OUR ELECTRIC EMOTIONS : What actually causes mental/emotional illness? Is there a way to reverse them?

After doing some poking around in her family history, she discovered that during the Civil War, her great-great-grandmother witnessed her husband and three sons killed by the enemy in their home and her entire house was burned to the ground. The trigger is something in our current circumstances related to the past memory, and the symptom is the stress response.

Your body is made up of 7,,,,,,,,, 7 octillion atoms. Every single one of those atoms is influenced by your thoughts. Every time you have a new thought, you are creating new connections or neural pathways in your brain. These neural networks are your cellular memory. Every time you experience a similar event, the same memory is triggered, and you are usually not consciously aware where it comes from or why you feel that way. The challenge is that most of your responses happen on autopilot, based on these memories of previous experiences.

If you grew up with great role models and an empowering life, then you may be one of the lucky ones who have a pretty great life today. Your cellular memory is the reference points your brain uses to decide how to respond in the here and now. So if you have a cellular memory with anger in it, or fear, or low self-esteem, or hundreds of other similarly negative feelings, that memory can make you sick, lead to failure, and destroy your most important relationships.

According to research, our sensory perception a sight, smell, feeling, etc. So however we respond after one second has nothing to do with our senses, it has to do with our memory banks. We see them as we are. One goes into road rage; the other is cool as a cucumber.

They are in the exact same external circumstance. It has to be something internal, and it is. If your spiritual heart finds a happy cellular memory, you tend to react positively. If it finds a painful memory, you tend to react in fear or anger. That fear-based memory will produce negative symptoms in your physiology, thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. A memory functions a lot like a cell phone, broadcasting and receiving constantly. If the cell remains in this closed state long enough, the odds skyrocket that it will unmask a disease gene. Bruce Lipton says that this is the only way you can have a disease manifest in your life.

When the hypothalamus receives the fear signal from the cellular memory, it turns on the stress response. Now we want to either run from that thing or destroy it. Our brain has disconnected or turned down our rational conscious thinking except to rationalize fight or flight. That stress makes us sick, tired, dumb, negative, and a failure—producing virtually every kind of negative symptom possible.

What Is Anhedonia?

This concept has very important implications for the role of our conscious mind in decision-making and action. William Tiller told me about conscious and unconscious intention: So our conscious choice is actually mandated by our programming if we have a fear cellular memory related to the situation which you are frequently unaware of: If Chevy is number one, then their conscious and unconscious mind are in harmony.

Why do they keep doing this? A more serious example would be our religious upbringing. As for me, I was raised in very strict religious household, which resulted in something like a schizophrenic conflict inside me: I was taught that God is love, but that he was also just waiting for me to put a toe out of line to smack me down. As a young adult I threw this concept of God overboard because it made no sense to me. Or at least my conscious mind threw it overboard, because it was causing me so much pain.

But starting at that moment, I went on a search. I have found good and bad in all of them. However, in no way do I intend to imply that I think less of, or look down on, people who believe and live religion. Today, I consider myself to be a follower of Jesus—period—nothing more or less. My job is not to judge, just love. What is inside of you? Is it Ford or Chevy?

Is there any sense of comparison or competition where whatever you believe in has to come out on top? Or are you continually seeking and open to the whole truth, no matter what? America is one of the richest and blessed nations on the planet. Do you have food on the table? Do you have electricity? This kind of unconscious intention is why we have to deprogram and reprogram the cellular memories in our spiritual heart. A man approaches a line of traffic at a red light, and he becomes angry.

Good luck with that, right? You can already see the problem: When his brain and body chemistry are telling him to fight, the last thing he wants to do, or can do, is sit in love. It is usually not enough to get them to do what they believe is right.

So there is no true healing without the cellular healing memories—physically or non-physically! If you find yourself in any kind of cycle in your life, those memories are the source of the cycle. In fact, everything—your physiology, your thoughts, your beliefs, your emotions, and your behaviors—are all manifestations of your memories and the beliefs that come from them.

Your fear-based programming is mandating your current situation. Even therapies such as conscious desensitization that seem to get at the cellular memory do not usually provide lasting cellular healing. They tend to program our unconscious to repress those memories and thus disconnect our emotional responses from them. This is coping, not true cellular healing. Also, even repressed, these memories fill up our stress barrel. In other words, they effectively place us in a constant state of internal unconscious stress.

Repression plus coping is the opposite of healing. Many people simply end up feeling numb, rather than experiencing the positive results of love, joy, or peace. Repression plus coping still equals stress. Over the years, many times someone would come to me to deal with a particular problem, but then offhandedly mention another more traumatic incident that happened long ago.

For that we need concrete tools that are designed, tested, and capable of deprogramming and reprogramming, not just willpower or words. It is possible to do now. Everything is immediate, degree, surround-sound raw experience happening now, in the moment. Even though we think of memories as being in our past, they are very much in our present to the unconscious mind, and we can access them right now. The first step to healing our cellular memories is to understand the whole truth about the incident that created the memory.

Whenever a painful cellular memory is created, we typically simultaneously create an incorrect belief a lie, or a misinterpretation of the event , and it is actually this incorrect belief, or our interpretation of this event, that causes us to react in fear, not the event itself. In fact, a cellular memory that triggers fear always goes back to a wrong interpretation of the original event. By the way, the original incident may or may not have been what a psychologist or anyone else would call traumatic. The incident may have happened during our first six years of life, when we had a temper tantrum for whatever reason, and it was programmed as a trauma.

We must identify and remove the lie created from the past painful memory and replace it with the truth. My wife, Hope, was depressed for a number of years earlier in our marriage. During that time, one day a big package came to the house by UPS. This was back when our sons, Harry and George, were little, and everyone was excited to see what was inside this gigantic box. As it turns out, it was something small, but very fragile, so the box was filled mostly with those Styrofoam peanuts. I rushed up to see what it was, only to find George crying, Hope furious, and the little white peanuts strewn all over the freshly cleaned house.

Needless to say, a trauma situation was created in our home for the next 24 hours or so that would embed itself into cellular memory. UPS delivered another big box, also full of Styrofoam peanuts. Once again, all was well until about three hours later, when I heard a terrible commotion upstairs again. But when I got to the top of the stairs, I was shocked. Harry and George, following suit, were frolicking, rolling, singing, and having the time of their lives.

This event also affected our home for the next 24 hours, but in a very different way. Hope had been reprogrammed through cellular healing. When the first event occurred, Hope was looking at the situation through lenses of pain and fear. Two years later, that programming was gone, which changed how she saw the situation, and now her natural instinct was fun.

In my experience, the Energy Medicine Tool has the most powerful effect for most people, right off the bat. Because it applies energy to specific points on our physical body to heal a symptom or a problem, it would fit into the category of energy medicine. Several mainstream doctors, based on the growing body of scientific evidence, believe that applying our understanding of energy to our health practices may lead to breakthroughs we have never seen before.

Only in the last year did I discover that even Sigmund Freud used a technique similar to mine in his psychotherapy. Yes, that Freud—the famous Austrian neurologist and medical doctor who is considered to be the father of psychotherapy, psychiatry, counseling, and therapy. Once scientists can determine the causes of a mental illness, they can use that knowledge to develop new treatments or to find a cure. Scientists understand that mental illnesses are associated with changes in neurochemicals. For example, in people who have depression, less of the neurotransmitter serotonin small circles is released into the synaptic space than in people who do not more Most scientists believe that mental illnesses result from problems with the communication between neurons in the brain neurotransmission.

For example, the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin is lower in individuals who have depression. This finding led to the development of certain medications for the illness. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs work by reducing the amount of serotonin that is taken back into the presynaptic neuron. This leads to an increase in the amount of serotonin available in the synaptic space for binding to the receptor on the postsynaptic neuron.

Changes in other neurotransmitters in addition to serotonin may occur in depression, thus adding to the complexity of the cause underlying the disease. Scientists believe that there may be disruptions in the neurotransmitters dopamine, glutamate, and norepinephrine in individuals who have schizophrenia. One indication that dopamine might be an important neurotransmitter in schizophrenia comes from the observation that cocaine addicts sometimes show symptoms similar to schizophrenia. Cocaine acts on dopamine-containing neurons in the brain to increase the amount of dopamine in the synapse.

Although scientists at this time do not know the causes of mental illnesses, they have identified factors that put individuals at risk. Some of these factors are environmental, some are genetic, and some are social. In fact, all these factors most likely combine to influence whether someone becomes mentally ill. Genetic, environmental, and social factors interact to influence whether someone becomes mentally ill. Environmental factors such as head injury, poor nutrition, and exposure to toxins including lead and tobacco smoke can increase the likelihood of developing a mental illness.

Genes also play a role in determining whether someone develops a mental illness. The illnesses that are most likely to have a genetic component include autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and ADHD. In studies of twins, ADHD is significantly more likely to be present in an identical twin than a fraternal twin. The same can be said for schizophrenia and depression. Mental illnesses are not triggered by a change in a single gene; scientists believe that the interaction of several genes may trigger mental illness. Furthermore, the combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors might determine whether a case of mental illness is mild or severe.

Social factors also present risks and can harm an individual's, especially a child's, mental health. At this time, most mental illnesses cannot be cured, but they can usually be treated effectively to minimize the symptoms and allow the individual to function in work, school, or social environments. To begin treatment, an individual needs to see a qualified mental health professional. The first thing that the doctor or other mental health professional will do is speak with the individual to find out more about his or her symptoms, how long the symptoms have lasted, and how the person's life is being affected.

The physician will also do a physical examination to determine whether there are other health problems. For example, some symptoms such as emotional swings can be caused by neurological or hormonal problems associated with chronic illnesses such as heart disease, or they can be a side effect of certain medications. After the individual's overall health is evaluated and the condition diagnosed, the doctor will develop a treatment plan.

Treatment can involve both medications and psychotherapy, depending on the disease and its severity. Medicines are one part of an effective treatment plan for mental illnesses. Medications are often used to treat mental illnesses. Through television commercials and magazine advertisements, we are becoming more aware of those medications. To become fully effective, medications for treating mental illness must be taken for a few days or a few weeks.

When a patient begins taking medication, it is important for a doctor to monitor the patient's health. If the medication causes undesirable side effects, the doctor may change the dose or switch to a different medication that produces fewer side effects. If the medication does not relieve the symptoms, the doctor may prescribe a different medication.

Sometimes, individuals who have a mental illness do not want to take their medications because of the side effects. It is important to remember that all medications have both positive and negative effects. For example, antibiotics have revolutionized treatment for some bacterial diseases. However, antibiotics often affect beneficial bacteria in the human body, leading to side effects such as nausea and diarrhea.

Psychiatric drugs, like other medications, can alleviate symptoms of mental illness but can also produce unwanted side effects. People who take a medication to treat an illness, whether it is a mental illness or another disease, should work with their doctors to understand what medication they are taking, why they are taking it, how to take it, and what side effects to watch for.

Occasionally, the media reports stories in which the side effects of a psychiatric medication are tied to a potentially serious consequence, such as suicide. In these cases, it is usually very difficult to determine how much suicidal behavior was due to the mental disorder and what the role of the medication might have been. Medications for treating mental illness can, like other medications, have side effects. The psychiatrist or physician can usually adjust the dose or change the medication to alleviate side effects.

Psychotherapy is a treatment method in which a mental health professional psychiatrist, psychologist, or other mental health professional and the patient discuss problems and feelings. This discussion helps patients understand the basis of their problems and find solutions. Psychotherapy may take different forms. The therapy can help patients. Psychotherapy may occur between a therapist and an individual; a therapist and an individual and his or her family members; or a therapist and a group.

Often, treatment for mental illness is most successful when psychotherapy is used in combination with medications. For severe mental illnesses, medication relieves the symptoms and psychotherapy helps individuals cope with their illness. Just as there are no medications that can instantly cure mental illnesses, psychotherapy is not a one-time event. The amount of time a person spends in psychotherapy can range from a few visits to a few years, depending on the nature of the illness or problem.

In general, the more severe the problem, the more lengthy the psychotherapy should be. Many derogatory words and phrases are used in relation to mental illness. However, these words maintain the stereotyped image and not the reality about mental illness. Try not to use these words, and encourage students not to use them. We may even be guilty of making comments like them ourselves. Is there any truth behind these portrayals, or is that negative view based on our ignorance and fear?

Stigmas are negative stereotypes about groups of people. Common stigmas about people who are mentally ill are. Each of those preconceptions about people who have a mental illness is based on false information. Very few people who have a mental illness are dangerous to society. Most can hold jobs, attend school, and live independently.

A person who has a mental illness cannot simply decide to get over it any more than someone who has a different chronic disease such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease can. A mental illness, like those other diseases, is caused by a physical problem in the body. Stigmas against individuals who have a mental illness lead to injustices, including discriminatory decisions regarding housing, employment, and education. Overcoming the stigmas commonly associated with mental illness is yet one more challenge that people who have a mental illness must face.

Indeed, many people who successfully manage their mental illness report that the stigma they face is in many ways more disabling than the illness itself. The stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness held by both the public and those who have a mental illness lead to feelings of shame and guilt, loss of self-esteem, social dependence, and a sense of isolation and hopelessness.

Providing accurate information is one way to reduce stigmas about mental illness. Advocacy groups protest stereotypes imposed upon those who are mentally ill. They demand that the media stop presenting inaccurate views of mental illness and that the public stops believing these negative views. A powerful way of countering stereotypes about mental illness occurs when members of the public meet people who are effectively managing a serious mental illness: Interaction with people who have mental illnesses challenges a person's assumptions and changes a person's attitudes about mental illness.

Attitudes about mental illness are changing, although there is a long way to go before people accept that mental illness is a disease with a biological basis. A survey by the National Mental Health Association found that 55 percent of people who have never been diagnosed with depression recognize that depression is a disease and not something people should "snap out of.

Most people don't think twice before going to a doctor if they have an illness such as bronchitis, asthma, diabetes, or heart disease. However, many people who have a mental illness don't get the treatment that would alleviate their suffering. Studies estimate that two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not receiving the help they need and that less than one-third of the children under age 18 who have a serious mental health problem receive any mental health services.

Mental illness in adults often goes untreated, too. What are the consequences of letting mental illness go untreated? In September , the U. The former surgeon general, Dr. David Satcher, emphasized the importance of mental health in children by stating, "Children and families are suffering because of missed opportunities for prevention and early identification, fragmented services, and low priorities for resources.

Overriding all of this is the issue of stigma, which continues to surround mental illness. The consequences of mental illness in children and adolescents can be substantial. Many mental health professionals speak of accrued deficits that occur when mental illness in children is not treated. To begin with, mental illness can impair a student's ability to learn. Adolescents whose mental illness is not treated rapidly and aggressively tend to fall further and further behind in school. They are more likely to drop out of school and are less likely to be fully functional members of society when they reach adulthood.

Furthermore, many adults who suffer from mental disorders have problems that originated in childhood. Mental illness impairs a student's ability to learn. The high incidence of mental illness has a great impact on society. Over 15 percent of the total DALYs were due to mental illness. Treatment, including psychotherapy and medication management, is cost-effective for patients, their families, and society.

The benefits include fewer visits to other doctors' offices, diagnostic laboratories, and hospitals for physical ailments that are based in psychological distress; reduced need for psychiatric hospitalization; fewer sick days and disability claims; and increased job stability.

Conversely, the costs of not treating mental disorders can be seen in ruined relationships, job loss or poor job performance, personal anguish, substance abuse, unnecessary medical procedures, psychiatric hospitalization, and suicide. A diagnosis of mental illness is rarely simple and straightforward. There are no infallible physiological tests that determine whether a person has a mental illness. Diagnosis requires that qualified healthcare professionals identify several specific symptoms that the person exhibits. Each mental illness has characteristic signs and symptoms that are related to the underlying biological dysfunction.

The following sections describe the symptoms and outcomes of three mental illnesses that are highlighted in this curriculum supplement: Depression, or depressive disorders, is a leading cause of disability in the United States as well as worldwide. It affects an estimated 9.

Depression is more than just being in a bad mood or feeling sad. Everyone experiences these feelings on occasion, but that does not constitute depression. Depression is actually not a single disease; there are three main types of depressive disorders. While some of the symptoms of depression are common during a passing "blue mood," major depressive disorder is diagnosed when a person has five or more of the symptoms nearly every day during a two-week period.

When people have depression, their lives are affected severely: In adults, an untreated major depressive episode lasts an average of nine months. At least half of the people who experience an episode of major depression will have another episode of depression at some point. In children, depression lasts an average of seven to nine months with symptoms similar to those in adults. Children and adolescents with depression are more likely than adults to have anxiety symptoms and general aches and pains, stomachaches, and headaches.

The majority of children and adolescents who have a major depressive disorder also have another mental illness such as an anxiety disorder, disruptive or antisocial behavior, or a substance-abuse disorder. Children and adolescents who suffer from depression are more likely to commit suicide than are other youths. As in adults, episodes of depression are likely to recur. Dysthymia is less severe than major depressive disorder, but it is more chronic. In dysthymia, a depressed mood along with at least two other symptoms of depression persist for at least two years in adults, or one year in children or adolescents.

Dysthymia often begins in childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood. A third type of depressive disorder is bipolar disorder, also called manic-depression. A person who has bipolar disorder alternates between episodes of major depression and mania periods of abnormally and persistently elevated mood or irritability.

During manic periods, the person will also have three or more of the following symptoms:. While in a manic phase, adolescents may engage in risky or reckless behaviors such as fast driving and unsafe sex. Bipolar disorder frequently begins during adolescence or young adulthood. Adults with bipolar disorder often have clearly defined episodes of mania and depression, with periods of mania every two to four years.

Children and adolescents with bipolar disorder, however, may cycle rapidly between depression and mania many times within a day. Depression, like other mental illnesses, is probably caused by a combination of biological, environmental, and social factors, but the exact causes are not yet known. For years, scientists thought that low levels of certain neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine in the brain caused depression.

However, scientists now believe that the interplay of factors leading to depression is much more complex. Genetic causes have been suggested from family studies that have shown that between 20 and 50 percent of children and adolescents with depression have a family history of depression and that children of depressed parents are more than three times as likely as children with nondepressed parents to experience a depressive disorder.

Other risk factors for depressive disorders in youths include. Scientists have studied changes in the brain associated with depressive disorders. Imaging studies using PET have shown that brain activity in certain areas is substantially decreased in a depressed individual whereas activity in other brain regions is increased compared with the same individual after successful treatment.

A variety of antidepressant medications and psychotherapies are used to treat depression. The most effective treatment for most people is a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Many of us are aware that medications are available to treat depressive disorders—we see the ads on television and in magazines. Up to 70 percent of people with depression can be treated effectively with medication. For example, some medications affect the activity of certain neurotransmitters, such as serotonin or norepinephrine. Different depressive disorders require different medication therapies.

For example, individuals who have bipolar disorder are often treated with a mood-stabilizing drug, such as lithium, during their manic phase and a combination of mood-stabilizer and antidepressant medications during their depressive phase. Medications usually lead to relief from the symptoms of depression within six to eight weeks. If one drug doesn't relieve symptoms, doctors can prescribe a different antidepressant drug. As with drugs to treat other mental illnesses, patients are monitored closely by their doctor for symptoms of depression and for side effects.

Patients who continue to take their medication for at least six months after recovery from major depression are 70 percent less likely to experience a relapse. Psychotherapy helps patients learn more effective ways to deal with the problems in their lives.

These therapies usually involve 6 to 20 weekly meetings. These treatment plans should be revised if there is no improvement of symptoms within three or four months. The combination of medications and psychotherapy is effective in the majority of cases and represents the standard care; however, doctors can employ other methods.

One therapy that is highly effective when antidepressants and psychotherapy are not effective is electroconvulsive therapy ECT , or electroshock therapy. When ECT is performed, the individual is anesthetized and receives an electrical shock in specific parts of the brain. The patient does not consciously experience the shock. ECT can provide dramatic and rapid relief, but the effects usually last a fairly short time. After ECT, individuals usually take antidepressant medications. A few years ago, the herbal supplement St. John's wort received great attention in the media as an over-the-counter treatment for mild to moderate depression.

However, many of the claims did not have good scientific evidence to back them up. The effectiveness and safety of St. John's wort remain uncertain, and its use is generally not recommended. People who have depression or another depressive disorder feel exhausted, worthless, helpless, and hopeless. These negative thoughts and feelings that are part of depression make some people feel like giving up. As treatment takes effect, these thoughts begin to go away.

Some strategies that can help a person waiting for treatment to take effect include. A potential, tragic consequence of untreated depression is suicide. In , over 30, people in the United States died from suicide, and suicide was the third leading cause of death among to year-olds. Children and adolescents who are suicidal report feelings of depression, anger, anxiety, hopelessness, and worthlessness. They feel helpless to change frustrating circumstances or to find a solution for their problems.

In addition to depression, family conflicts and suicidal death of a relative, friend, or acquaintance are risk factors for suicide among children and adolescents. Programs offered by school professionals that address these concerns can be extremely helpful for identifying grieving youths who may need help. Public health approaches to preventing suicide include establishing telephone crisis hot lines, restricting access to suicide methods for example, firearms , counseling media to reduce "copycat" suicides, screening teens for risk factors of suicide, and training professionals to improve recognition and treatment of mood disorders.

Research about the effectiveness of these methods indicates that the screening and training strategies are more helpful for preventing suicides among young people than the other methods are. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder of childhood. In any six-month period, ADHD affects an estimated 4.

Boys are two to three times more likely than girls to develop ADHD. The three predominant symptoms of ADHD are impaired ability to regulate activity level hyperactivity , to attend to tasks inattention , and to inhibit behavior impulsivity. Children and adolescents with ADHD. For a diagnosis of ADHD, the behaviors must. The diagnosis of ADHD can be made reliably using well-tested diagnostic interview methods.

However, as of yet, there is no independent valid test for ADHD. Among children, ADHD frequently occurs along with other learning, behavior, or mood problems such as learning disabilities, oppositional defiant disorder , anxiety disorders, and depression. The exact causes of ADHD are unknown; however, research has demonstrated that factors that many people associate with the development of ADHD do not cause the disorder.

For example, ADHD is not caused by minor head injuries, damage to the brain from complications during birth, food allergies, excess sugar intake, too much television, poor schools, or poor parenting. Rather, a number of significant risk factors affecting neurodevelopment and behavior expression have been implicated. Events such as maternal alcohol and tobacco use that affect the development of the fetal brain can increase the risk for ADHD. Injuries to the brain from environmental toxins such as lack of iron have also been implicated.

Scientists have investigated the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the development of ADHD because this neurotransmitter plays a key role in regulating movement, increasing motivation and alertness, and inducing insomnia. The observation that ADHD tends to run in families strongly suggests that the disease has a genetic component.

Children who have ADHD usually have at least one close relative who also has the disorder. Most likely, a combination of several genes and environmental factors determines whether a person has ADHD.

References

Researchers found that certain parts of the brain are, on average, smaller in boys with ADHD. A variety of medications and behavioral interventions are used to treat ADHD. The most widely used medications are methylphenidate Ritalin , d -amphetamine, and other amphetamines. These drugs are stimulants that affect the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine at the synapse. When used as prescribed by qualified physicians, these drugs are considered quite safe.

Side effects associated with moderate doses are decreased appetite and insomnia. These side effects generally occur early in treatment and often decrease with time.

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Some studies have shown that the stimulants used to treat ADHD decrease growth rate, but ultimate height is not affected. Interventions used to treat ADHD include several forms of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, social skills training, support groups, and parent and educator skills training. A combination of medication and psychotherapy is more effective than either treatment alone in improving social skills, parent-child relations, reading achievement, and aggressive symptoms.

Treating ADHD with a combination of medication and psychotherapy is more effective than either treatment alone in improving social skills, parent-child relations, reading achievement, and aggressive symptoms. In addition to the well-established treatments described above, some parents and therapists have tried a variety of nutritional interventions to treat ADHD. A few studies have found that some children benefit from such treatments.

Nevertheless, no well-established nutritional interventions have consistently been shown to be effective for treating ADHD. As the symptoms indicate, ADHD interferes with a person's daily life.

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Treatment is available to help individuals and relieve the symptoms, but some simple strategies — including those listed below —can also help. Schizophrenia affects approximately 1 percent of the population, or 2. Men and women are equally affected. Although children over the age of five can develop schizophrenia, it is rare before adolescence. Childhood-onset schizophrenia tends to be harder to treat and has a less favorable prognosis than does the adult-onset form. There are many myths and misconceptions about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is not a multiple or split personality, nor are individuals who have this illness constantly incoherent or psychotic.

Although the media often portray individuals with schizophrenia as violent, in reality, very few affected people are dangerous to others. Schizophrenia has severe symptoms. A diagnosis of schizophrenia requires that at least two of the symptoms below be present during a significant portion of a one-month period:. However, the presence of either one of the first two symptoms is sufficient to diagnose schizophrenia if the delusions are especially bizarre or if the hallucinations consist of one or more voices that keep a running commentary on the person's behavior or thoughts.

The course of schizophrenia varies considerably from one individual to the next. Most people who have schizophrenia experience at least one, and usually more, relapses after their first psychotic episode. During remissions, the negative symptoms related to emotion or personal care are usually still present. About 10 percent of patients remain severely ill for long periods of time and do not return to their previous state of mental functioning. Several long-term studies found that as many as one-third to one-half of people with schizophrenia improve significantly or even recover completely from their illness.

Like the other mental illnesses discussed here, scientists are still working to determine what causes schizophrenia.

Study shows direct manipulation of brain can reverse effects of depression

Also like the other mental illnesses, genetic and environmental factors most likely interact to cause the disease. Several studies suggest that an imbalance of chemical neurotransmitter systems of the brain, including the dopamine, GABA, glutamate, and norepinephrine neurotransmitter systems, are involved in the development of schizophrenia. Family, twin, and adoption studies support the idea that genetics plays an important role in the illness.

For example, children of people with schizophrenia are 13 times more likely, and identical twins are 48 times more likely, to develop the illness than are people in the general population. One gene of interest to scientists who study schizophrenia codes for an enzyme that breaks down dopamine in the synapse. Imaging studies have revealed differences in brain structure and function in individuals with schizophrenia compared with control individuals. Brain imaging studies show that young people who have schizophrenia have structural differences in their brains compared with individuals who do not have schizophrenia.

These changes include a reduced total volume of the cerebrum the upper portion of the brain, which is divided into halves , a reduced amount of gray matter the tissue that makes up a majority of the brain and consists mainly of neuron cell bodies and dendrites , enlarged brain ventricles the cavities, or spaces, in the brain that are filled with cerebrospinal fluid , and other abnormalities. They found that teens with schizophrenia lose four times the amount of neurons in a specific region of the brain that teens in the control group lose.

There is no cure for schizophrenia; however, effective treatments that make the illness manageable for most affected people are available. The optimal treatment includes antipsychotic medication combined with a variety of psychotherapeutic interventions. Since the s, doctors have used antipsychotic drugs, such as chlorpromazine and haloperidol, to relieve the hallucinations and delusions typical of schizophrenia.

Recently, newer also called atypical antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone and clozapine have proven to be more effective. Early and sustained treatment that includes antipsychotic medication is important for long-term improvement of the course of the disease. Patients who discontinue medication are likely to experience a relapse of their illness. People who manage schizophrenia best combine medication with psychosocial rehabilitation life-skills training. As a teacher, you may occasionally have students who show symptoms of or who have significant risk factors for a mental illness.

A first step for helping these students is to contact the school nurse or guidance counselor. These individuals should know the appropriate next steps to take, including directing the student's parents or guardians to contact their physician or their city or county mental health services. If you think a friend or colleague might have a mental illness, encourage him or her to see a physician. Physicians can make referrals to mental health specialists in the community.

In addition, your state or county health departments may offer services for people struggling with a mental illness. The National Mental Health Association has an affiliate network throughout the country. The programs offered by the NMHA affiliates include support groups, public education and advocacy campaigns, rehabilitation, and housing services. The Additional Resources for Teachers section describes other online resources about mental illnesses page The delays or lack of development in emotional, social, academic, or behavioral skills that a child or adolescent experiences because of untreated mental illness.

The mental illness keeps the individual from developing these life skills at the usual stage of life. An individual may never fully make up for these deficiencies. An abnormal sense of fear, nervousness, and apprehension about something that might happen in the future. Any of a group of illnesses that fill people's lives with overwhelming anxieties and fears that are chronic and unremitting. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder.

A mental illness characterized by an impaired ability to regulate activity level hyperactivity , attend to tasks inattention , and inhibit behavior impulsivity. For a diagnosis of ADHD, the behaviors must appear before an individual reaches age seven, continue for at least six months, be more frequent than in other children of the same age, and cause impairment in at least two areas of life school, home, work, or social function.

A mental illness that typically affects a person's ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and respond appropriately to the environment. Some people with autism have few problems with speech and intelligence and are able to function relatively well in society.

Others are mentally retarded or mute or have serious language delays. Autism makes some people seem closed off and shut down; others seem locked into repetitive behaviors and rigid patterns of thinking. A depressive disorder in which a person alternates between episodes of major depression and mania periods of abnormally and persistently elevated mood.

Also referred to as manic-depression. Conscious mental activity that informs a person about his or her environment. Cognitive actions include perceiving, thinking, reasoning, judging, problem solving, and remembering. A personality disorder of children and adolescents involving persistent antisocial behavior. Individuals with conduct disorder frequently participate in activities such as stealing, lying, truancy, vandalism, and substance abuse. The specialized fibers that extend from a neuron's cell body and receive messages from other neurons.

A group of diseases including major depressive disorder commonly referred to as depression , dysthymia, and bipolar disorder manic-depression. See bipolar disorder, dysthymia, and major depressive disorder. A book published by the American Psychiatric Association that gives general descriptions and characteristic symptoms of different mental illnesses. Physicians and other mental health professionals use the DSM-IV to confirm diagnoses for mental illnesses.

An abnormality in mental or physical health. In this module, disorder is used as a synonym for illness. A depressive disorder that is less severe than major depressive disorder but is more persistent. In children and adolescents, dysthymia lasts for an average of four years. A treatment for severe depression that is usually used only when people do not respond to medications and psychotherapy. ECT involves passing a low-voltage electric current through the brain.

The person is under anesthesia at the time of treatment. ECT is not commonly used in children and adolescents. A method of recording the electrical activity in the brain through electrodes attached to the scalp. One of the four divisions of each cerebral hemisphere. The frontal lobe is important for controlling movement and associating the functions of other cortical areas. The portion of brain tissue that is dark in color. The gray matter consists primarily of nerve cell bodies, dendrites, and axon endings. The perception of something, such as a sound or visual image, that is not actually present other than in the mind.

The part of the brain that controls several body functions, including feeding, breathing, drinking, temperature, and the release of many hormones. A problem in which some part or parts of the body do not function normally, in a way that interferes with a person's life. For the purpose of this module, other terms considered to be synonyms for illness include disease, disorder, condition, and syndrome. A depressive disorder commonly referred to as depression. Depression is more than simply being sad; to be diagnosed with depression, a person must have five or more characteristic symptoms nearly every day for a two-week period.

A health condition that changes a person's thinking, feelings, or behavior or all three and that causes the person distress and difficulty in functioning. A condition in which a person has an IQ that is below average and that affects an individual's learning, behavior, and development. This condition is present from birth. A term no longer used medically as a diagnosis for a relatively mild mental or emotional disorder that may involve anxiety or phobias but does not involve losing touch with reality.

The process that occurs when a neuron releases neurotransmitters that relay a signal to another neuron across the synapse. An anxiety disorder in which a person experiences recurrent unwanted thoughts or rituals that the individual cannot control. A person who has OCD may be plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals, such as hand washing or checking. A disruptive pattern of behavior of children and adolescents that is characterized by defiant, disobedient, and hostile behaviors directed toward adults in positions of authority.

The behavior pattern must persist for at least six months. An anxiety disorder in which people have feelings of terror, rapid heart beat, and rapid breathing that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning. A person who has panic disorder cannot predict when an attack will occur and may develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next one will strike.

An intense fear of something that poses little or no actual danger. Examples of phobias include fear of closed-in places, heights, escalators, tunnels, highway driving, water, flying, dogs, and injuries involving blood. An endocrine organ closely linked with the hypothalamus. The pituitary secretes a number of hormones that regulate the activity of other endocrine organs in the human body. A positively charged particle that has the same mass and spin as—but the opposite charge of—an electron.

An imaging technique for measuring brain function in living subjects by detecting the location and concentration of small amounts of radioactive chemicals. A medical doctor M.

Discovering the Brain.

A psychiatrist evaluates a person's mental health along with his or her physical health and can prescribe medications. The branch of medicine that deals with identifying, studying, and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders. A mental health professional who has received specialized training in the study of the mind and emotions. A psychologist usually has an advanced degree such as a Ph. A serious mental disorder in which a person loses contact with reality and experiences hallucinations or delusions. A treatment method for mental illness in which a mental health professional psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor and a patient discuss problems and feelings to find solutions.