Facts About Schizophrenia

The first signs of schizophrenia typically emerge in adolescence or young adulthood. The effects of the illness are confusing and often distressing to families and friends. People with schizophrenia suffer from difficulties in their thought processes, which lead to hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, and unusual speech or behaviour. All these symptoms mean that people affected with the illness find it difficult to interact with other people, and may withdraw from the outside world.

People with schizophrenia clearly suffer great disruption to their lives. However, families and friends may also be deeply affected, due not only to the distress of seeing the effects of the condition, but also to the difficulties associated with supporting the patient. Coping with the symptoms of schizophrenia can be especially difficult for family members who remember how active or lively a person was before they became ill.

Schizophrenia is a complex illness, which is thought to be due to a number of different factors acting together. These factors seem to include genetic influences, trauma (injury) to the brain occurring at or around the time of birth, together with the effects of social isolation and/or stress. Other effects may also be important, but no one factor can be said to be the cause of schizophrenia. Rather, each of these factors is thought to increase the risk that a person may develop symptoms.

Schizophrenia affects between 1% and 2% of people during their lifetime. Schizophrenia is found all over the world, and rates of illness are very similar from country to country. Schizophrenia is the single most destructive disease to young people. Men and women are at equal risk of developing the illness. Whereas most males become ill between 16 and 25 years old, most females develop symptoms between ages 25 and 30. Medications and other treatments for schizophrenia, when used regularly and as prescribed, can help reduce and control the distressing symptoms of the illness. However, some people are not greatly helped by available treatments, or may discontinue treatment because of unpleasant side effects or other reasons. Even when treatment is effective, some people find difficulty in regaining the life they had and require other forms of help. However, some people only have one or two episodes and are left with little or no residual illness.