Schizophrenia

A mental illness that many people have heard of is Schizophrenia. People may have heard it from the news or from the movie A Beautiful Mind. Regardless there is still much misinformation regarding this illness. As a sufferer I have heard so many things, some that are very insensitive. In this article I hope to educate some people on this illness.

Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of the population. While not everyone in this percent has the actual illness they will exhibit symptoms. The word Schizophrenia literally means split brain, however it is not a multiple personality disorder but rather a multidimensional disorder that affects both thinking and behaviour. For a very long time people believed that the illness only affected thinking, however the illness is multifaceted and complex. A large part of the illness is displayed by behaviour abnormalities. This is due to the fact that people with Schizophrenia, while many can be intelligent, display autism like traits.

Schizophrenia is usually diagnosed by observing an individual over a long period of time. Most people with schizophrenia show apathy, lack of facial expression/vacant expression and are often awkward in social situations and show a lack of motivation. This mainly has to do with the negative symptoms that this illness brings forth. Negative symptoms are classified by behaviours or things that are taken away from the individual. These include but are not limited to apathy, lack of coordination and anhedonia-or the inability to feel pleasure. Positive symptoms are the ones we hear about more often. These include hallucinations and delusions. The most common hallucination is auditory-or hearing voices. The most common delusion is grandeur-thinking unreal high thoughts about themselves such as being a divine person. Most people with schizophrenia go through multiple hospitalizations, however not as much as in the past as therapies and medications have got better with time.

As mentioned above, many people suffer from the inability to feel pleasure. As such approximately 40-50 percent of the people with the illness abuse drugs and alcohol. Due to this fact there is much controversy surrounding the illness. There is a positive correlation to violence with drug users with schizophrenia and due to this many people fear individuals with it. In the news often there is misinformation and while a person with schizophrenia who does not abuse drugs is more likely to be a victim of violence rather than a perpetrator, 60 percent believe people with the illness are violent.

It is common for people with schizophrenia to have trouble with getting or keeping employment. Only about 9 percent get competitive employment. As such due to coping strategies often lacking many people with schizophrenia can face homelessness if they do not have a good support network. The average life expectancy for a sufferer is 25years less due to risk taking behaviour and increased risk of other health conditions and suicide. The biggest risk factor for suicide in an individual with schizophrenia is high I.Q. the most common treatment for the illness is therapy and medications called neuroleptics which suppress dopamine. A study has linked excess dopamine production to the onset of schizophrenia. One cause of the disease is linked to drug use-mainly cannabis, yet there are so many other causes such as parental abuse and family history. Being a twin greatly increases the risk.

Schizophrenia affects men and women equally yet men typically start to display symptoms earlier than women. Men exhibit symptoms in adolescence or young adulthood so people often think it is due to the awkwardness of puberty r life changes. Women show signs usually late 20’s to early 30’s. While it often does go undetected for some time, new research is helping study the prodromal phase or the part before actual onset better. Before the initial onset people display clumsiness, identity issues and dysphoria, irritability and withdrawals. As mentioned earlier people with schizophrenia often need substances to help them cope. People with schizophrenia are the highest users of nicotine and cannabis. Many studies have shown if a person has a strong support network and takes medications regularly they can have a good prognosis and be productive members of society.

I hope I have educated and dispelled some common myths regarding this illness. Please leave a like and a comment. If you care please subscribe for more content coming soon.