MPD vs Schizophrenia

People might be wondering if being crazy is hereditary. Well, the bad news is, yes. But according to studies, this will only be precipitated by the environment. The person will grow normally, but when an incident precipitates it, it may trigger the craziness in that person. So if you have cousins, parents, or grandparents who have a history of schizophrenia, and you feel like going crazy, consult a psychiatrist to help you.

Two highly recognizable psychiatric disorders are MPD and schizophrenia. These two diseases are popular in their own rights due to the media popularizing these two disorders through movies and books.

Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Identity Disorder is a disorder in which the individual presents himself or herself with at least two distinct personalities with amnesia or forgetfulness. Signs and symptoms of MPD include the following: memory loss that is severe, depression, paranoia, phobias which are also unexplainable, depersonalization, headaches, and body pains that are unexplainable too, and a few more. The cause of MPD or DID can be due to extreme stress, childhood dilemmas such as abuse, and, lastly, traumatic occurrences. Most of the patients with MPD reported childhood abuse. The type of abuse is said to be of physical and sexual abuse among these patients. A psychologist or psychiatrist can help diagnose the presence of it. They use a psychometric questionnaire called the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule which runs for 60-90 minutes in the form of an interview. The confirmation would depend on the score of the patient during the interview. There is a cut-off score. Treatment of DID or MPD involves a series of psychotherapy sessions for patients who are stable and medications for patients who are uncontrollable.

Schizophrenia, on the other hand, is far different from MPD. Schizophrenia is a severe form of mental illness compared to MPD. In schizophrenia, the patient is unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Thus, the patient always fantasizes about himself being someone else or being somewhere. The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia include: disorganized speech and thinking with flight of ideas, auditory hallucinations, and paranoid delusions. The cause of schizophrenia can be attributed to many factors. It is still unknown because it is multifactorial. First, it can be hereditary. If one of your parents has it, you have a 3-5% chance of acquiring it. If both of your parents have it, you as an offspring will have a 35-50% chance of having it. Another is depression. A third factor is through the environment that can precipitate it, for example, poverty. A fourth factor is drug addiction, and, lastly, through a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Increased dopamine levels are linked to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is not curable, but you can be treated temporarily by taking medications. As long as you are taking medications you will be safe from this disease.

Summary:

1.MPD is a personality disorder while schizophrenia is a mental disorder.
Schizophrenia in nature is more grave than personality disorders such as MPD.
2.MPD is diagnosed with two symptoms present plus amnesia while schizophrenia is diagnosed if there is auditory hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking and speech. All must be present to diagnose a patient with schizophrenia.
3.MPD’s cause is more of environmental factors, such as being abused as a child, while schizophrenia has multifactorial causes.

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