ifferent. Schizophrenia does cause some cognitive problems, but does not affect overall intelligence. Schizophrenia occurs in people of all levels of intelligence and talent. Another myth is that schizophrenia is the same as a "split personality". Since the word schizophrenia comes from two Greek words meaning "split mind", confusion arose about the differences between schizophrenia and split personality. The Greek terminology refers to the breakdown of an individual's thinking and feeling processes, not a split personality, (Swanson 25). Other ridiculous myths exist, including schizophrenia is caused by a curse, God's punishment, a lack of faith in God, a demonic possession, result of a broken heart, and even reading to many books. (McGlashan 329)How do doctors diagnose the disease? Many doctors look the patient's developmental background (motor skills, memory deficiencies), genetic and family history, current stress factors, level of functioning before becoming ill, responses to therapy, and a CT scan of the head to reveal any enlarged ventricles. (Lehman 15)The CT scans below show the enlarged ventricles of a schizophrenic and the normal sized ventricles of a person without any mental illness. Scientists look at the region of the brain known as the "limbic region". It contains the complex system of nerve pathways and networks. This area is responsible for human functions such as fear, rage, pleasure and memory patterns. The difference in the limbic systems of schizophrenics and healthy patients are visible to the naked eye. (Dincin 102). A schizophrenic brain is like a radio tuned into several stations at once. Dincin explains:Research into the operation of the brain has shown that people with schizophrenia have problems with certain types of brain cells called inhibitory interneurons. These damp down the action of other nerve cells. Thus they prevent the brain from being overwhelmed by too much sensory information from t...
