile behavior; and catatonic schizophrenia, characterized by physical rigidity or hyperactivity. Paranoid schizophrenics can often function relatively normally, although they may be disturbed by a very rare psychological disorder in which a person has two or more distinct personalities, each with its own thoughts, feelings, and patterns of behavior. The personalities often are direct opposites and dominate at different times, with abrupt transitions triggered by distressful events or memories. Each may be entirely unaware of the other but aware of unexplained gaps in remembered time. In psychiatry the condition is known as dissociative identity disorder. The term "split personality," denoting schizophrenia, refers to an unrelated disorder in which the split (separation) is between thought and feeling. Multiple personality was first recognized and described by the French physician Pierre Janet in the late 19th cent. Public awareness of the disorder increased in contemporary times after a case was the subject of The Three Faces of Eve (1957). In the 1980s and early 90s, such factors as recognition of child abuse, public interest in memories recovered from childhood (whether of actual or imagined events), allegations of so-called satanic ritual abuse, and the willingness of many psychotherapists to assume a more directive role in their patients' treatment, led to what came to be regarded as a rash of overdiagnoses of multiple personality. The cause of multiple personality is not clearly understood, but the condition seems almost invariably to be associated with severe physical abuse and neglect in childhood. It is believed that amnesia, the key to formation of the separate personalities, occurs as a psychological barrier to seal off unbearably painful experiences from consciousness. The disorder often occurs in childhood but may not be recognized until much later. Social and psychological impairment ranges from mild to severe. The primary treatment is psychotherapy to help the individual integrate the separate personalities. See study by J. Acocella (1999). Schizophrenic disorders generally begin in the late teenage years or early adulthood and tend to occur in withdrawn, seclusive individuals. The lifetime prevalence worldwide has been estimated to be just under 1%, and the disorder affects 1.5 to 2 million people in the United States alone. Symptoms include disturbances of thought, both in form and content (see delusion), and disturbances of perception, most commonly appearing as visual or aural hallucinations There are five major types of schizophrenia listed by the American Psychiatric Association in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The most severe are disorganized (hebephrenic) schizophrenia, characterized by hallucinations, delusions, inappropriate laughing and crying, incoherent speech, persecutory delusions and hallucinations, and they tend to exhibit argumentative behavior. The presence of a combination of symptoms from other types is classified as undifferentiated schizophrenia. Residual schizophrenia is constituted by minor symptoms, which occur as an active episode diminishes. The cause of schizophrenia is unknown. Genetic factors appear to be involved in producing susceptibility to the condition, with studies among identical twins showing a 30—50% concordance rate, a figure that has been confirmed by the results of adoption studies. Biochemical research suggests that high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine, or excessive numbers of receptors for dopamine, may be at the root of schizophrenia. Medical imaging studies have revealed various physical and physiological anomalies in some patients. Other research has focused on mistiming of neural responses to stimuli in the brain. Many researchers maintain that a combination of influences, including such environmental factors as viral illness or malnutrition in the patient's mother during pregnancy, may lead to schizophrenia, Antipsychotic drugs (see psychopharmacology), sometimes in conjunction with psychotherapy, have greatly improved the treatment of schizophrenia. Hospitalization is sometimes needed initially to provide basic personal needs (safety, food, and hygiene) while acute symptoms are treated. Most patients return to the community with varying degrees of independence and with good prospects for long-term remission of symptoms.   psychopharmacology   sī´´kōfär´´m kŏl´ jē) , in its broadest sense, the study of all pharmacological agents that affect mental and emotional functions. The term is usually applied more specifically to the study and synthesis of drugs used in the control of psychiatric illnesses, namely the antipsychotic, antianxiety, antidepressant, and antimanic medications. The widespread use of drugs among individuals suffering from mental illness is a relatively recent phenomenon, developing since the 1950s. Antipsychotic drugs can ameliorate the types of delusions and hallucinations characteristic of bipolar disorder (see depression) and schizophrenia. The first drug of this type was reserpine, whose use dates from ancient Hindu medicine but whose reintroduction as an antipsychotic agent in 1954 marked the beginning of the large-scale use of antipsychotic drugs. Because of side effects, including depression, reserpine has been supplanted by phenothiazine drugs. The phenothiazine chlorpromazine (Thorazine) was the first to be widely applied to mental disorders and remains one of the standard drugs. Drugs of the phenothiazine family are most useful in the treatment of schizophrenia. They are thought to act in part by blocking dopamine receptors at the synapse, reducing brain activity. The phenothiazines and clozapine have been credited with a revolutionary transformation of mental health care, enabling increasing numbers of psychotic persons to function outside the hospital. Antipsychotic drugs may have negative side effects, such as the dulling of physical and mental functioning, tardive dyskinesia, and sedation. Antianxiety Drugs Antianxiety drugs, including the propanediol meprobamate (Miltown or Equanil), and the more recent benzodiazephines–such as diazepam (Valium)–have found wide use in reducing tension and anxiety among individuals with less serious mental disorders, but may lead to addiction if abused. Although they form a chemically diverse group, the physiological effects of each are similar; in small doses they relieve anxiety by reducing muscular tension, and in larger doses they produce sedation, sleep, and anesthesia (see depressant). Antianxiety drugs are the most frequently prescribed pharmaceuticals in the United States. Antidepressants Antidepressants appeared in the late 1950s, and have been used in the treatment of individuals suffering from major depression or the depression phase of bipolar disorder. Antidepressants include the tricyclics and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. These drugs have the effect of increasing the concentration in the nervous system of catecholamines such as epinephrine. The toxic effects of the MAO inhibitors have been largely overcome in recent years, and the drugs are still used in many instances. They have been supplanted in many uses, however, by tricyclic compounds, such as amitriptyline (Elavil), and the newer serotonin increasers, such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline HCL (Zoloft). Tricyclics are chemically similar to phenothiazines, but that activate rather than tranquilize (see stimulant). The choice of an antidepressant often has more to do with its side effects than efficacy. Antimanic and Hallucinogenic Drugs The element lithium, in the form lithium carbonate, has been widely used as an antimanic in cases of bipolar disorder (manic-depression), particularly to control manic episodes. Lithium alters the transport of sodium ions in nerve and muscle cells and affects the metabolism of catecholamines; the exact mechanism of action is unknown. The hallucinogenic drugs, such as mescaline and LSD, have been of research interest because they often mimic natural psychotic states.