Schizophrenia

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “schizophrenia?” What is Schizophrenia? How can one interpret or identify this condition as not any other illness? Is there any treatment for this disorder? Can early detection of this disorder eliminate the lifelong risk in someone’s life? 

These are some of the common questions that come to mind when you start thinking about what is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is one of the most severe and chronic mental illnesses that affect the process of thinking, how a person acts or expresses their emotions, reacts to reality, and how a person relates to any individual. Although schizophrenia is not a common mental disorder, it can turn out to be one of the long-lasting ones.

People who have schizophrenia face various problems, including dealing with social life and society, problems at the workspace, coping in school and dealing with all relationships. Let’s find out the signs and symptoms of this condition to know how is schizophrenia affecting lives globally?

Understanding The Concept Of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a term that refers to the psychotic disorder that a person faces in social and personal life. Due to this disorder, a person loses touch with reality. As a result, it disturbs the thought process of an individual, creating strange perceptions, abnormalities in motor functions, and abnormal emotional states. 

Sometimes the question arises, is Schizophrenia a result of multiple personality disorder? In Schizophrenia, an unexpected change in behaviour and personality can be observed, but it is not a result of personality disorder. The severity varies from one person to another. 

Early Signs Of Schizophrenia

In men, Schizophrenic symptoms can be visible during their late teens or mostly in their early twenties. While in women, symptoms can be seen during their early twenties and thirties. Since there are no specific triggers, it is hard to recognise the disorder during its initial stage. But few behavioural changes can be seen in teens, which include: 

• Trouble in concentrating
• Difficulty in sleeping patterns
• Sudden change in temperaments
• Sudden social withdrawal

Though it is observed that people suffer from this disorder during their adolescence period, it can also have late-onset and can be diagnosed after the age of 45 years. During this late-onset, people have symptoms like hallucinations and delusions. 

Negative symptoms like trouble understanding information, learning impairment and disorganised thoughts are less observed. As per doctors, early onset can be due to genetic problems, while late-onset could be a subtype that does not impact until the trigger is observed.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia can be categorised into three groups:

Positive Symptoms: 

It refers to the irrational or strange behaviour of a person. This kind of behaviour is not based on reality. They are mostly known as psychotic symptoms, which include:

• Hallucinations: It involves those kinds of sensations that are not real. Schizophrenic people start hearing different kinds of voices that don’t exist in reality. It is also known as Auditory Hallucination. Not so common types might include seeing things that aren’t there, some strange smells, especially bizarre odours, experiencing odd tastes in one’s mouth (gustatory hallucinations), various sensations on skin and more. Other forms of hallucinations such as somatic hallucinations (feeling of movement within the body although it’s not happening), visual hallucination (false observation on colours) can also occur. 

• Delusions: It is the incorrect belief that is assertively held on insufficient grounds. These beliefs are actually false, mostly strange and mixed ones who aren’t based on reality, and the person denies giving up on their false thoughts and beliefs even when facts are being shown. People suffering from such conditions mainly feel that others are plotting against them, spying on them, attacking them, or being victims of such malicious crimes.

• Catatonia: it is one of the rarest conditions where an individual mostly switches from being an active person to an inactive person. The early symptoms include stopping conversations fixing from various body positions to single body positions. It can continue for a long stretch of period.

Disorganised Signs Or Symptoms Of Schizophrenia

These signs fall under positive symptoms. This shows that an individual is having problems in thinking or communicating their thoughts. Some of these symptoms are:

• Using words that don’t make any sense. Speaking in such sentences make it difficult for other people to communicate.
• Shifting in thoughts without any logical or obvious links between those
• Not being able to make any sort of decisions
• Losing or forgetting things
• Repetition in movements or sometimes gestures like walking or pacing in circles
• Facing problems in understanding regular sounds, feelings and different sights
• Slow movements
• Writing excessively without any meaning

Cognitive Signs:

The cognitive symptoms are:

• Difficulty in processing information and how can it be used to make a decision
• Unable to focus or pay any attention
• Can’t recognise that they are having a problem

Negative Symptoms

Negative symptoms here refer to the lack or absence of average mental functions. This includes everyday behaviours, thinking and perception. Some of the symptoms are:

• Lack of energy and motivation in the daily work routine
• Lack of interest in life or pleasure
• Less interest in communication
• Poor grooming habits/hygiene
• Withdrawal from friends, family as well as social activities
• Unable to complete things which they once started

Some of these symptoms might match with depression. Therefore, it might be slightly challenging to detect changes in emotional swings and schizophrenia during adolescence.

Causes Of Schizophrenia

Usually, it’s tough to say what basic reasons are behind the cause of this disorder. But some of the common causes of Schizophrenia are:

• Brain circuits or chemistry
• Genetics
• Abnormal structure of the brain
• Complications during birth

Sometimes other factors can also contribute to the development of this disorder. These can include any kinds of stress received during any loss like the death of any loved member, job loss, and different stressful life events.

Conclusion

To treat schizophrenia, one thing that is highly recommended is optimism. It is required for both the patient and his family members. It helps them to recover from the episodes soon and reduce the relapses. Immense support and care are important if someone is suffering from schizophrenia.