Schizophrenia Platt College of Nursing NSG 388 Isida Phelps

What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder also known as “psychosis”. It is a serious mental illness that affects a person’s feelings, thought process, bizarre behavior or speech, delusion, hallucination and overall functioning. Schizophrenia typically begins in early adulthood. Schizophrenia occurs in slightly more men than women and affects all ethnic groups. Symptoms usually start between the ages of 16 and 30. In rare cases, children have schizophrenia too. DSM-5 Criteria The DSM 5 outlines the following criterion to make a diagnosis of schizophrenia: 1. Two or more of the following for at least a one-month (or longer) period of time, and at least one of them must be 1, 2, or 3:  Delusions  Hallucinations  Disorganized speech  Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior