Choose any psychological disorder and write how it can be developed from the
environment (experiences or biological) or genetics. If it is genetics, what may trigger the
gene to synthesize? Then, choose a current media, where someone may be suffering from
this disorder and give the main exhibited behaviors that may have led to the diagnoses.
Again, be sure to provide evidence from the person’s or character’s thoughts, emotions and
behavior. Include details from class materials, readings and research on personality to
support your discussion.
Psychological Disorder
Schizophrenia
Introduction
I have chosen schizophrenia as the psychological disorder I am going to discuss.
Schizophrenia is a severe and chronic condition that affects how an individual thinks, feels, or
acts. The high prevalence of schizophrenia is one of the reasons made me passionate about it as I
wanted to learn more about it especially how the patients manifest. For instance, statistics
indicate that approximately 1% of the population is diagnosed with schizophrenia across the
globe with about 1.2% of all Americans having the disorder (Schmitt et al., 2014). This means
that approximately 100, 000 Americans are diagnosed with the disorder annually. Schizophrenia
can affect an individual through their lifespan. However, diagnosis of the disease occurs mostly
in early adulthood. Research by Schmitt et al., (2014) reported that it is quite rare for children
and older adults to develop the disorder. Mostly, the rate of diagnosis of schizophrenia increase
in the teen years attaining a vulnerability peak at ages 16 to 25 yrs. Men and women manifest
varying patterns of vulnerability for schizophrenia development. It has been illustrated that males
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are highly vulnerable between 18 to 25 years whereas female have double vulnerability peaks;
first between ages 25 and 30 and then around age 40.
Although an individual’s genetic factors are important in the development of
schizophrenia, the environment in which the genes find expression contribute significantly to the
etiology of the disorder. Take the case of John Nash whose intellect mother forced him, at a
tender age, to read up to 4am, skip a grade learn Latin, and take advanced mathematics classes.
Consequently, Nash became solitary, bookish, and introverted; a character that made him very
creative and one of the greatest mathematicians (Nowak, 2015). Studies have indicated that a
number of patients with schizophrenia are highly creative individuals (Richardson, 2015).
Examples of such patients include Pink Floyd of the rock band, Vaslav Nijinsky, the
choreographer and legendary dancer, and also John Nash of the game theory. Other
environmental factors apart from parenting that have been cited to increase the risk of
schizophrenia development include demise of a parent, childhood trauma, bullying, and child
abuse (Grison, Heatherton, &Gazzaniga, 2014). Urban environments also increase the
propensity of developing psychosis. Other factors that have been found to play a central role in
the development of this disorder include social isolation, racial discrimination, unemployment,
and poor housing conditions (Sørensen et al., 2015). Research findings have also indicated that
approximately half of patients with schizophrenia use drugs excessively. Abuse of alcohol
occasionally causes the development of a chronic drug-induced psychotic disorder through a
kindling mechanism. Cannabis abuse also contributes significantly to the development of
schizophrenia especially among individuals who have a high genetic predisposition to
schizophrenia (Grison, Heatherton & Gazzaniga, 2014). Factors such as infection, hypoxia,
malnutrition, and stress can also cause a slight increase in the risk of developing schizophrenia
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later in life. An increase of viral exposure during winter has been cited to increase the risk of
schizophrenia development. Other fetal infections such as Chlamydia and Toxoplasma gondi can
also contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia development.
John Forbes Nash is one of the most prominent figures who struggled with schizophrenia.
Nash was born on June 13, 1928 in West Virginia. At 22, he wrote a significant thesis, “non-
cooperative Games” (Nowak, 2015). He received the Nobel Prize in 1994 due to his outstanding
work in the game theory. In 1959, John was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. In 1958,
Nash’s schizophrenic symptoms manifested when he attended a New Year’s Eve party. Nash had
a sash across his chest and dressed in a diaper; almost entirely naked. He also had a bottle of
milk and kept sitting on his wife’s lap during the event. Soon after, he began telling his fellow
lecturers in MIT that outer space powers and foreign governments were sending him messages
and that these messages were encrypted and it is only him who could understand them. He then
began sending letters to several ambassadors worldwide. He once told Martin, his friend, that he
wanted to form a global government and he wanted the ambassadors to help them. His wife
reported that Nash began staying up to the night writing letters to the Pope, U.N, and the FBI.
Nash not only wrote to governments, but also to his friends and colleagues. His writing was in a
manner that was paranoid, in several different colors. Linn et al., (2007) report that at some point
Nashstated that he had aliens from space who were ruining his career. At some point Nash saw
men in MIT with red ties signaling him as if they were members of the “crypto-communist
party” (Moffic, 2015). He was later hospitalized and told his friends that he had grandiose
delusions. He also said that he was having thoughts that were beyond his control and that there
was a plot by some military officials to take over the country that he led. He stated further that he
was God’s left foot, and therefore, God was walking over earth through him. Some factors
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confirmed his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. For instance,he was experiencing bizarre,
persecutory, grandiose delusions such as aliens affecting his career. Sørensen et al., (2014)
enlightens that severe delusions often affect ones actionsby making the person to act upon their
beliefs and in a manner that is dangerous or irresponsible. Nash had similar behavior. In fact,
there is a time he drove to Washington, D.C aiming to send to ambassadors. He also flew
severally to Europe and at some time quit his job in MIT and refused a job offer at the University
of Chicago citing reasons that he was going to be Antarctica’s Emperor. These are just but a
number of the irresponsible conduct he engaged in and could have landed him to dangerous
situations.
In conclusion, schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects a person’s ability to
manage emotions, think clearly, and make decisions. Environmental factors such as a child’s
parenting, urban environment, substance abuse, and stress play a central role in the development
of the disorder. The case of Nash can be used to enlighten the general public on the onset of the
disorder and its progress. The hallucinations, delusions, cognitive issues, and unusual thoughts
and suspicion expressed by Nash are some of the most common symptoms associated with
schizophrenia.
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References
Grison, S., Heatherton, T. &Gazzaniga, M. (2014).Psychology in Your Life. New York, NY:
W.W. Norton & Company
Linn, A., Kuhn, H. W., &Nasar, S. (2007). The Essential John Nash.
Moffic, H. S. (2015). A eulogy for a beautiful mind. Psychiatric Times, 32(6), 1-1.
Nowak, M. A. (2015).John Forbes Nash (1928-2015). Nature, 522(7557), 420-420.
Richardson, C. (2015). A Different Look into Creativity: Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia.
Schmitt, A., Malchow, B., Hasan, A., &Falkai, P. (2014). The impact of environmental factors in
severe psychiatric disorders. Front Neurosci, 8, 19.
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Sørensen, H. J., Nielsen, P. R., Pedersen, C. B., Benros, M. E., Nordentoft, M., & Mortensen, P.
B. (2014). Population impact of familial and environmental risk factors for
schizophrenia: a nationwide study. Schizophrenia research, 153(1), 214-219.