Schizophrenia

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder where the person experiences mental disconnections from reality because the brain is functioning improperly. Thoughts, senses, behaviors, and memories are impaired to varying extents for sufferers, and it is one of the most debilitating mental health disorders because of the way it removes the person’s ability to participate in life normally.

There are different types of schizophrenia: schizotypal personality disorder, delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophreniform disorder. It also tends to onset at different periods in life for people based on their gender. If a man becomes schizophrenic, it usually happens between the ages of 15 and 25. For women, it is usually between 25 and 35 years of age that they’ll develop schizophrenia if it’s going to happen.

What Causes Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is the result of faulty brain chemistry, and specifically with imbalances in chemical signals the brain uses for cell-to-cell communication. Brain development irregularities that occur before birth may also be behind what causes schizophrenia, and the loss of connections between different areas of the brain continues to become more advanced as the person ages.

There are also risk factors for schizophrenia, and most people will be surprised to learn that being born in winter increases your risk of becoming schizophrenic later in life. When a birthing parent has gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, vitamin D deficiency, or is malnourished, then the child will have a greater chance of it too. Recreational drug use during youth when the brain is still developing can also be a contributing factor.

Schizophrenia Symptoms

Delusional thoughts and hallucinations are the two most primary schizophrenia symptoms. Sufferers are known to hold onto beliefs even after they’ve been disproved, and the hallucinations can have them perceiving experiences to be real when they’re not. Disorganized or incoherent speaking is also a symptom, as are awkward or unusual movements.

Losing expression in the face, lacking motivation, and being unable to complete tasks as expected are also possible indicators that a person is developing schizophrenia. Self-medicating with alcohol or drugs and beginning to care less about appearance and hygiene may be indicators as well.

Schizophrenia Treatment

The most conventional approach to schizophrenia treatment is to have the person start on medications like Seroquel or Zyprexa, both of which are atypical antipsychotic drugs formulated to regulate biochemistry so that a person’s brain function is more normalized, and schizophrenia is more manageable. Psychotherapy is almost always going to be a part of a treatment regimen and can be particularly helpful for secondary conditions developed alongside schizophrenia like anxiety, depression, or substance abuse.

Some sufferers may have their doctor approve electroconvulsive therapy, a procedure that involves electrical currents entering through the scalp to stimulate certain parts of the brain.