DONNIE DARKO: PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA

OVERVIEW

• Donnie Darko is a troubled teenager who escapes death when a jet-engine crashes in his bedroom.
• He follows a giant bunny, named Frank, outside who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days.
• While trying to understand why he survived, and dealing with his mental illness and teenage life,
• Frank continues to turn up in Donnie's mind, causing him to commit acts of vandalism and worse.

WHAT IS PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA?

• A chronic mental illness in which a person loses touch with reality
• The most common type of schizophrenia and the least severe
• Schizophrenia affects the way a person acts, feels, thinks and sees the world.

SYMPTOMS

• Auditory and occasionally visual hallucinations
• Delusions, such as believing a co-worker wants to poison you
• Anxiety and/or suicidal behavior
• Anger and violence
• Argumentativeness

CAUSES

• Genetics and environment likely both play a role in causing schizophrenia.
• However, the true causes of schizophrenia are not fully known.
• Those with a first-degree relative who has schizophrenia have 10% chance
• There are also a variety of stress-inducing environmental factors

PINEAL GLAND

• Produces melatonin hormone which controls the body rhythms
• Also controls internal body clock and sleep and wake patterns
• In the movie, Donnie suffers from sleepwalking frequently.
• Sleepwalking is caused by stress and fatigue and also sedative medication
• During sleepwalk, Donnie does his most destructive things.

PARTS OF THE BRAIN AFFECTED

• too much dopamine released
• structural changes in the brain (frontal lobe region)
• ventricle size
• increased activity in the hippocampus

TREATMENTS: HUMANISTIC THERAPY

• help the client develop a stronger, healthier sense of self, also called self-actualization.
• there are two widely practiced techniques:
• gestalt therapy (which focuses on thoughts and feelings "here and now" instead of root causes)
• client-centered therapy (provides a supportive environment in which clients can reestablish their true identity).
• Gestalt therapy was shown in the earlier clip.

HYPNOSIS

• a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus and concentration.
• usually done with the help of a therapist using verbal repetition and mental images.
• When you're under hypnosis, you usually feel calm and relaxed, and are more open to suggestions.
• can be used to help you gain control over undesired behaviors or to help you cope better with anxiety or pain.
• Donnie's therapist tries this on him.

HYPNOSIS

• a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus and concentration.
• Hypnosis is usually done with the help of a therapist using verbal repetition and mental images.
• When you're under hypnosis, you usually feel calm and relaxed, and are more open to suggestions.
• Hypnosis can be used to help you gain control over undesired behaviors or to help you cope better with anxiety or pain.

MEDICATION

• First-generation (typical) antipsychotics
• Second-generation (atypical) antipsychotics
• Other medications.
• Examples: Thorazine, Haldol, Prolixine

ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT)

• a procedure in which electric currents are passed through your brain to trigger a brief seizure
• seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can reduce symptoms of certain mental illnesses such as paranoid schizophrenia.
• ECT is now a lot safer than it once was, usually you are under anesthesia when its done.

MEDICATIONS

• First-generation (typical) antipsychotics
• Second-generation (atypical) antipsychotics
• Other medications
• Examples: Thorazine, Haldol, Prolixin, Trilafon

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

• disease was first identified as a discrete mental illness by Dr. Emile Kraepelin in the 1887
• The Swiss psychiatrist, Eugen Bleuler, coined the term, "schizophrenia" in 1911. He was also the first to describe the symptoms as "positive" or "negative."
• The word "schizophrenia" comes from the Greek roots schizo (split) and phrene (mind) to describe the fragmented thinking of people with the disorder.
• Over the years, those working in this field have continued to attempt to classify types of schizophrenia.
• Five types were delineated in the DSM-III: disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, residual, and undifferentiated.

CHRONOLOGY

• 1911 - Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler introduced the term "schizophrenia"
• 1932 - Sakel introduced insulin coma therapy as a treatment for schizophrenia.
• 1934 - Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) introduced by von Meduna, a Hungarian physician, using intramuscular injections of camphor. It did not reliably produce seizures, which he believed could ease schizophrenia.
• 1952 - The first of the anti-psychotics is discovered in France and is named chlorpromazine (Thorazine).
• 1954 - Psychopharmacology hits the U.S. Thorazine was the biggest selling tranquilizer and manufacturers can't keep up with demand.

HISTORY

• disease was first identified as a discrete mental illness by Dr. Emile Kraepelin in the 1887
• Kraepelin believed that dementia praecox was primarily a disease of the brain, a form of dementia.
• Eugen Bleuler, coined the term, "schizophrenia" in 1911.
• Both Bleuler and Kraepelin subdivided schizophrenia into categories, based on prominent symptoms
• Five types were delineated in the DSM-III: disorganized, catatonic, paranoid, residual, and undifferentiated.

CHRONOLOGY

• 1911 - Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler introduced the term "schizophrenia" (literally split mind)
• 1932 - Sakel introduced insulin coma therapy as a treatment for schizophrenia.
• 1934 - Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) introduced by von Meduna, believed to cure schizophrenia.
• 1952 - the first of the antipsychotics is discovered in France and is named chlorpromazine (Thorazine).
• 1954 - Psychopharmacology hits the U.S. Thorazine was the biggest selling tranquilizer and manufacturers can't keep up with demand.

MODERN TREATMENTS

• Psychotherapy (individual therapy, family therapy)
• Hospitalization
• ECT
• Social and vocational skills training