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ADVOCACY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA People who have Schizophrenia Need Your Support Of the estimated 1 percent of the world's population

stricken with schizophrenia, most remain largely disa led throughout adulthood! People with schizophrenia typically undergo a decline in "# when the illness sets in as the disease ravages the rain $ typically during young adulthood! Only a minority ever achieve gainful employment! Some 1% percent reside for long periods of time in state or county mental health facilities, and another 1% percent end up incarcerated for petty crimes and vagrancy! &oughly '( percent of people that have schizophrenia )not surprisingly, given the nature of the disease* live in poverty, with one in +( ending up homeless! ,ecause of poor social support, more individuals with schizophrenia ecome victims than perpetrators of violent crime! )source- Scientific .merican* /iven the continuing difficulties in getting treatment and other assistance for people with schizophrenia, the persistent misunderstandings a out schizophrenia in the general pu lic, and the often cruel and unusual in0ustices that efall them $ people with schizophrenia need as much assistance as you can give! Perhaps the most tireless e1ample of advocacy for the mentally ill was demonstrated y 2orothea 2i1, who )for over 3( years* visited 0ails and workhouses to identify the mentally ill and get them improved treatment, and testified efore state legislatures persistently and tirelessly to get them to uild additional state hospitals so that the mentally ill could e treated etter! Sadly, thing seem to have regressed in some ways since the late 14((s $ we again )in the 5S* have more mentally ill in 0ails than in psychiatric hospitals! 6ollowing is a short list of writings and audio recordings that outline some of the key issues facing people with schizophrenia $ and how you might help resolve them! 7e encourage you to 0oin in the attle against this devastating disease and the continuing in0ustices forced upon the people who suffer from it! HISTORY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

8he word 9schizophrenia9 is less than 1(( years old! :owever the disease was first identified as a discrete mental illness y 2r! ;mile <raepelin in the 144= and the illness itself is generally elieved to have accompanied mankind through its history! !!7ritten documents that identify Schizophrenia can e traced to the old Pharaonic ;gypt, as far ack as the second millennium efore >hrist! 2epression, dementia, as well as thought distur ances that are typical in schizophrenia are descri ed in detail in the ,ook of :earts! 8he :eart and the mind seem to have een synonymous in ancient ;gypt!8he physical illnesses were regarded as symptoms of the heart and the uterus and originating from the lood vessels or from purulence, fecal matter, a poison or demons!!. recent

study into the ancient /reek and &oman literature showed that although the general population pro a ly had an awareness of psychotic disorders, there was no condition that would meet the modern diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia in these societies! .t one point, all people who were considered 9a normal,9 whether due to mental illness, mental retardation, or physical deformities, were largely treated the same! ;arly theories supposed that mental disorders were caused y evil possession of the ody, and the appropriate treatment was then e1orcising these demons, through various means, ranging from innocuous treatments, such as e1posing the patient to certain types of music, to dangerous and sometimes deadly means, such as releasing the evil spirits y drilling holes in the patient's skull?!!One of the first to classify the mental disorders into different categories was the /erman physician, ;mile <raepelin! 2r! <raepelin used the term 9dementia praeco19 for individuals who had symptoms that we now associate with schizophrenia! ?8he nonspecific concept of madness has een around for many thousands of years and schizophrenia was only classified as a distinct mental disorder y <raepelin in 144=! :e was the first to make a distinction in the psychotic disorders etween what he called dementia praeco1 and manic depression! <raepelin elieved that dementia praeco1 was primarily a disease of the rain, and particularly a form of dementia! <raepelin named the disorder 'dementia praeco1' )early dementia* to distinguish it from other forms of dementia )such as .lzheimer's disease* which typically occur late in life! :e used this term ecause his studies focused on young adults with dementia?!!8he Swiss psychiatrist, ;ugen ,leuler, coined the term, 9schizophrenia9 in 1@11! :e was also the first to descri e the symptoms as 9positive9 or 9negative!9 ,leuler changed the name to schizophrenia as it was o vious that <rapelin's name was misleading as the illness was not a dementia )it did not always lead to mental deterioration* and could sometimes occur late as well as early in life! ?!8he word 9schizophrenia9 comes from the /reek roots schizo )split* and phrene )mind* to descri e the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder! :is term was not meant to convey the idea of split or multiple personality, a common misunderstanding y the pu lic at large! Since ,leuler's time, the definition of schizophrenia has continued to change, as scientists attempt to more accurately delineate the different types of mental diseases! 7ithout knowing the e1act causes of these diseases, scientists can only ase their classifications on the o servation that some symptoms tend to occur together?!,oth ,leuler and <raepelin su divided schizophrenia into categories, ased on prominent symptoms and prognoses! Over the years, those working in this field have continued to attempt to classify types of schizophrenia! 6ive types were delineated in the 2SA$"""disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, residual, and undifferentiated! 8he first three categories were originally proposed y <raepelin! ?8hese classifications, while still employed in 2SA$"B, have not shown to e helpful in predicting outcome of the disorder, and the types are not relia ly diagnosed! Aany researchers are using other systems to classify types of the disorder, ased on the preponderance of 9positive9 vs 9negative9 symptoms, the progression of the disorder in terms of type and severity of symptoms over time, and the co$occurrence of other mental disorders and syndromes! "t is hoped that differentiating types of schizophrenia ased on clinical symptoms will help to determine different etiologies or causes of the disorder! !!8he evidence that schizophrenia is a iologically$ ased disease of the rain has accumulated rapidly during the past two

decades! &ecently this evidence has een also een supported with dynamic rain imaging systems that show very precisely the wave of tissue distruction that takes place in the rain that is suffering from schizophrenia! ?7ith the rapid advances in the genetics of human desease now taking place, the future looks right that greatly more effective therapies and eventually cures $ will e identified!

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