Schizophrenia
We don't know the actual cause of schizophrenia. We do know that schizophrenia is a brain disease, with concrete and specific symptoms due to physical and biochemical changes in the brain. It is an illness that strikes young people in their prime between the ages of 16 to 25. It is almost always treatable with medication and it is more common than most people think. It affects 1 in 100 people worldwide! However, schizophrenia is not a “split personality”. Childhood trauma, bad parenting, or poverty does not cause it. It is not the result of any action or personal failure by the individual suffering with the disease.
Symptoms of schizophrenia are not identical for everyone. Some people may have only one episode in their lifetime. Others may have recurring episodes, but lead relatively normal lives in between. Others may have severe symptoms for a lifetime.
A personality change is often a key to recognizing schizophrenia. Changes may be subtle, minor and go unnoticed. Eventually, such changes become obvious. There is a loss of emotion, interest and motivation. A normally outgoing person may become withdrawn, quiet, and moody. Emotions may be inappropriate – the person may laugh in a sad situation, or cry over a joke – or may be unable to show any emotion at all.
Thoughts are not clear or rational. Thoughts may be slow to form, or come extra fast, or not at all. The person may jump from topic to topic, seem confused, or have difficulty making simple decisions. They may have false beliefs that have no logical basis. Some people also feel they are being spied on or plotted against. They think they are all-powerful, capable of anything, and invulnerable to danger. They may also have a strong religious drive, or believe they have a personal mission to right the wrongs of the world.
Sensory messages to the brain from the eyes, ears, nose, skin, and taste buds become confused. The person may actually hear, see smell or feel sensations that are not real. These are call hallucinations. People with schizophrenia will often hear voices. Sometimes the voices are threatening. These “voices” may order the person to “kill himself”. There is always a danger that such commands will be obeyed. They may have visual hallucinations such as a door in a wall where no door exits or colors, shapes may change before a person's eyes. They may be hypersensitive to sounds, tastes, and smells. Sense of touch may also be distorted. Someone may literally feel their skin crawling. They may feel like they are floating or as though they don't exist.
Someone who is experiencing such frightening changes will often try to keep them a secret. There is often a strong need to deny what is happening, and to avoid other people and situations where the fact that one is “different” might be discovered. They exhibit fear, dread, panic, and anxiety. The pain of schizophrenia is further accentuated by the person's awareness of the worry and suffering they may be causing their family and friends. People with schizophrenia need understanding, patience and reassurance that they will not be abandoned.