Schizophrenia: Symptoms and Causes

schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Last Reviewed : 12/25/2020

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand reality. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation. People with schizophrenia often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety disorders, major depressive illness or substance use disorder. Symptoms typically come on gradually, begin in young adulthood, and last a long time.

The causes of schizophrenia include environmental and genetic factors. Possible environmental factors include being raised in a city, cannabis use, certain infections, parental age, and poor nutrition during pregnancy. Genetic factors include a variety of common and rare genetic variants. Diagnosis is based on observed behavior and the person's reported experiences. During diagnosis a person's culture must also be taken into account. As of 2013 there is no objective test. Schizophrenia does not imply a "split personality" or "multiple personality disorder" — a condition with which it is often confused in public perception.

The mainstay of treatment is antipsychotic medication along with counselling, job training, and social rehabilitation. It is unclear if typical or atypical antipsychotics are better. In those who do not improve with other antipsychotics, clozapine may be used. In more serious cases—where there is risk to self or others—involuntary hospitalization may be necessary, although hospital stays are now shorter and less frequent than they once were.

About 0.3–0.7% of people are affected by schizophrenia during their lifetime. In 2013 there was estimated to be 23.6 million cases globally. Males are more often affected than females. About 20% of people do well and a few recover completely. Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty, and homelessness are common. The average life expectancyof people with the disorder is ten to twenty-five years less than the average This is the result of increased physical health problems and a higher suicide rate (about 5%).In 2013 an estimated 16,000 people died from behavior related to, or caused by, schizophrenia.

We researched this topic for you and found the following best online resources. They are categorized into basic, advanced, and research level based on the extent of information you need. You will be taken to the respective websites by pressing on the links below.

Basic information:

http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/ schizophrenia

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/schizophrenia mental health america schizophrenia

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml national institute of mental health schizophrenia

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/schizophrenia/pages/introduction.aspx schizophrenia

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-signs-types-and-causes.htm help guide.org schizophrenia

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/36942.php mnt schizophrenia

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/basics/definition/con-20021077 schizophrenia definition

http://www.mindhealthconnect.org.au/schizophrenia mind health connect schizophrenia

https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/schizophrenia psychology today schizophrenia

http://www.medicinenet.com/schizophrenia/article.htm medicine net.com schizophrenia

https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/schiz.html schizophrenia

http://www.everydayhealth.com/schizophrenia/guide/ everyday health schizophrenia

https://www.imh.com.sg/clinical/page.aspx?id=259 institute of mental health schizophrenia

http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/schizophrenia/overview.html new york times schizophrenia

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/schizophrenia better health schizophrenia

https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/psychiatric-disorders/schizophrenia-and-related-disorders/schizophrenia merck manuals schizophrenia

http://www.psychguides.com/guides/schizophrenia/ psyc guides schizophrenia

Advanced information:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/288259-overview medscape schizophrenia

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/schizophrenia.aspx royal college of psychiatrists schizophrenia

http://psychcentral.com/lib/types-of-schizophrenia/ psych central schizophrenia

http://www.mentalhealth.com/home/dx/schizophrenia.html internet health schizophrenia

http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/schizophrenia/en/ mental health schizophrenia

http://patient.info/health/schizophrenia-leaflet patient schizophrenia

http://psychiatryonline.org/pb/assets/raw/sitewide/practice_guidelines/guidelines/schizophrenia.pdf practice guideline for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia second edition

http://www.sign.ac.uk/pdf/sign131.pdf management of schizophrenia a national clinical guideline march 2013

http://www.brown.edu/courses/bi_278/other/clerkship/didactics/readings/schizophrenia.pdf schizophrenia (dsm-iv-tr #295.1–295.3, 295.90)

http://isps-dk.dk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/understanding-psychosis-final-19th-nov-2014.pdf the british psychological society understanding psychosis and schizophrenia

https://www.ranzcp.org/files/resources/publications/cpg/clinician/cpg_clinician_full_schizophrenia-pdf.aspx royal australian and new zealand college of psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the management of schizophrenia and related disorders by cherrie galletly et al., australian & new zealand journal of psychiatry 2016, vol. 50(5) 410–472 doi: 10.1177/0004867416641195

Research:

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00653/full review article front. hum. neurosci., 25 august 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00653 a review of structural neuroimaging in schizophrenia: from connectivity to connectomics by anne l. wheeler & aristotle n. voineskos

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00018/full review article front. psychiatry, 21 february 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00018 genetics, cognition, and neurobiology of schizotypal personality: a review of the overlap with schizophrenia by ulrich ettinger et al.

http://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244x-11-139 a systematic review and meta-analysis of neurological soft signs in relatives of people with schizophrenia by kishen neelam et al., bmc psychiatrybmc series ¿ open, inclusive and trusted201111:139 doi: 10.1186/1471-244x-11-139

http://hqlo.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1477-7525-7-84 quality of life in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia: a literature review by alejandra caqueo-urízar et al., health and quality of life outcomes20097:84 doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-7-84

http://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244x-10-69 acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (achei's) for the treatment of visual hallucinations in schizophrenia: a review of the literature by sachin s patel et al., bmc psychiatrybmc series ¿ open, inclusive and trusted201010:69 doi: 10.1186/1471-244x-10-69

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00089/full mini review article front. psychiatry, 28 july 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00089 can exercise increase fitness and reduce weight in patients with schizophrenia and depression? by jesper krogh et al

http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnint.2014.00063/full
front. integr. neurosci., 12 august 2014 | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2014.00063 what visual illusions teach us about schizophrenia by charles-edouard notredame

soren s, surjit, chaudhury s, bakhla a k. multiple self-inserted pins and nails in pericardium in a patient of schizophrenia: case report and review. ind psychiatry j [serial online] 2015 [cited 2016 may 19];24:82-7. available from: http://www.industrialpsychiatry.org/text.asp?2015/24/1/82/160959

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/tswj/2015/970730/ the scientific world journal
volume 2015 (2015), article id 970730, 10 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/970730 review article:efficacy of adjunctive treatments added to olanzapine or clozapine for weight control in patients with schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis by yun-jung choi

http://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244x-12-159 insight, psychopathology, explanatory models and outcome of schizophrenia in india: a prospective 5-year cohort study by shanthi johnson et al., bmc psychiatrybmc series ¿ open, inclusive and trusted201212:159 doi: 10.1186/1471-244x-12-159

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa051688 effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia by jeffrey a. lieberman et al n engl j med 2005; 353:1209-1223september 22, 2005doi: 10.1056/nejmoa051688

Schizophrenia

Please leave your comments:

Related Articles