Final answer:
Karen experiences hallucinations, hearing voices from her food, while Tai is suffering from delusions, believing he is a space alien. These symptoms are characteristic of schizophrenia, a mental disorder treated with antipsychotic medications.
Step-by-step explanation:
Karen and Tai both suffer from schizophrenia. Karen keeps hearing voices coming from her food, which is indicative of hallucinations; a common symptom of schizophrenia where individuals hear, see, or feel things that are not present. On the other hand, Tai is convinced that he is a space alien, which represents a delusion; a firmly held belief despite clear evidence against it. These are two examples of the types of psychotic symptoms that can occur in schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness characterized by a range of symptoms including difficulties in differentiating reality from imagination, emotional dysregulation, issues with thinking, and social withdrawal. Hallucinations and delusions are among the most prominent and disabling of the so-called "positive" symptoms of the disorder. The disorder generally first appears in late adolescence or early adulthood, and antipsychotic medications are commonly prescribed to manage symptoms by targeting dopaminergic pathways in the brain.