A psychosis is any disorder of higher mental processes of such severity that judgments pertaining to the reality of external events are significantly impaired ("Psychosis." 569). The most common form of psychosis, extremely serious mental disorders, is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is an extreme mental illness that interferes with normal thought processes, causing delusions, hallucinations, and mental disorganization ("Schizophrenia." UXL Encyclopedia 1716). Though schizophrenia is considered to be a modern disease, there is much historical evidence that argue it has been around for centuries. There are multiple accounts in history of crazy people who displayed bazaar and uncontrollable behavior. For example, in the sixteenth century, people published accounts of cases called mania that are obviously Schizophrenia. Nevertheless, the German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin is recognized for giving the first modern account of schizophrenia in 1896. Kraepelin determined the difference between manic-depressive psychosis and schizophrenia ("Schizophrenia. UXL Encyclopedia).
Modern day schizophrenia is a long-term illness that has no definite cure and affects men and women from all cultures, all over the world. Nevertheless, in men it seems to occur in their late teens or early twenties, which is sooner then experienced for women. It is estimated by the National Institute of Mental Health that approximately 1 percent of the American population at some point suffers from schizophrenia, meaning that more than two million Americans are considered to be schizophrenic in any given year (Gulli, Farid, and Rosick). Other studies estimate that about half the patients have schizophrenia within U.S. mental hospitals. In almost all countries, schizophrenia is considered to be one of the most disabling disorders in the way that it affects peoples lives (Carey, Benedict 915). There is no certain cause of schizophrenia and the disorder its self is not completely understood, but there are certain theories of what may cause schizophrenia to occur.
