Everything You Need to Know About Schizophrenia

wsWhen a person knows about a disease well then only he can fight with the same and can also recover at the best time too. One disease that we often hear nowadays is schizophrenia. As per a survey conducted by World Health Organization, around 24 million people in the world suffer from the problem of schizophrenia. Men and women are equally affected from schizophrenia. As it is a chronic and severe mental disorder, people should be aware of it so that it can be controlled within time.

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health problem where a patient often experiences delusions, hallucinations, social and emotional withdrawal and unexplainable behaviour. The worst thing about the disease is that for the patient, it becomes really difficult to differentiate between reality and imaginary things. Schizophrenia seriously disturbs the way people think, feel and relate to others.

Although this mental health problem has been present throughout human history, it was only in the early 20th century when German psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler gave the ‘schizophrenia’ to describe this kind of illness. The word ‘schizophrenia’ comes from the Greek words for ‘split’ and ‘mind’. But it is important to bear in mind that schizophrenia does not mean split personality. It is a kind of mental illness where a person cannot tell what is real from what is imagined.

Causes of Schizophrenia

Based on the many researches which have been conducted on the disease, the exact cause of schizophrenia is not yet known, but the different theories do suggest some possible reasons that are mentioned below.

Genetic: Researches says that the disease has a strong connection with heredity. People who have first degree family member suffering from schizophrenia have a higher chance of having this kind of mental disorder. Several genes are responsible for the increased risk of schizophrenia but there is not any particular gene found that could be solely held responsible for the same.

Environmental Issues: Well, this may be surprising for people to know but the environmental issue does have their relevancy in the disease. Stress during pregnancy increases the production of the hormone known as cortisol in the body. This hormone can trigger schizophrenia. Other factors that may cause schizophrenia are viral infection during the prenatal stage, low level of oxygen at the time of birth, viral infection during infancy, malnutrition before birth, taking marijuana during teenage days and suffering from some kind of abuse in childhood.

Abnormal Brain Structure: If there is abnormality in brain structure then it may also cause schizophrenia. For instance, enlarged brain ventricles can cause schizophrenia as it affects the planning and decision making capacity of the brain. Experts also suggest that imbalance in the neurotransmitters dopamine; glutamate, temporal lobes and amygdale can also cause schizophrenia.

The Common Symptoms of Schizophrenia

The disease can be understood better when one can spot the symptoms well. We are here mentioning the symptoms of schizophrenia that could help in getting speedy treatment for the same. Actually it is a disease in which a person is unable to understand what is real and what is not and hence there are few symptoms that could help in knowing if the person is suffering from schizophrenia.

  • A person who is suffering from schizophrenia hears the voices that might not be there. It is a type of hallucination.
  • An unknown fear is always surrounded by when a person is suffering from the disease. It is also referred as paranoia.
  • A person who is suffering from schizophrenia withdraws from the social circle. The decreased social involvement is a sign that something is not right with the mental health condition of the person.

Types of Schizophrenia

Depending on the symptoms the disease is classified into five different forms. We are mentioning the different types of schizophrenia below.

  • Paranoid
  • Disorganized
  • Catatonic
  • Undifferentiated
  • Residual

These are the most important things that you should know about the disease. If you have someone who is having the symptoms of schizophrenia then it is required that you should consult a good doctor for schizophrenia treatment for the same. Consulting Dr. Shashi Bhushan could be a good choice as he is a reputed psychiatrist in Delhi who specializes in many health diseases.