The Effects Of Schizophrenia On Refugees

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Schizophrenia is another risk for some seeking refuge from the war torn countries around the world, especially in the Middle East. In a recent study it has been proven that refugees face a higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder, especially schizophrenia. Due to the environment that refugees are exposed to and the experiences they witness could have an negative affect on refugees. Developing post-traumatic stress disorder or depression is a common occurrence within the refugee community. The study concluded that refugees were three-times more likely to experience various psychotic disorders than native-born Swedes. Adversities such as social, economic, and health inequalities were also likely to contribute to an increased risk of mental …show more content…
There are three categories for the symptoms of schizophrenia; positive, negative, and cognitive. Positive symptoms are “psychotic behaviors not generally seen in healthy people.” ("Schizophrenia", 2016) If a person has schizophrenia some of their positive symptoms would include delusions, hallucinations, and possibly disruptions in their thinking process. Negative symptoms are expressed as “symptoms that are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors.” ("Schizophrenia", 2016) The National Institute of Mental Health outlines that some of the negative symptoms would be “flat affect (reduced expression of emotions),” reduced feelings of pleasure, and reduced speaking. Cognitive symptoms are mentioned as “changes in their memory or other aspects of thinking.” A display of cognitive symptoms would include an inability to comprehend information and utilizing it to make decisions, having a hard time focusing, and problems with retaining information immediately after it is learned. ("Schizophrenia", …show more content…
Schizophrenia is a disease that could be inherited. Children whose parents have schizophrenia or a close relative with the disease is ten-percent more likely to develop the disease. (Smith, 2015) During the perinatal stage of pregnancies, an identical twin of someone with schizophrenia is forty to sixty-five-percent more likely of also developing the disease. Prenatal complications such as intrauterine starvation, viral infections, and other stressors seem to cause the development of schizophrenia. (Smith, 2015) The environment being everything that the person experiences or comes in contact with could cause the development of schizophrenia as well. ("Schizophrenia Cause and Prevention") For instance, a refugee who happens to be bearing a child is trying to seek refuge in another country but while living in her native country, she experiences the atrocities of war. The various environment factors from war, nearly boundless traveling, and possibly settling somewhere new or having to return home could have an enormous impact on a developing child. Those various environment factors that the mother experienced could in turn have an affect on the baby, causing the baby to develop schizophrenia later on in life. Scientist also believe that a difference in brain chemistry and brain structure might also cause a person to develop schizophrenia. An imbalance in the chemical reactions that occur in the brain involving
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