Schizophrenia is one of the most common and severest mental disorders prevailing these days. It affects both men and women equally. This disease manifests itself in men earlier than in woman. It is more likely to appear in late adolescence. It a psychological disorder in which the individual’s thinking, emotions and behaviour are badly affected. The patient’s thinking gets muddled and speech becomes incoherent. Perception and attention are shattered. Moreover, feelings become hollow and inappropriate. Basically the individual’s motor behaviour is distorted. A schizophrenic is divorced from reality and relies on hallucinations.
Schizophrenia is the combination of two Greek words. Schizein means to split and phren means mind. In combination, it means the splitting of mind or the falling of mind into pieces. Eugen Bleuler explained this disease as breaking of associative threads. He maintained that schizophrenic breaks with reality. The connection between words and thoughts is shattered.
Hence, schizophrenia is a very severe mental disorder which encompasses all aspects of mental life. Thinking, perception, feelings and all observable activities are affected by it. The symptoms of schizophrenic patients are characterised by variation. As a result all patients do not show all symptoms.
HADIQA JAMIL
Lahore
