Effects of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects approximately 1 percent of the population in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. It is not unusual for people who have this disease to hear voices or think that people are plotting against them. Although schizophrenia can be controlled with medication, it cannot be cured, and despite treatment some residual symptoms may still occur.

Symptoms

• Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations, clumsiness, involuntary movements, disorganized thinking and garbled speech. Negative symptoms include loss of interest in life, inability to start and continue a planned activity, and lack of interest in speaking to others. Schizophrenia patients often show no emotion and speak in a monotone. Cognitive symptoms of the disease include an inability to pay attention, memory problems and trouble understanding information and making decisions. These symptoms may not be constantly present and every patient will not necessarily experience all of these symptoms.

Misconceptions

• The word "schizophrenia" comes from the Greek word for "split mind." Because of this literal translation, many people mistakenly believe that people with schizophrenia have multiple personalities. Multiple personality disorder is an entirely separate disorder and is not usually associated with schizophrenia.

Causes

• While a definitive cause for schizophrenia has not been identified, scientists believe it occurs due to a combination of environmental, psychological, genetic and biological factors. Schizophrenia does seem to run in some families, and if your parent has schizophrenia, you will have a 10-percent chance of developing the illness.

Diagnosis

• If you suspect that you may have schizophrenia, your doctor will conduct a thorough physical examination, take a complete medical history and ask you to describe your symptoms. In some cases, physical causes can be responsible for schizophrenia-like symptoms and your doctor will want to make sure that you actually have schizophrenia before proceeding with treatment. A computerized tomography (CAT) scan may be ordered to rule out a brain disorder. If your doctor thinks that you might have schizophrenia, you will be referred to a psychiatrist, a medical doctor specializing in mental disorders. The psychiatrist will discuss your symptoms with you, noting how many positive, negative and cognitive symptoms you display, and will make a diagnosis based on your symptoms and his observation of your behavior.

Treatment

• Antipsychotic medications are usually prescribed to treat schizophrenia. These medications must be taken for the rest of your life, even when you start to feel better, or the symptoms will recur. Because antipsychotic medications increase the risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes, you will be prescribed the lowest effective dosage in order to reduce the risk of any of these side effects from occurring. Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is an important part of the schizophrenia treatment plan; this type of therapy can help you cope with the problems you face every day due to your symptoms. If you have a family, family therapy is often recommended in conjunction with individual therapy. Family therapy can help your family members recognize when your symptoms are getting worse and help them cope better with your illness.