Most all of us have seen at least one movie with a “crazy” or “insane” character, but have you ever wondered the actual science behind it? Movies or televisions shows often play off of psychological disorders such as anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, or even schizophrenia. So what is a psychological disorder? A psychological disorder is a significant dysfunction in a person’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.

One of the most severe psychological disorders is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is defined as a group of severe disorders characterized by disorganized and delusional thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and behaviors. The term Schizophrenia can also be broken down into two separate parts “schizo” split, and “ phrenia” mind. This refers to the split from reality that many schizophrenia patients show.

Symptoms of those who suffer from schizophrenia are broken up into two categories, positive symptoms and negative symptoms. Those who experience positive symptoms “lose touch” with reality. Positive symptoms often includes hallucinations(things a person sees, hears,smells, or feels, that no one else can), delusions(false beliefs), thought disorders(disorganized thinking), and movement disorders.

Negative symptoms are disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors. Negative symptoms are harder to recognize and are sometimes mistaken for depression. Negativie symptoms include:

“flat affect” (dull or monotone voice when he/she talks)

Speaking little, even when forced to react

Lack of pleasure in everyday life

Now that you know the basics of this psychological disorder, you may be wondering the what can cause it. One possible cause could be an excess number of dopamine receptors. This then intensifies brain signals. When this happens we often see positive symptoms.

Another potential cause could be abnormal brain activity. There might be abnormal brain activity in multiple areas in the brain such as the frontal lobes(deal with reasoning, planning, and problem solving). Those who have hallucinations have been found to have abnormal activity in the thalamus(the structure that filters incoming signals), and those who have