Schizophrenia symptoms usually develop slowly over months or years. Sometimes you may have many symptoms, and at other times you may only have a few.
People with any type of schizophrenia may have difficulty keeping friends and working. They may also have problems with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
At first, you may have the following symptoms:
Irritable or tense feeling
Difficulty sleeping
Difficulty concentrating
As the illness continues, problems with thinking, emotions and behavior develop, including:
Lack of emotion (flat affect)
Strongly held beliefs that are not based in reality (delusions)
Hearing or seeing things that are not there (hallucinations)
Problems paying attention
Thoughts "jump" between unrelated topics ( “loose associations”)
Bizarre behaviors
Social isolation
Symptoms can vary, depending on the type of schizophrenia you have.
Paranoid schizophrenia symptoms may include:
Anxious
Angry or argumentative
False believes that others are trying to harm you or your loved ones.
Disorganized schizophrenia symptoms may include:
Problems with thinking and expressing ideas clearly
Childlike behavior
Showing little emotion
Catatonic schizophrenia symptoms may include:
Lack of activity
Muscles and posture may be rigid
Grimaces or other odd expressions on the face
Does not respond much to other people
Undifferentiated schizophrenia symptoms may include symptoms of more than one other type of schizophrenia.
People with residual schizophrenia have some symptoms, but not as many as those who are in a full-blown episode of schizophrenia.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Is your child hyperactive?
ATTENTION Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), once called hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction, is one of the most common mental disorders among children.
It affects three to five percent of all children. ADHD often continues into adolescence and adulthood, which can cause emotional pain.
Children with ADHD often can't sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be fully aware of what's going on around them. To their family and classmates, they seem to exist in a whirlwind of disorganised or frenzied activity. At certain times, they seem fine, often leading others to think the person with ADHD can actually control these behaviours.
Scientists have not yet identified a single cause behind all the different patterns of behaviour. The main reason seems to be slow and improper functioning of certain areas of the brain. This may have a genetic or familial basis, and may also be related to drugs and toxins, to which the pregnant mother may have been exposed to.
The most common behaviours, for children with ADHD, fall into three categories-inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
People who are inattentive have a hard time keeping their mind on any one thing, and may get bored with a task, after only a few minutes. They may give effortless, automatic attention to activities and things they enjoy. But focusing deliberate, conscious attention to organising and completing a task or learning something new is difficult. Signs are:
Kids become easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds.
Children fail to look into details and make careless mistakes.
They rarely follow instructions carefully and completely.
They lose or forget things like toys, or pencils, books, etc.
Children who are hyperactive always seem to be in motion. They can't sit still. Hyperactive children squirm in their seat or roam around the room. Or they might shake their feet or noisily tap their pencil.
Children who are overly impulsive seem unable to curb their immediate reactions or think before they act. As a result, they may blurt out inappropriate comments. Or they may run into the street without looking. They may grab a toy from another child, or hit out when they're upset.
Impulsive symptoms are :
Restless feeling, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or they squirm.
They run, climb, or leave a seat, when they are expected to sit quiet or remain silent.
Blurting out answers before hearing the whole question.
They have difficulty waiting in line or for their turn.
A few other symptoms of dysfunction include lack of foresight and poor hindsight, poor organisation, sense of time, lack of sense of self-awareness and reading of social clues. Such children get angry frequently they lie, curse, steal, and blame others.
Not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive, or impulsive has an attention disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), has very strict criteria for the most common mental disorders including description, diagnosis, treatment, and research findings. It is published by the American Psychiatric Association, and is the main diagnostic reference of Mental Health professionals.
According to the DSM-IV, these behaviours appear early in life, before the age of seven and continue for at least six months. They must be more frequent or severe than in others, of the same age. Above all, the behaviours create a real handicap, in at least two areas of a person's life, such as school, home, work, or social settings. So someone whose work or friendships are not impaired by these behaviours would not be diagnosed with ADHD. Nor would a child who seems overly active at school but functions well elsewhere
It's also important to realise that during certain stages of development, the majority of children that age tend to be inattentive, hyperactive, or impulsive-but do not have ADHD. Pre-schoolers have lots of energy and run everywhere they go, but this doesn't mean they are hyperactive.
Certain conditions that can mimic ADHD, but are not ADHD are underachievement at school due to a learning disability, attention lapses caused by seizures, middle ear infection that causes an intermittent hearing problem, disruptive or unresponsive behaviour due to anxiety or depression, emotional disturbances, fears, phobias and children who are victims of child abuse.
The diagnosis and treatments involve close cooperation between a child specialist, a neurologist, a psychologist and a speech therapist.
Medicines to reduce hyperactivity and increase the attention span are plenty. Psychotherapy, coginitve-behavioural therapy. Psychotherapy to help people with ADHD to like and accept themselves despite their disorders and learn alternative ways to handle their emotions. Cognitive-behavioural therapy helps people work on immediate issues. It supports them directly in changing their behaviour.
It helps the child to learn to think through tasks, and organize his work or to encourage new behaviours. Social skills training can also help children learn new behaviors. In social skills training, the child is taught appropriate behaviors like waiting for a turn, sharing toys, asking for help, or responding to teasing, etc. Support groups connect people who have common concerns. Many adults with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD find it useful to join a support group. Sharing experiences with others who have similar problems helps people know that they aren't alone.
Parenting skills training gives parents tools and techniques for managing their child's behavior.
It affects three to five percent of all children. ADHD often continues into adolescence and adulthood, which can cause emotional pain.
Children with ADHD often can't sit still, plan ahead, finish tasks, or be fully aware of what's going on around them. To their family and classmates, they seem to exist in a whirlwind of disorganised or frenzied activity. At certain times, they seem fine, often leading others to think the person with ADHD can actually control these behaviours.
Scientists have not yet identified a single cause behind all the different patterns of behaviour. The main reason seems to be slow and improper functioning of certain areas of the brain. This may have a genetic or familial basis, and may also be related to drugs and toxins, to which the pregnant mother may have been exposed to.
The most common behaviours, for children with ADHD, fall into three categories-inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
People who are inattentive have a hard time keeping their mind on any one thing, and may get bored with a task, after only a few minutes. They may give effortless, automatic attention to activities and things they enjoy. But focusing deliberate, conscious attention to organising and completing a task or learning something new is difficult. Signs are:
Kids become easily distracted by irrelevant sights and sounds.
Children fail to look into details and make careless mistakes.
They rarely follow instructions carefully and completely.
They lose or forget things like toys, or pencils, books, etc.
Children who are hyperactive always seem to be in motion. They can't sit still. Hyperactive children squirm in their seat or roam around the room. Or they might shake their feet or noisily tap their pencil.
Children who are overly impulsive seem unable to curb their immediate reactions or think before they act. As a result, they may blurt out inappropriate comments. Or they may run into the street without looking. They may grab a toy from another child, or hit out when they're upset.
Impulsive symptoms are :
Restless feeling, often fidgeting with hands or feet, or they squirm.
They run, climb, or leave a seat, when they are expected to sit quiet or remain silent.
Blurting out answers before hearing the whole question.
They have difficulty waiting in line or for their turn.
A few other symptoms of dysfunction include lack of foresight and poor hindsight, poor organisation, sense of time, lack of sense of self-awareness and reading of social clues. Such children get angry frequently they lie, curse, steal, and blame others.
Not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive, or impulsive has an attention disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), has very strict criteria for the most common mental disorders including description, diagnosis, treatment, and research findings. It is published by the American Psychiatric Association, and is the main diagnostic reference of Mental Health professionals.
According to the DSM-IV, these behaviours appear early in life, before the age of seven and continue for at least six months. They must be more frequent or severe than in others, of the same age. Above all, the behaviours create a real handicap, in at least two areas of a person's life, such as school, home, work, or social settings. So someone whose work or friendships are not impaired by these behaviours would not be diagnosed with ADHD. Nor would a child who seems overly active at school but functions well elsewhere
It's also important to realise that during certain stages of development, the majority of children that age tend to be inattentive, hyperactive, or impulsive-but do not have ADHD. Pre-schoolers have lots of energy and run everywhere they go, but this doesn't mean they are hyperactive.
Certain conditions that can mimic ADHD, but are not ADHD are underachievement at school due to a learning disability, attention lapses caused by seizures, middle ear infection that causes an intermittent hearing problem, disruptive or unresponsive behaviour due to anxiety or depression, emotional disturbances, fears, phobias and children who are victims of child abuse.
The diagnosis and treatments involve close cooperation between a child specialist, a neurologist, a psychologist and a speech therapist.
Medicines to reduce hyperactivity and increase the attention span are plenty. Psychotherapy, coginitve-behavioural therapy. Psychotherapy to help people with ADHD to like and accept themselves despite their disorders and learn alternative ways to handle their emotions. Cognitive-behavioural therapy helps people work on immediate issues. It supports them directly in changing their behaviour.
It helps the child to learn to think through tasks, and organize his work or to encourage new behaviours. Social skills training can also help children learn new behaviors. In social skills training, the child is taught appropriate behaviors like waiting for a turn, sharing toys, asking for help, or responding to teasing, etc. Support groups connect people who have common concerns. Many adults with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD find it useful to join a support group. Sharing experiences with others who have similar problems helps people know that they aren't alone.
Parenting skills training gives parents tools and techniques for managing their child's behavior.
"Client/Patients are requested to send their case histories by email in tirthankar@moneralo.com
"Client/Patients are requested to send their case histories by email in tirthankar@moneralo.com
Friday, August 5, 2011
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