Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects the way a person thinks. Schizophrenia affects one in every 100 people. The symptoms of schizophrenia usually begin to appear at the onset of adulthood. Having schizophrenia does not mean having two personalities, nor does it mean that the affected person will act violently.
The symptoms associated with schizophrenia can be divided into positive symptoms and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms include hearing voices and seeing things that are not real (auditory and visual hallucinations), and delusions (believing and thinking in imaginary things). Negative symptoms are a loss of desire to work and social withdrawal. The negative symptoms persist for long periods even after the positive symptoms have disappeared.
Diagnosis of Schizophrenia?
Positive Symptoms:
Unusual feelings and thoughts, which many people may experience from time to time without them being problematic, but in the presence of schizophrenia, they become strong, disturbing, and prevent the person from performing their duties and living normally. These symptoms represent a change from the person's nature prior to developing schizophrenia.
Hallucinations Hallucinations are sensations of things that do not exist in reality and are only perceived by the patient. These include auditory hallucinations, which involve hearing noises or speech, visual hallucinations, which involve seeing clear or unclear images of objects or lights, and olfactory hallucinations, which involve smelling scents that do not exist. The most common type is auditory hallucinations.
Delusions Delusions refer to false beliefs held by the patient that do not align with reality. There are different types, such as persecutory delusions, where the patient believes they are being watched by individuals or organizations, or feels persecuted by superiors at work, for example. Another type is delusions of control, where the patient believes that certain people or entities are controlling them or their body and actions. There are also delusions of grandeur, where the patient believes they are someone of importance, have special abilities, or are connected to important people.
Negative Symptoms:
- Loss of motivation and drive to work and be productive.
- Loss of interest and desire to engage in activities that the person with schizophrenia previously cared about.
- Inability to carry out tasks and feeling tired, fatigued, and unenthusiastic.
- Difficulty concentrating and becoming easily distracted.
- Neglect of personal hygiene, infrequent bathing, neglecting haircuts and nail trimming, and not changing clothes.
- Social withdrawal and feeling uncomfortable around people.
When should an individual or family consult a doctor?
If an individual feel, or a family notices in one of its members, all or some of the symptoms mentioned earlier, they should consult a doctor as soon as possible. Studies have shown that early therapeutic intervention at the onset of schizophrenia increases the likelihood of treatment response and reduces the severity and likelihood of symptom recurrence.