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Schizophrenia - Topic Overview
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is an illness that harms how your brain works and how you think. It affects each person in a different way, both on a daily basis and over a lifetime. How society and the people you come in contact with react to schizophrenia also can make a difference in how schizophrenia affects you. They may make it easier or harder for you to cope with the illness.
Schizophrenia can change you in many ways. It may make it harder for you to think clearly, manage how you feel, and deal with other people.
Most people who have schizophrenia hear and sometimes see things that are not there (hallucinations), often believe some things that are not true (delusions), and may think that some people are trying to harm them (paranoia). With treatment, they may come to understand that these experiences are not real but are a problem with how their brains work.
There are several types of schizophrenia. The most common type is paranoid schizophrenia, which causes people to have frightening thoughts, believe that people or forces are trying to harm them, and hear voices. Some people think that schizophrenia is the same as a "split personality" (dissociative identity disorder), but that is a different mental health problem.
Living with schizophrenia can cause many challenges. It is a difficult disease. It changes your life and your family members' lives. But if you are willing to work at helping yourself, you get professional help, and you have the support and understanding of your family, you can live a full and meaningful life.
What causes schizophrenia?
Experts don't know what causes schizophrenia. It may have different causes for different people. In some people, brain chemistry and brain structure are not normal. Family history may play a role. And problems that harm a baby's brain during pregnancy also may help cause it. Schizophrenia is not caused by anything you did, by personal weakness, or by the way your parents raised you.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of schizophrenia include:
- Negative symptoms . "Negative" does not mean "bad." Negative symptoms are things that are "lost" from your personality or how you experience life because of schizophrenia. Negative symptoms include not caring about things, having no interest or drive to do things, and not taking care of yourself, such as not bathing or not eating regularly. You may find it hard to say how you feel, or you may become angry with strangers for no reason and react to others in other harmful ways.
- Positive symptoms . "Positive" does not mean "good." Positive symptoms are things "added" or "new" to your personality or how you experience life because of schizophrenia. They include hallucinations, delusions, and thoughts and speech that are confusing.
- Cognitive symptoms . These symptoms have to do with how you think. They can include memory loss, not being able to understand things well enough to make decisions, and having trouble talking clearly to others. Cognitive symptoms often are not obvious to you or others.
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
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