Verified By Apollo Psychiatrist March 14, 2023
6031Schizophrenia is a severe psychological ailment. In this, people often interpret reality abnormally. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia are prone to hallucinations and unrealistic illusions.
Schizophrenia is one of the most challenging disorders not only for patients but for caregivers as well.
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder and requires lifelong treatment. A person who is schizophrenic might experience the symptoms in episodes or constantly. The causes include environmental factors as well as genetic factors. Environmental factors like being raised in a city, use of drugs like cannabis during adolescence, the presence of infections, parental age, nutrition deficit during pregnancy, etc. play a major role.
A variety of genetic factors and family history also cause schizophrenia. A few social factors like long-term unemployment and poverty also play a role in schizophrenia.
As per many statistical reports of 2017, about 1% of the general population has schizophrenia. On average, males are more prone to schizophrenia than females and they are also likely to experience symptoms more severe than females. Most patients do not recover completely. About 20% of cases that seek help are likely to do well.
A normal individual may show signs and symptoms of schizophrenia but he cannot be regarded as a schizophrenic patient unless such symptoms last for a minimum period of 6 months. Sometimes, it is likely for a person to experience an episode of schizophrenia due to a sudden and unacceptable change in life. However, when certain phases pass, they recover from it and would not experience such episodes again.
Schizophrenia is a neurological disorder that triggers several problems in an individual. The significant impact of schizophrenia is the erratic changes in thinking power, human behavior, and frequent change in emotions. Signs and symptoms may vary, but the common ones are:
Few or many of these symptoms are common for normal individuals but if several of these symptoms appear and last for more than 2 weeks, one should seek help.
These are the disturbances that come as an “addition” to a person’s personality. These include:
These are the capabilities that are “lost” from a person’s personality.
In teenagers, the condition is more difficult to recognize. Normal teen behavior is almost close to that of schizophrenic behavior. A schizophrenic teen is less likely to have delusions and more likely to have visual hallucinations:
People symptomatic of schizophrenia are likely to be unaware of situations, as they are delusional, frightened, and confused. If you observe or feel the person is getting isolated, acting suicidal, or showing unusual behavior, it is time to seek medical attention.
It is not known what causes schizophrenia. However, experts believe that a combination of brain chemistry, genetics and environment contribute to the development of this disorder.
Problems with some naturally occurring brain chemicals, such as neurotransmitters called glutamate and dopamine, cam contribute to schizophrenia. Neuroimaging studies reveal differences in central nervous system and the brain structure of people with schizophrenia.
The exact causes are still unknown. However, some major elements that can trigger schizophrenia are:
Based on the symptoms, doctors conduct several examinations to look for neurological patterns in the brain. Steps for diagnosis include:
The patients diagnosed with schizophrenia require lifelong treatment, even if symptoms have reduced. Using psychological therapy and medications can help the patients to manage the condition.
Antipsychotic medications help control the symptoms that severely affect the dopamine level. However, these medications have serious side effects on the patients; this is why most of them avoid taking any. Second gerenation antipsychotic medication like the following have less side effects:
Other medicines may also help, like antidepressants or anti-anxiety drugs. It can take several weeks to notice an improvement in symptoms.
Sometimes the symptoms and complications worsen, so it becomes important to hospitalize the patient to ensure safety, nutritious diet, and sufficient sleep.
Sometimes adults do not respond to the medications and other treatments, so electroconvulsive therapy is conducted to treat them.
Recovery from schizophrenia can be possible through various means which include medication and rehabilitation. While medication helps in the management of the condition, rehabilitation usually plays a major role in getting back the confidence and skills a person needs to lead a productive life in the community.
There is no solution for preventing schizophrenia. However, if diagnosed and treated, early symptoms can be controlled. Still, there is ongoing research on this disease to understand and check if there is any possible way for early diagnosis of the same. This will immensely help in creating better treatment.
There are a few other related conditions to Schizophrenia:
The complexity and lack of knowledge about schizophrenia explain why there are several myths and misconceptions about the disorder.
Schizophrenia hampers the person’s ability to react or understand the normal life patterns. With limited access to information, taboos exist about the disease. We have listed some points that will help to clear the misconceptions
The most common symptoms of this disorder are delusions and hallucinations, making people believe that the patients have split personality(dissociative identity disorder). Split personality is different from schizophrenia .The fact is, due to the symptoms, the patients normally hear or see unrealistic objects that contradict their ability to differentiate between reality and imagination.
Another myth is that schizophrenic patients become violent and dangerous. The patients with schizophrenia feel isolated and socially withdrawn, and mostly they become a victim of their thoughts. The fact they are dangerous to others or violent is untrue.
With proper medication and regular therapy, the patients can work quite well in a calm environment. It has been seen that when the patients are provided with proper treatment, they tend to be more efficient than anticipated.
Each patient with schizophrenia reacts differently. Sometimes the patients might find particular objects triggering. It is important to keep them away from any triggering event that can negatively impact their wellbeing. Proper medication and regular therapy can help them to handle such situations in a better way.
Some patients get hospitalized, but it happens when the disorder becomes extreme, requiring long-term care. When proper treatment and out-patient care is given to the patient, the need for getting them hospitalized subsides.
If your family members are diagnosed with schizophrenia, then you too are at risk. But risk factors other than genes can trigger this disorder; and it is also not that if someone in the family has schizophrenia , you also will necessarily get it .
The signs and symptoms of schizophrenia can be a challenge to cope with , for any individual but with the right treatment and constant care, it can be managed. Schizophrenia occurs in episodes and with the right care and help, you can learn to identify the periodz of remission and try to limit the frequency of episodes occurring in the future.
Several people have been seen to manage the disorder and work functionally with proper support, treatment, and therapy.
When you see a sudden change in behavior, speech, or actions, you need to go for a consultation. Mostly if you have a family history of schizophrenia, you need to take immediate action after observing unusual symptoms like isolation, abnormal thought patterns, concentration problems, and movement disorders.
Schizophrenia needs life-long treatment. So even if diagnosed early, you need to pay close attention and therapy; the same applies if diagnosed late. However, it depends on how the patient is reacting to the disorder, based on which the doctor will provide you with therapy and oral medications.
The patients can have mood swings, dizziness, restlessness, constipation, nausea, low blood pressure, seizures, and blurred vision.
Hallucinations and delusions are the primary symptoms of schizophrenia in most cases. They are likely to show up between ages 16 to 30.
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness. Though it cannot be cured completely, it can be managed with the help of therapy and medication.
No. Schizophrenia is completely different from split-personality disorder.
In most cases, patients are not violent and hence are not dangerous.
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