Extraordinary system of delusions and the social functioning - a case study

Abstract

Schizophrenic psychoses are a heterogeneous group of diseases that affect about 1% of the world’s population. The first symptoms of the disease usually manifest between ages 20 and 30. The diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and its subtypes are characterized in detail in ICD-10. Diagnosis is based primarily on the presence of productive symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations occurring for at least one month which cannot be explained in another way. Schizophrenia is a disease which largely affects social functioning of patients, such as occupational performance, family life, interpersonal relationships or housing situation. Apart from the sociological aspect, social lives of schizophrenia sufferers are significantly impoverished due to cognitive impairment associated with improper functioning of NMDA receptors. The study describes a case of a patient suffering from paranoid schizophrenia which sheds light on the social functioning of this group of patients.