Schizophrenia

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Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder type of mental illness that affects an individual’s personality and their ability to cope with everyday life. Even though schizophrenia can develop in older people, it generally develops in early adulthood. It seems that more men are affected between the ages of 16 to 20 years but more women are affected between the ages of 25 to 30. Schizophrenia affects approximately 1 percent of all people, all over the world.

Types of schizophrenia

Catatonic schizophrenia – shows physical symptoms like immobility, having strange posture and frenzied movement.
Paranoid schizophrenia – having major delusions and hallucinations.
Disorganised (hebephrenic) schizophrenia – having abnormal emotional reactions and disrupted speech and thinking patterns.
Undifferentiated schizophrenia – having a combination of symptoms from all groups.

Major Symptoms

Delusions – having a false belief of guilt, persecution or being controlled. People that suffer delusions may feel as though there are plots or conspiracies against them by the government. They will become withdrawn. Some people believe that they have super powers.
Hallucinations – usually this is referring to hearing voices in their head. Some uncommon hallucinations are hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and touching things that only they can perceive.
Thought disorder – people showing thought disorder will be hard to understand as it affects the way the ill person talks. Their speech will be mixed up and they will change subject quickly and with no apparent reason. Some people will believe that their mind is being controlled or that thoughts are being implanted inside, or being removed from, their head.
Other symptoms include:
Loss of motivation – where the ability to accomplish simple everyday things, like washing and cooking, are gone.
Dulled expressions of emotions – losing the ability to show emotion, this is ...