Schizophrenia: Causes of Schizophrenia – Symptoms

What is Schizophrenia?

Thinking of Schizophrenia will take you to some of the greatest movies of all time and some of the best stories ever, such as ‘Fight Club’ and ‘The Mechanist’. This is completely wrong. One of the most common misconceptions in the mental illness is to misunderstand schizophrenia. This mental disorder has so many different types.

But, the common problem is that people misunderstand those types, and they generalize the term schizophrenia to specify what we know as multiple personality disorder, although those are entirely different disorders. Schizophrenics are not those who have more than one personality, but a different mental illness that characterizes the mind troubles of the patient.

In the following parts of the article, we are going to explain as much as we can everything related to schizophrenia. That is our duty is spreading the true science and knowledge.

What does Schizophrenia mean?

Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental illnesses in the whole world. We may say that it affects about one percent of USA population. It is one very serious matter that may lead to serious consequences. We may consider people that we say ‘crazy’ or ‘gone mad’ are schizophrenic.

The condition may cause the patient to see unreal things, hear things do not exist, hallucinations, or may even believe that someone else is controlling their mind. Such things may cause the patient to ‘lose his mind’ and freak out, causing himself/ herself serious damages due to fear. They might start behaving in a way different way that affects them; physically, emotionally, mentally, and socially.

So far, we could not find any completely effective cure that cures the condition, but there are so many available treatments that can help to improve most severe and serious symptoms. Such treatments may help the patient to be able to live normally in his/ her community; although this might be very challenging. One thing that we ‘insist’ more on it is that this is not related, at any way, to multiple personalities: that is a way different mental disorder.

What does schizophrenia do to your thoughts?

As we said before, the schizophrenia may cause schizophrenics to believe that someone else is controlling their thoughts or may get several hallucinations. Schizophrenics might be incapable of making their own thoughts, organize what they think about, make logical links, take decisions, or anything similar.

Their minds may seem that they move from something very irrelevant to something else (thoughts) more irrelevant. Due to their beliefs that someone else is taking control over their thoughts may lead them to feel like their thought have been withdrawal or blocked. They feel that their thought have been removed from their minds. It is an issue more related to thoughts in mind than to anything else.

How does schizophrenia affect patient’s work?

Since the disorder affects basically the thoughts and the way a person thinks, then it would be extreme challenging to get a job or to keep it while being schizophrenic. The effects of schizophrenia over communications, attention, thinking, concentration, and behaving, would stand like a wall in front of the attempts of schizophrenic in finding or keeping a job.

What is the effect of schizophrenia on the behavior?

This disorder does not affect one specific aspect of the patient’s life, but many different and various ones. The impact differs from a person to another and from a case to another. This includes their behaviors. Due to what we explained before of thoughts, the schizophrenics are known to say words that do not exist, make no sense at all when they speak, and their words seem made up.

Sometimes,they can be very agitated and excited, while other times they show no expression or emotion at all. Most of them are not capable of keeping their own place organized and clean. They literally ruin everything around them. They may repeat doing something over and over. Unlike what might people hear, those people are most unlikely to harm anyone else.

It is very popular that schizophrenic people or ‘mad’ people are violent and aggressive, but that is not so true. In a previous article about the story of a schizophrenic that we covered, he talks and explains how people misunderstand them. They are mostly associated with violence, which is like a stereotype.

What is the cause of schizophrenia?

So far, science has not yet been able to indicate the exact cause of this mental illness. Different factors and triggers are contributed together, which can be the reason why some people become schizophrenic. Those factors are mostly related to genetic causes, experiences in life, traumas, social interactions, and other settings. There are several theories that relate this condition to some differences in the brain functions and physiology. The brain areas and chemicals like glutamate and dopamine may be associated. The scan and X-ray image sof the brains of a schizophrenic and a healthy person show that there is a wide big difference.

What are the most common symptoms of schizophrenia?

Beside all what we have mentioned above of thoughts and behaviors, the symptoms of schizophrenia are not always the same in every patient. They differ from one to another. Yet, we may conclude the symptoms into three major ones: paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations. Paranoia is what the patient may develop of fear from the other people. Delusions are the false and wrong beliefs that schizophrenics have.

Hallucinations are something such as to be able to hear and/ or see unreal things. Some consequences and symptoms of the disorder may make the person become antisocial, non-enjoying, and others may worsen the situation by making him/ her a depressed schizophrenic.

What are the treatments of schizophrenia?

We have already said that there is no absolute cure for the condition, but, surely, there are effective treatments against serious symptoms. Drugs and medications may be included in those treatments. Your doctor may describe for you several effective drugs and medicines that can help you get rid of those thoughts and hallucinations. There might be several side effects, but they are not a big deal; some extra weight and tremors are worth to get treated from schizophrenia. Medications are at most of the time, necessary to treat the disorder however.

Treatments may include some kinds of therapies as well, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). There are other kinds we may not mention here, but all seem very effective in treating the mental condition and making the patient get well. The most important thing is that the schizophrenic accept that and his family and friends are aware of it. This also may help in improving the symptoms.