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Schizophrenia
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a type of psychotic illness. People with psychotic
illnesses often cannot tell the difference between real
and imaginary worlds. A person with schizophrenia experiences
jumbled
thoughts,
images, and sounds that come and go in phases, often suddenly
and severely. Because the severity of schizophrenic episodes
varies, some people can understand reality and function at
work and at home, while others may be unable to function at
all. There is no one cause of schizophrenia, but it has been
attributed to genetic changes and variations in brain chemicals.
It does tend to run
in families, and affects men and women equally. Symptoms usually
appear in men earlier (late teens to 20s) than
in women (late 20s to 30s). Stress can aggravate the symptoms
of schizophrenia, but it does not cause the disease. Poor parenting
and a bad upbringing have also been ruled out as causes.
What are the symptoms?
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- Hallucinations -- seeing, hearing,
smelling, or feeling things that aren't really there
- Delusions --
false beliefs from which the person cannot be dissuaded
- Inability to make sense out of the world
- Emotions, thoughts, and moods that do not correspond to an
event
- Hyperactivity
- Catatonia -- a set of symptoms that can vary from near motionlessness
to abnormal purposeless movements
- Speaking in sentences that do not make
sense
- Depression
- Isolation from the outside world, including family and
friends
- Mood swings
- Inability to function in school, work, or other activities
- No longer washing or grooming oneself
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** In order to
be diagnosed with schizophrenia, symptoms generally must last at
least six months.
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Other
Sources of Information
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Schizophrenia
Symptoms and Overview
WebMD
and The Cleveland Clinic |
Schizophrenia Publications
National
Institute of Mental Health |
Schizophrenia Fact Sheets
National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill |
All
About Schizophrenia |
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