Schizophrenia

Analysis and Comment (10)

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Psychiatric diagnosis relies on identifying a patient’s signs and symptoms rather than clinical tests. PA/Ben Birchall

Explainer: what is the DSM?

By Peter Kinderman, University of Liverpool

Traditional psychiatry uses the approaches of medicine to try to understand mental health problems and guide treatment. This means relying on diagnosis – identifying what are believed to be mental illnesses…
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By suggesting that everyone who has a mental illness could possibly be violent, the articles isolate, highlight and stigmatise them. Михал Орела/Flickr

Re-stigmatising the mentally ill

By Olav Nielssen

Just when we thought we were heading for a more tolerant and accepting attitude toward people afflicted by mental illness, a feature and a news article in Saturday’s The Australian quoting leaders in the…
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People with schizophrenia are still perceived as dangerous and unpredictable, and these perceptions have increased in recent years. JD Hancock

Either mad and bad or Jekyll and Hyde: media portrayals of schizophrenia

By Nick Haslam, University of Melbourne

Stigma can take a heavy toll on people who suffer from mental illness. Being shunned, feared, devalued and discriminated against can impair recovery and deepen social isolation and distress. Many sufferers…
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Men play an equal, if not larger, role in passing on genetic mutations to their children. Bettina Neuefeind

Men’s ‘biological clock’ linked to schizophrenia and autism

By Melanie McDowall

We all know about the reproductive “biological clock” in women reminding them of the finite time in which they can have children. Now researchers have found evidence that men also have a reproductive…
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The symptom-based approach of the current DSM does not take life events into account. Woman image from shutterstock.com

Forget talking, just fill a script: how modern psychiatry lost its mind

By Hans Pols

Welcome to Matters of the Mind, a series which examines the clinician’s bible for diagnosing mental disorders, the DSM, and the controversy surrounding the forthcoming fifth edition. You’re feeling down…
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A new approach to understanding the genes involved in schizophrenia is an important step towards individual risk prediction. Alaina Abplanalp

Insight for better understanding schizophrenia’s genetic basis

By Assen Jablensky, University of Western Australia

Schizophrenia is a complex and potentially disabling disorder affecting about 1% of the population. Its precise cause, though known to involve both genetic vulnerability and environmental stress, remains…
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Genetic variants that contribute to the risk of schizophrenia are present in everyone. Flickr/Akelei van Dam

Schizophrenia risk linked to common genetic variants

By Justin Norrie, The Conversation

A quarter of the risk for developing schizophrenia can be traced to genetic variations that are common in the general population, a study by Queensland researchers has found. A new method of genetic analysis…
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US psychiatrist Allen Frances is confusing the issues. Julie70/Flickr

Early intervention for psychosis: not just popping pills

By Alison Yung, University of Melbourne

A controversy is brewing on the website Psychology Today and subsequently in The Australian newspaper. At the heart of the issue is US psychiatrist Dr Allen Frances' comments on the Australian Federal…
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Mentally ill Australians have a life expectancy 25 years lower than the rest of the population. AAP

Mental illness is no excuse for turning a blind eye to smoking

By Sharon Lawn, Flinders University

Almost half of all cigarettes smoked in Australia, the US and the UK are smoked by people with a mental illness. It’s a startling statistic and it paints a grim picture for the physical health of the one…

Research and News (5)

Research Briefs (7)

Ritalin improves error awareness

The University of Melbourne

People who take Ritalin are far more aware of their mistakes, new research shows. Low performance error awareness has been…

Participants (85)