Schizophrenia Among Genders !

Schizophrenia Among Genders

LAS 13525-CA

Joshua N. Overton

Research Techniques and Technology

Leslie Drake

February 22, 2017

Schizophrenia Among Genders !2

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder with varying symptoms among males and females,

these symptoms sometimes lead to symptom classifications that are possible from other disorder

symptoms. Schizophrenia can be classified generally among three classifications negative

symptoms, positive symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Males and females tend to show

different symptoms with schizophrenia, furthering research towards schizophrenia by affects on

genders may help better understand this disorder, and help guide the treatment's focus on

patients. Narrowing research to those with schizophrenia by age groups, may also help with

understanding differences among females and males bodily systems with schizophrenia.

Symptom differences among males and females are another factor that might be traced to finding

differences and working towards more manageable or cure able treatments for the patients.

Genetics generally being traceable with some disorders may also help point towards if

schizophrenia affects one gender over another. Another way to find out which gender

schizophrenia affects more could be to look at the treatments and individual functioning among

genders. This could be done by finding out which treatments are done to which gender. Then

gender differences could be analyzed among the severity of each symptom by gender, the

amount of outpatients and inpatients with schizophrenia, and research with secondary analysis to

find if schizophrenia is more common among males or females.

Introduction

Schizophrenia can be a devastating disorder, as it is usually affects a person's ability to

function at work and/or school. There are many of those with schizophrenia that have trouble

with balancing personal relationships or even taking care of their own personal needs. This
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disorder is not curable but is manageable as, psychologist tend to help those with schizophrenia

manage this disorder, through different methods with cognitive therapy and/ or clinical therapy.

There has been some newer research suggesting one gender is affected more by schizophrenia

than another. This has led to research about treatment among age differences of those affected by

gender and different symptoms among genders.

Schizophrenia is a disorder with varying symptoms, depending upon the person. Susana

Ochoa says "It's not known what causes schizophrenia, but researchers believe that a

combination of genetics, brain chemistry and environment contributes to development of the

disorder". Basic schizophrenic symptoms usually includes one or more of the following: slurred

speech, hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized behavior. These symptoms have been known

to sometimes lead to depression or other negative affects. Schizophrenia is found in, but not

always limited to symptoms that may have disturbance in thoughts, emotion and behavior.

Patients or those with schizophrenia also sometimes show disorderly thoughts, lack of emotion,

and unintentional facial expressions.

Schizophrenia not only affects the patients but, schizophrenia also affects loved ones and

family members. Schizophrenia can affect close ones by watching schizophrenic's transition into

worse symptoms and mostly needing to provide proper care to that individual. Families provide

an important role in the patients life, as most schizophrenic patients are not able to attend jobs,

making families a primary source of care. David Castle says "Up to 75% of people with

schizophrenia are in regular contact with their families, and more than one third of individuals

with schizophrenia live with family members, often aging parents". This may create emotional

issues of depression, stress, grief, and many other mixed emotions with in the family.
Schizophrenia Among Genders !4

Positive symptoms

The positive symptom category of schizophrenia are psychotic behaviors not generally

seen in termed healthy people or ones that fit to societies "norms". When a patient is generally

classified with having positive symptoms, they have generally lost site of reality. Some patients

the symptoms may appear but can shortly disappear, for other more server patients they may

have long term effects. Tim Crow distinguished schizophrenia having positive and negatives, he

explain "schizophrenia is the consequence of two separate pathological processes, the positive

symptoms of delusions and hallucinations resulting from some kind of abnormality in the

dopamine system, whereas the negative symptoms are a consequence of cortical atrophy"(1980).

The determination of the severity of the effects can be generally concluded by if the person is

receiving needed treatment. The positive effects of males and females vary.

Positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorders, and movement

disorders. Hallucinations occur when a person hears, touches, sees, smells, and/or tastes a non-

existing object. Delusions are false beliefs held that are generally inconsistent and can be close to

terms with paranoia. Thought disorders is "when a person has trouble organizing his or her

thoughts or connecting them logically. He or she may talk in a garbled way that is hard to

understand"(NIMH). Movement disorders include when a person does a certain movement

frequently in a set time period.

Males with positive symptoms tend to lack energy or will, are unable to make plans, and

to make decisions. Females tend to have less severe symptoms than males with positive

symptoms in schizophrenia. Females are more likely to hold a job and marry than, a male

showing positive schizophrenic symptoms. (David Castle) There are some exceptions to this, as
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server symptoms of schizophrenia is more common in females that have been born with mothers

that have had a viral infection compared to males that tend to have a birth defect.

Negative Symptoms

Categorized Negative symptoms of schizophrenia can be misread as depression or other

disorders, as negative symptoms of schizophrenia can be emotions and behaviors that are altered

outside the norm. This includes the "flat affect" which is reduced expression of emotions via

facial expression or voice tone"(NIMH). They may also experience a reduction in feelings of

pleasure in daily activities or everyday life. Susan Ochoa explains "the studies that found gender

differences describe higher presence of negative and disorganization symptoms in men and

higher prevalence of affective symptoms in women". The person with negative schizophrenic

symptoms may notice difficulties starting or finishing a project and others may notice a speech

reduction within the individual.

Cognitive Symptoms

The third category a person can show symptoms in, is cognitive or disorganized

symptoms. National Institute of Mental Health says "For some people, the cognitive symptoms

of schizophrenia are subtle, but for others, they are more severe and patients may notice changes

in their memory or other aspects of thinking". The cognitive symptoms are generally difficult to

find as they are usually are found with specific test. These symptoms usually include the lack of

the ability to understand information given, make decisions, trouble with focusing, and problems

with critical thinking abilities.

Gender Age On-sets

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Females and males show some differences in the categories of symptoms, they also show

a difference in the age group that is generally affected by schizophrenia. Males "..usually develop

the illness at ages 1825, while in women, the mean age of onset is 2535" (Susan Ochoa). Then

females also can experience a second chance of possibly receiving schizophrenia after the age of

40 to the age of 50. This has lead to research focused on female and male differences, leading to

theories of the difference in brain development, genetic traits, estrogen or testosterone levels, and

or other bodily differences with schizophrenics.

Females brains tend to develop faster than males, leading to studies of females brains

being less vulnerable to schizophrenia. This study (Castle, 2000) found that the females more

rapid brain development could explain the following:

..the relative protection of females from the severe early dementia praecox

type of schizophrenia, postulated to be consequent upon neurodevelopmental

damage. On the other hand, the antidopaminergic properties of estrogens are

explored in some detail, and the animal and clinical experiments showing this to

translate into antipsychotic effects are reviewed. This lays the ground for

consideration of a possible protective effect of female sex hormones against the

onset of schizophrenia in premenopausal women. The price is paid once estrogen

levels fall at the menopause, and a second peak of onset of schizophrenia is seen

in females at this age.

This possibly making males more vulnerable to schizophrenia or having a higher risk to

receiving schizophrenia.
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Females show less vulnerability to schizophrenia, although show a few symptoms more

than males. The symptoms that were found different or higher in females included anxiety,

depression, and paranoia. (Ochoa, 2012) These symptoms are not the case for all females mainly

the majority, as there are unique cases for each gender. In a study relating schizophrenia Cotton

(2012) found that "women presented higher levels of affective symptoms than men"(p.61). These

symptoms might be dependent on the severity of the patient or if they are an inpatient or

outpatient.

Males possibly being more vulnerable from later developments of the brain and other

causes, receive more severe cases. Javed (2000) says that "..male patients are generally prone to

express more negative symptoms as well as social withdrawal and blunted or incongruent effects

than female patients". This might create issues when studying schizophrenia among genders, as

one gender may be more prone not to seek help from social withdrawals. Javed (2000) also

explains "substance abuse and anti-social behaviors have also been found to be more common in

schizophrenic men, than the women". This showing that differences between gender in

schizophrenia exist.

Genetics have been researched for awhile with disorders, schizophrenia is one of the

disorders that have been shown to have genetic traits than can be passed down. M. Afzal Javed

explains that:

..no specific studies are available about different genetic predisposition to schizophrenia

for males and females, there has been some interest to find out whether the families of

schizophrenic men and women are at different degrees of moderate risk for this disorder.
Schizophrenia Among Genders !8

This creating difficulties when researching vulnerability in schizophrenia among genders or

which gender schizophrenia affects more. Another way to find which gender schizophrenia

affects more might be to look at the treatments and individual functioning among genders.

Schizophrenia has many different treatments or manageable methods including anti-

psychotics, psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, and family therapy or support systems. Nawka

(2013) explains "Many reports strongly suggest that treatment response is faster in women, the

duration of psychosis is reduced and the amount of anti-psychotic drugs used even on a

milligram per kilogram basis is significantly lower in female schizophrenics". This showing that

females might be less affected by certain symptoms of schizophrenia. Nawka (2013) also

explains "Overall 95% of women attained full remission from their first episode, compared to

70% for men". Females showing a 25% percent increase of remission or being more manageable

with schizophrenia treatment methods than males.

Conclusion

Overall schizophrenia tends to be more common in males, as research shows that males

are more vulnerable to schizophrenia. Females show more commonality with schizophrenia in

the later age onsets, as males tend to have schizophrenia earlier age onsets. Females also show

more success with remission after therapies than males. This showing males have a longer stay in

hospitals or mental facilities with schizophrenia and that females might be but not limited to, less

prone to longer hospital stays.

Schizophrenia Among Genders !9

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