Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterised by a lack of coherence between a person's thoughts and the expression of their feelings. Its symptoms include bizarre thoughts, delusions or hallucinations, incoherent speech, and hearing things others cannot hear. People with this condition often face difficulties functioning socially or at work. The symptoms of schizophrenia usually appear in adulthood and are long-lasting.
Heredity, childhood environment, neurobiology, and psychological and social processes all appear to be important factors in this disorder. Certain stimulant drugs and medications appear to trigger the symptoms or make them more severe. Current research emphasises neurobiology, although no single biological cause has yet been identified.
About 0.3–0.7% of people worldwide are affected by this disorder. It is diagnosed by observing a person's behaviour and reviewing their past activities. Various social problems — such as long-term unemployment, poverty, and homelessness — are considered major contributing factors.

Generally, there are several types of schizophrenia, such as:

• Paranoid Schizophrenia: The affected person becomes excessively suspicious, believes they are being persecuted for various reasons, and expresses unwarranted suspicion of the people around them.
• Disorganized Schizophrenia: This causes incoherence in speech and thought. However, the affected person does not experience delusions.
• Catatonic Schizophrenia: When emotional or behavioural changes reach an extreme, the person's speech and other physical activity may stop abruptly, and they may become unable to respond to anything.
• Residual Schizophrenia: The affected person loses all interest in living and becomes despondent.
• Schizoaffective Disorder: The person shows symptoms of schizophrenia alongside other mood disorders such as depression.

Symptoms

Changes in various aspects of thinking and behaviour are common symptoms of schizophrenia. These include:

• Hallucination: Experiencing the presence of objects or people that are not actually there.
• Delusion: A firmly held belief based on a false and unrealistic view of reality.
• Disorganized thinking: A lack of coherence in thoughts and conversation.
• Changes in behaviour and thinking: Behaviour becomes inconsistent and unpredictable, appearing abnormal to others.

Causes

The exact cause of this disorder is unknown. However, the factors held responsible include:

• Genetic or hereditary: if a parent has the disorder, the child is more likely to develop it.
• Viral infection and extremely stressful circumstances.
• Chemical imbalance in the brain and neurochemical deficiencies.
• Complications during pregnancy and birth.
• Certain stimulant drugs and medications.

Risk Factors

Heredity: Schizophrenia can be hereditary, though no single gene is solely responsible.

Neurotransmitters: Neurotransmitters carry messages between brain cells, and there is a relationship between neurotransmitters and schizophrenia.

Pregnancy and birth complications:

• Bleeding during pregnancy, gestational diabetes, or pre-eclampsia
• Abnormal growth or low birth weight of the baby in the womb
• Viral infection during pregnancy
• Complications at birth, lack of oxygen (asphyxia), and caesarean section

Stress: A stressful event can be a trigger for a psychotic episode — such as losing a job or home, divorce or the end of a relationship, or physical, sexual, emotional, or racial abuse.

Drug use: Certain intoxicants such as cannabis, cocaine, LSD, or amphetamines can precipitate schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia creates as much difficulty for the affected person's family and those around them as it does for the person themselves. Although it is a complex disorder, with proper treatment, family support, and compassion, the affected person can recover fully.