Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects people in a psychological aspect; feelings, perceptions or their thoughts. It is caused by an abnormality in the brain. The brain of a schizophrenic person creates alternate neuronal circuits. These cause the symptoms. There are negative and positive symptoms. The positive symptoms are caused by a problem in the neurotransmitters. The neurotransmitters in our brain help us spread the information. There’s a neurotransmitter called ‘’dopamine’’. Schizophrenic people have really high levels of dopamine because the mesolimbic pathway (part of the brain) can’t control it well. This dopamine causes hallucinations (positive symptoms) related to our 5 senses. For example, their brain creates a certain taste, feel, or visual illusion. If a schizophrenic’s mind creates a creepy clown in front of them, they will see him as real as you or me. Because their brain creates it and makes them believe it a 100%. The negative effects are caused by the really low levels of dopamine on the mesocortical pathway (another part of the brain). These can be apathy, reductions in speech, social withdrawal, etc. There’s a solution to schizophrenia but it doesn’t completely help. Antipsychotics eliminate the positive symptoms but leave the negative ones. In conclusion, schizophrenia is a really difficult illness and it’s important to understand schizophrenics instead of rejecting them completely.

The development of Louis Wain’s paintings, an artist that had schizophrenia. 

Thalía S. L.

4th ESO A