A look at Schizophrenia

Case Example

Andy started to withdrawal into his apartment by himself immediately following the death of his grandmother. His friends and family started to notice peculiar interactions with Andy. He seemed to miss many social cues and quickly move from one tangent to another. His mother noted that his apartment began to smell of rotten milk and his personal hygiene was quickly deteriorating. His family became seriously worried when Andy insisted on constantly wearing Isotoner gloves. His usual interest in writing and playing music began to wane while his infatuation with Isotoner gloves became more intense. Andy refused to touch anything without his gloves. His brother was finally able to converse with Andy only to learn that he believed that the government was keeping track of him by following his finger prints. Andy reported that he was being told by a voice that was under suspicion of knowing the government's plans to use household lotions to control people's thoughts.

Published by the American Psychiatric Association,...

English: Introduction Dementia praecox (later schi...

English: Emil Kraepelin Polski: Emil Kraepelin

He claimed to be responsible for ending the use of these lotions worldwide. Andy explained he had to constantly wear the isotoner gloves to keep the government from tracking his every move. The gloves also protected him from coming into contact with "the lotion". His speech tended to be circular, manic, and tangential becoming increasingly more intense and passionate. His speech would often become slurred and unorganized, circuitous and jumping from thought to thought, rarely directly answering his brother's questions. The details of how Andy was going to control the lotion was never divulged to his brother as Andy started to wonder if his brother had been replaced with a government operative. Shortly following; Andy was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Diagnostic Criteria/ Symptoms

Although Andy is a factious patient, his circumstances and symptoms represent...