Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that causes a difficulty in clear thinking, behaving, and feeling. The patient can’t distinguish between what is real and what is imaginary. Although, it can happen at any age, most people suffer from it during their early adulthood. Schizophrenic patients are not violent in nature. It is a chronic disease and not curable.
Early warning signs of schizophrenia
The signs of schizophrenia may take time to develop or can appear abruptly. They differ between patients. Some of the warning signs, one should look out for are:
- A person suffering from this disease can feel indifferent toward important situations
- They might respond in an irrational way or have an angry outburst toward their loved ones
- Affected person might imagine hearing or seeing things
- Patients can develop a tendency of social withdrawal
- They can experience difficulties in sleeping or concentrating
- Schizophrenic students might experience a fall in grades, whereas the adults with the same disorder might experience a deterioration in their work performance
- They might feel that they are being constantly watched
- They can undergo an overall change in personality
- They might also develop a peculiar way of saying things or writing
People experiencing two or more of the above-mentioned changes lasting for more than two weeks should be provided with immediate medical help. These warning signs lead to more prominent symptoms like delusion, hallucination, lack of interest, disorganized behavior, lack of coordination in thoughts and speech, and social withdrawal.
Causes of schizophrenia
The causes of schizophrenia are still not clear. However, researchers have found out certain probable causes for this disease.
- Problems related to different brain chemicals like neurotransmitters can lead to schizophrenia. The function of neurotransmitters is to help in communication between brain cells. As a result, problems in brain chemicals can affect the persons’ ability to think or feel.
- This disease can happen as a result of various genetic factors. It has been found that people whose immediate family like parents or siblings suffer from schizophrenia run a high risk to develop the same disease.
- Studies also show thatthe consumption of certain drugs in the teenage can lead to schizophrenia is early adulthood. Consuming marijuana can also increase the risk of developing this disease.
- It has been found in different studies that if during pregnancy a child experiences malnutrition or is exposed to certain viruses, they have a high risk of developing schizophrenia.
Treatment of schizophrenia
As mentioned earlier schizophrenia cannot be cured. It might stay for years or throughout one’s life. The disease may come and go, and patients experience stages of relapse and remissions. However, patients can still be treated through the following ways:
- Antipsychotic medications that affect the brain chemicals are responsible for the regulation of thought process and emotions.
- Psychotherapy which may differ from person to person
All schizophrenic patients do not display identical symptoms. The treatment of a patient depends on the symptoms they are displaying. As a result, different treatment procedures are applied depending on the symptoms of the patients.
