Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder affecting many Americans. It is often characterized by hallucinations, delusions, and inappropriate reactions to situations. It is a form of psychosis characterized by symptoms such as disordered thoughts, hallucinations, delusions, and social withdrawal. Schizophrenia alters sufferers’ perception of reality, producing delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thinking. While medications can be effective in reducing or eliminating symptoms, they do not cure the ailment altogether.
Source: Thinkstock / mokee81
1. Behavior is influenced by delusions, hallucinations, or incoherent or serious impairment in communication or judgment. Schizophrenia is thought to mainly affect cognition, but it also usually contributes to chronic behavioral and emotional problems. Schizophrenia is the most common and severe form of psychosis or thought disorder. It is a complex mental disorder that is commonly misconstrued as a split personality disorder.
2. Schizophrenia is categorized as a brain disease, not a psychological disorder – meds are the primary form of treatment. Schizophrenia disrupts the function of multiple brain systems, resulting in impaired social and occupational functioning; it affects how a person thinks, feels, or acts. Schizophrenia is a puzzling and disabling mental disorder that affects at least 1 percent of the population.
3. Schizophrenia is a disabling, chronic psychiatric disorder that poses numerous challenges in its management and consequences. It is severe, persistent, and at times, debilitating. It is a very complex mental disorder with no single cause or cure.
4. Schizophrenia is a serious condition that often results in disordered ideas, beliefs, and experiences. It is not thought to be a ‘single’ condition but instead is labeled as a collection of disorders. It is also more common in people who are prone to seizures.
5. It is a chronic disease with times of remission and times of extreme severity. Interestingly, while most people have heard of the disorder, very few people actually know what it entails.
6. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects 2.4 million American adults over the age of 18. Schizophrenia is rarely diagnosed but possible before the age ten or after the age of 40.
7. Schizophrenia is the 9th leading cause of disability worldwide. Schizophrenia is among the most damaging and least understood of all mental disorders. Schizophrenia is not a ‘very’ common disease, but it is more common than Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Schizophrenia does not exhibit just one symptom but a multitude of observable signs and symptoms.
8. Schizophrenia is NOT a split personality or multiple personality disorder. Schizophrenia is also not caused by bad parenting or personal weakness. While the disorder is generally divided into four types, the treatment is similar for all four types.
9. Treatment may be provided in-house or the individual afflicted may attend a rehabilitation program during the day. Treatment may involve psychotherapy, medication, skills training, or hospitalization. Treatment may incorporate mood stabilizer medications, antidepressants, and psychotherapy. Recreational drugs and alcohol are big no-nos for people who suffer from schizophrenia and who are being treated for the disorder.
10. As rare as it is, schizophrenia can appear in children as it has a strong hereditary component. Studies that employed nonschizophrenic psychiatric controls could reveal whether augmented interference is unique to schizophrenia. Studies are ongoing in attempts to better define the relationship of Toxoplasma infection to schizophrenia.
Featured Image Source: Thinkstock / Marco_Piunti
Posted on May 5, 2023