Schizophrenia is a human mental disorder that alters and affects peoples thinking capabilities, actions, and emotions. Moreover, the conditions also change people’s perception of reality and influence a person’s social behavior. In this sense, schizophrenia determines people’s relationships and circles. Although schizophrenia is rare compared to other mental disorders, the condition is considered one of the deadliest mental disorders, most chronic and disabling. Social, economic, and behavioral failures characterize people suffering from this disorder. They tend to have problems at work, school, and in relationships. These people feel frightened or withdrawn and sometimes engulfed in a non-reality world more openly. Schizophrenia has no cure but can only be controlled through proper medication.
Patterns of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is not common today; this condition can be most chronic and severe when it occurs. According to Kettunen et al. (2021), about one percent of the world population is affected by schizophrenia. No race is considered vulnerable to this condition because schizophrenia affects whites and blacks. Seeman (2019) found that about 3.2 million Americans were diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014. The report also anticipated that about 1.5 million were shortly at risk of developing schizophrenia. Controversies exist concerning predisposing age that is vulnerable to schizophrenia. The truth is that the condition can affect people regardless of their ages. This means that schizophrenia affects both youths and adults, but the onset is most linked to the early ages. Previous research has ascertained that children and the aged are not susceptible to schizophrenia disorder. However, schizophrenia mostly affects youth and young adults between the ages of 16 and 25 (Sommer et al., 2020). Therefore, in rare cases is, schizophrenia symptoms witnessed in young children and the aged.
Schizophrenia, according to several researches, affects both men and women. However, men show high vulnerability as the development of this disorder is concerned. The onset of schizophrenic symptoms among men starts at earlier ages. According to Seeman (2019), schizophrenic symptoms among men begin as early as 18 years. On the contrary, women only become vulnerable to schizophrenia at about 25 years, and even some could develop it as late as 30 years. The development of schizophrenic symptoms among youths and adults begins with a gradual change of behaviors and experiences. For example, a person affected by schizophrenia shows anxiety, restlessness, broken speech, and hallucinations. Seeman (2019) found that a schizophrenic person loses sense of reality and cannot distinguish between natural feelings and situations. In the early stages of schizophrenia, it is challenging for observers to notice behavioral changes. Still, the sufferers show odd feelings, thoughts, and false perceptions that could be confused with regular meditation. With the onset of the psychotic process, the schizophrenic symptoms become pronounced, and the sufferers begin to reflect the inner perceptual distortions. At this stage, observes can crystal clear tell the odd behaviors and feelings of a schizophrenic person.
Generally, schizophrenia occurs when truly odd and irrational behaviors are expressed by the individual purported to suffer from schizophrenia. The onset period of schizophrenic symptoms is known as a psychotic break or first break. According to Seeman (2019), schizophrenic persons experience internal disturbances during psychosis. The family members and close associates only witness the outward psychotic breaks. These outwards symptoms include sleep disturbance, lack of appetite, weakness, energy, and poor school performance. However, it is essential to note that the objective psychotic process occurs when the schizophrenia symptoms are well pronounced and vividly noticeable by people surrounding the sufferer (Sallis et al., 2020). After the psychotic break follows a symptom-rich period known as the active phase or florid psychosis. In this context, florid, which means the flower, is metaphorically used to indicate that this is the final state or result of schizophrenia. Finally, schizophrenia does not usually occur, but it is generally considered chronic that affects patients’ lives for life when it happens. In cases where schizophrenia is mild and treatment is correctly administered, the first break may cease and be the last break. The first break leads to various pattern periods of recovery and active psychosis phases throughout patients’ lives if not properly treated.
Research Question
Previous research concerning schizophrenia has done quite a lot in determining the state and effect of this condition among the affected persons. However, these researches do not point out if men are more susceptible to schizophrenia than women. Therefore, this research strives to uncover the truth of how schizophrenia affects both men and women regardless of their ages. This research, therefore, aims at finding how schizophrenia affects men and women and the gender differences as schizophrenic symptoms are concerned.
Background Information
Schizophrenia though not a common condition globally, this condition does affect a considerable number of the world population. According to Sommer et al. (2020) reports, schizophrenia was found to affect 0.65 percent of the United States population. This disorder is no joke and should be addressed in its early stages because it can have immense impacts on one’s life and also on the members of the community. It has been found that the onset of schizophrenia conditions appears differently in men and women. In their research, Ochoa et al. (2012) found that men are more susceptible to schizophrenia than women. Both men and women are both at risk of developing schizophrenia. However, the onset of this brain disease shows a different pattern as much previous research has shown that men tend to build schizophrenia earlier than women. According to this research, men get diagnosed with schizophrenia in their late 20s. On the other hand, schizophrenic symptoms in women appear as late as 30 years as they approach menopause.
Although the cause of schizophrenia is not settled, several medical experts have suggested that both genes and environment play a significant role in developing the brain disorder. However, more research is still ongoing, and more are underway to ascertain the enormous hypotheses surrounding the causes of schizophrenia. Dragoi & Vladuti (2020) suggests the causes of schizophrenia and identified exposure to viruses and malnutrition. Moreover, the study further shows that cannabis abuse is also another risk factor that leads to the development of this condition. Although Dragoi & Vladuti (2020) could not find why schizophrenia onset development is linked to late adolescence, they suggested that many theories of brain development explain the onset of schizophrenia in adolescents. Further, the human brain is purported to undergo changes and develop during puberty. According to this study, the disease may be triggered mainly among those with high risk. Hormones are also linked with schizophrenia development in both men and women. Gottesman et al. (2019) explain why women get signs of schizophrenia later than men citing that they go through puberty earlier than men and, as such, get protected by estrogen hormone.
Further research has also contributed to the cause and development of schizophrenia diseases among children. According to Sallis et al. (2020), schizophrenia, like other neuropsychiatric illnesses, has a typical history with late adolescence. The previous neuroimaging studies focused on adolescents found that this age bracket is susceptible to schizophrenia because their minds are going through developmental changes that put them at high risk. This study also confirms that the onset of this mental disorder was experienced by prominent males under the age of 25 compared to the number of females reported to have the condition under the same period. The onset of schizophrenia results from brain insults that affect prenatal brain development, resulting in pathophysiological mechanisms predisposing the mature brain to schizophrenia Ochoa et al. (2012). The research further relates brain insult at any stage of life to be the leading cause of schizophrenia globally. The two researchers agree that changes in the brain cause schizophrenia development in young men and women, and the onset of schizophrenia in men appears earlier than in women.
Schizophrenia’s gender differences symptoms is an area that researchers have explored to settle the conflicting issues as the disease symptom in men and women is concerned. However, disparities exist because several types of research done in this area are inconsistent, and thus the controversies have not been concluded. Seeman (2019) acknowledges the work of other authors who found that gender differences influence the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The research found that most men with negative schizophrenia symptoms were more than women. A study of 270 people purported to be schizophrenic revealed that men recorded higher disorganization and negative symptoms than women (Kettunen et al., 2021). However, other previous research has found no crucial clinical differences in symptoms of schizophrenia in men and women. In addition, this study still presents conflicting research ideas based on the prevalence of gender differences in schizophrenia symptoms. Concerning the first episode of psychosis, the research also showed significant differences in symptoms in men and women affected with schizophrenia. Li et al. (2016) reported that women recorded high levels of anxiety, illogical thinking, and inappropriate effects, among other bizarre behaviors, compared to men assessed.
As aforementioned, schizophrenia thwarts a person’s way of thinking and often exhibits odd emotions, feelings, and behaviors. The broad signs and symptoms of schizophrenia included delusion, hallucinations, and broken speech. Seeman (2019) presents that a person affected by schizophrenia loses sense of reality and is engulfed in a non-reality world. According to Kettunen et al. (2021), schizophrenia symptoms start between the mid to early 20s. Other previous research claimed that it is scarce to get the sign of schizophrenia in young children below the age of 13 years. Schizophrenia signs and symptoms vary depending on the type and severity, period, and remission. According to Seeman (2019), it is tough to tell if one is suffering from this mental disorder until a diagnosis is made to ascertain the conditions in the early stages. Previous research says that signs and symptoms of schizophrenia at an early stage in children resemble those shown by an adult. However, it is challenging to assess onset signs and symptoms.
Assessing the signs of schizophrenia entails giving close attention to victims’ thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Mentally, persons alleged of this condition experience poor thinking, reasoning, and bizarre ideas. Behaviorally, the victims break ties with friends, troubled sleep, lack motivation, and agitation. Emotionally, they experience depression, lack of emotions, extreme anxiety, and excess suspicion (Jindal et al., 2013). But as the situation worsens, the victims show some severe concerns that include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking, abnormal motor behavior, and negative symptoms.
Terminologies Description of the Diagnosis
Schizophrenia development as a human mental disorder consists of three stages. The distinct stages have shown different signs and symptoms that the doctors and psychiatrists used to tell which stage a schizophrenic person is in. the development of schizophrenia starts with unnoticeable signs and symptoms. As the condition worsens, the symptoms become pronounced until a person’s thinking and behaviors are altered. The development stages of the disorder include: prodromal, active, and residual.
Prodromal is the first stage of schizophrenia development in the human brain. This occurs before the onset of psychotic symptoms, and it is characterized by hard to notice symptoms. During the prodromal stage, schizophrenic people undergo both behavioral and cognitive reshapes. However, with no proper medication and treatment, the condition progresses to psychosis. This stage involves vast, broad symptoms that are pretty common to all types of mental illnesses. They include social isolation, lack of motivation, anxiety, irritability, and difficulty in concentrating. The second stage of schizophrenia development is the active phase. This is the stage where the signs and symptoms of schizophrenia become proposed and the people affected show real signs and symptoms of psychosis. Active schizophrenia entails apparent symptoms, including hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought, and disorganized speech. Finally, the final stage in diagnosing schizophrenia is the residual phase. In this stage of schizophrenia development, a person suffering from this condition experiences fewer severe signs and symptoms as witnessed in active schizophrenia. The symptoms in this phase include social withdrawal, difficulty in concentration, sadness, and flat or monotone voice.
Methods
Participants
The participants for this study were both male and female purported to have a history of schizophrenia in their lives. A total of 100 participants were registered in this study, of which 69 were females, and 31 were male. The average age was computed to be 26 years. The range of ages was from 18- 30 years for the men and women who participated in this study. The study population included many participants from different races, both women and children, to prove that schizophrenia affects people of other races. The participants were acquired from Genocide Mental Hospital, which deals and care for children and youth with mental disorders. Before the research was conducted, permission was granted both from the Head department of the hospital and human cohesion head office. The study also obtained legal procedures for the human cohesion bodies concerned with human rights.
Materials
The data collection was done using a survey where both digital and physical questionnaires were issued to the participants. The question was both structured and unstructured, and the participants were expected first to choose an answer from the provided solutions. To engage the participants more, unstructured questions were also part of the survey questions. This was deliberate and essential to get a wide range of feelings about schizophrenia in young men and women. The questions for this study were structured so that the responses could answer the study research question. In assessing their mental states, the measured variables included the ability to express themselves, level of delusion and hallucinations, anxiety level, negative and positive signs, and depression.
Procedure
- Identified the reason for researching the development of schizophrenia in men and women.
- The variables to be measured bring out the topic under investigation.
- The required instrument, research design, and materials necessary for the experiment were prepared and set. For example, both open-ended and closed questionnaires and survey papers to be distributed to the target population to collect appropriate data for analysis were prepared. Moreover, questions were designed in line with the research question and were simple to be understood by the participants.
- Requested permission from the head of the hospital dealing and caring for youths with mental disorders to their data and collect more data from the individual patients.
- Upon getting approved by the hospital and relevant ethical bodies, the participants have grouped, of which each unit had a maximum of ten people, which means six groups for women and three groups for men.
- The questionnaires were distributed to both caregivers and the patients themselves to give their answers and opinions on schizophrenia signs and symptoms in men and women. Moreover, a special questionnaire specifically meant for doctors and caregivers requests doctors to provide information on how both men and women in their care unit responded to schizophrenia drugs and other medications.
- The filled data were recollected and ready for analysis and interpretation.
References
Dragoi, A. M., & Vladuti, A. (2020). The comorbidity between schizophrenia and alcohol. Substance addiction and alcohol use link to schizophrenia. Journal of Educational Sciences & Psychology, 10(1), 141-148.
Gottesman, I. I., Shields, J., & Hanson, D. R. (1982). Schizophrenia. CUP Archive. Hammes, S. R., & Levin, E. R. (2019). Impact of estrogens in males and androgens in females. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 129(5), 1818-1826.
Jindal, K. C., Singh, G. P., & Munjal, V. (2013). Aripiprazole versus olanzapine in the treatment of schizophrenia: A clinical study from India. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 17(1), 21-29.
Kettunen, P., Koistinen, E., Hintikka, J., & Perheentupa, A. (2021). Oestrogen therapy for postpartum depression: efficacy and adverse effects. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled pilot study. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 1-10.
Li, R., Ma, X., Wang, G., Yang, J., & Wang, C. (2016). Why sex differences in schizophrenia? Journal of Translational Neuroscience, 1(1), 37-42.
Ochoa, S., Usall, J., Cobo, J., Labad, X., & Kulkarni, J. (2012). Gender differences in schizophrenia and first-episode psychosis: A comprehensive literature review. Schizophrenia Research and Treatment, 1-9.
Sallis, H. M., Croft, J., Havdahl, A., Jones, H. J., Dunn, E. C., Smith, G. D., & Munafò et al., M. R. (2020). Genetic liability to schizophrenia is associated with exposure to traumatic events in childhood. Psychological Medicine, 51, 1814-1821.
Seeman, M. (2019). Does gender influence outcome in schizophrenia? Psychiatric Quarterly, 90, 173–184. Web.
Sommer, I. E., Tiihonen, J., van Mourik, A., Tanskanen, A., & Taipale, H. (2020). The clinical course of schizophrenia in women and men—a nation-wide cohort study. NPJ Schizophrenia, 6(1), 1-7.