Schizophrenia Psychosocial and Cultural Aspects of Diagnosis (Essay Sample)

Schizophrenia: Psychosocial and Cultural Aspects of Diagnosis
Name:
Institution:
Date:
Schizophrenia: Psychosocial and Cultural Aspects of Diagnosis
Introduction
Schizophrenia affects one’s way of life and has been reported in all cultures. It affects both males and females. Some of the symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations and delusions, blunted affect, impairment of speech, diminished social drive, and disorganized or bizarre behavior (Bhugra et al., 1999).
Larry’s Diagnosis
From the video, Larry experienced hallucinations and delusions whereby he had fictional friends that he would talk to; talking to himself. He could hear voices in his head. He loved history and hence had ‘friends’ from history and friends that he invented. Besides, he loved baseball when he was growing up and that affected his symptoms in that he would invent fictional players and give each individual names. This was accelerated by the environment he grew up in: baseball was played in his society. The foregoing symptoms define schizophrenia. (Brownes et al, 2000). The condition is characterized by hallucinations, delusions, mental confusion, thought disorder, hearing voices, and incoherent speech (Sherer, 2002), many of which Larry exhibits.
Psychosocial and Cultural Aspects
Since schizophrenia has been reported in all cultures, the discernment of mental illness within the cultural forces may affect the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of a person with schizophrenia. As culture influences how people communicate and manifest symptoms of mental illness, how to manage them as well as the readiness to pursue treatment may be affected too.
Cultural concepts, values and beliefs, impact how individuals seek health, and traditional healers play an important role in the management of disease in most cultures where modern medicine is unavailable, not trusted, or used together with traditional treatment methods. Some mental disorders are shaped by culture, they are culture-bound. Most mental illnesses are associated with cultural stigma and financial constraints which prevents the affected individuals from discussing their ailments as well as seeking treatment (Sherer, 2002). This is associated with the guilt and shame related with seeking treatment for mental health.
There are also psychological symptoms of schizophrenia that if ignored may delay diagnosis as well as timely treatment (Goater et al., 1999). The understanding of the patient’s culture by the mental health professional helps shape the relationship between them. Family support encourages early diagnosis since the patient is accepted and hence is not ashamed of seeking medical assistance. Psychosocial support from family members and friends helps the individual to accept the situation and makes it easy for the mental health professional to diagnose and treat the patient in time. (Browne et al., 2000) developed a measure for the level ...