Symptoms

What is schizophrenia ?

The Greek translation for the word schizophrenia is “split mind”. It is a psychiatric mental illness that consists of mental impairment and a distorted perception or expression of reality. Auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and unorganized speech and thinking are several signs of schizophrenia. Social and occupational dysfunction are commonly seen characteristics in a person with schizophrenia. Young adulthood is the general period at which the mental disease begins to onset. Less than 1% of the population. Genetics, environment, neurobiology and social experiences are all contributing factors; however, no single cause has yet been found.

Symptoms of schizophrenia can be very hindering to a persons personal and social life. Disorganized thinking, mental delusions and hallucinations or only a few of these symptoms. In some of the most severe cases of schizophrenia the patient may be mute or remain motionless in bizarre positions or very irascible. Since in is near impossible to test schizophrenia in a lab, the majority of the diagnosis’ are based on self-reported experiences. Social isolation remains one of the key signs of a person with schizophrenia. This is mainly because social cognition is greatly impaired with the disease. Many patients that are diagnosed with this mental ailment may find social situations stressful, therefore exacerbating mental distress. Much work has been done to identify the pre-onset symptoms of schizophrenia in order to treat or prevent it.

The symptoms of schizophrenia are often paired into terms of ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ symptoms. Psychosis, which consists of delusions, auditory hallucinations and thought ‘disorder’, is classified as a positive symptom. Psychosis is generally regarded as a positive characteristic because it is not necessarily a separate state from normal consciousness, but rather a continuum with normal consciousness. Negative symptoms are so-called because they consists of traits that are abnormal. For example, lack of motivation, poor speech and blunted emotion are negative symptoms.