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What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a condition that affects a person’s experience of reality. A person who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia will experience episodes of psychosis, which means they experience delusions and hallucinations and find it hard to distinguish what is real and what isn’t.
It is important to understand that a person can be experiencing psychosis but not have schizophrenia, as there are various forms of psychosis and psychotic disorders.
Health professionals make a diagnosis of schizophrenia based on a pattern of signs and symptoms combined with changes in everyday functioning. For this reason, a diagnosis of schizophrenia takes time and, in general, people have been mentally unwell for quite some time before the diagnosis is made.
The condition falls into the category of ‘severe mental illness’, is lifelong and as yet no cure exists. When not addressed immediately, schizophrenia can also pose serious physical health problems to the person living with this condition. However, this can be managed effectively, and it is possible to live a stable life with the right medications and support.
What are the symptoms?
One of the main symptoms of schizophrenia is recurring psychosis. A person experiencing psychotic disorder finds it hard to identify what is real from what isn’t. If a person experiences psychosis only once in their life (a single episode), most likely they do not have schizophrenia. If a person experiences psychosis frequently (and it reoccurs after treatment), they may be diagnosed with schizophrenia. If someone is diagnosed with schizophrenia it does not mean they will experience all of the symptoms below. It is important to remember that someone with this mental health condition can have a very different experience from another individual living with schizophrenia.
The main symptoms of a person with schizophrenia are the following:
- Psychotic episodes — short periods of intense symptoms
- Delusions — fixed false beliefs that can’t be changed by evidence
- Hallucinations — hearing voices or otherwise sensing things that aren’t real
- Disordered thinking — muddled, disrupted thoughts that can be expressed through speech
- Disordered behaviour — unusual, inappropriate or extreme actions including an increase in the risk of suicide
- Low motivation
- Inability to express emotion or feel pleasure
- Problems with attention, memory, verbal and mental functions
What causes Schizophrenia?
Like many mental health challenges, schizophrenia doesn’t have just one single cause, it can be the result of a combination of factors including:
- Genetic predisposition
- Biochemical – shortage or excess of certain chemicals in the brain
- Environmental aspects such as stress, trauma and drug use can also increase the risk of developing mental health challenges
Symptoms tend to develop during the late teens to mid-30s. Schizophrenia appears in about 0.3-0.7 per cent of the population in most countries, including Australia.
How is Schizophrenia treated?
Through a range of holistic treatment options, the condition is manageable, and some people can live a relatively normal life including maintaining healthy relationships and securing a job. Medications are the cornerstone of schizophrenia treatment and antipsychotic medications are the most commonly prescribed drugs. Schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment, even when symptoms have subsided. In addition to medications, an experienced psychiatrist usually guides some sort of psychosocial treatment and the treatment team may include a psychologist, social worker, psychiatric nurse and possibly a case manager to coordinate care.
How do I find out more?
It is important to ask your doctor about any concerns you have. SANE Australia also produces a range of easy-to-read publications and multimedia resources on mental health challenges.
