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Symptoms are generally divided into three categories.
POSITIVE SYMPTONS are unusual thoughts or perceptions that ordinarily should not be present
NEGATIVE SYMPTONS refer to things taken away form a person's personality, such as changes in facial expressions.
COGNITIVE SYMPTONS include disorganized and distorted perceptions of everyday sights, sounds and feelings.
There is no instant cure for schizophrenia but people can and do recover. There are several treatment options available.
Did you know?
Schizophrenia is a biochemical brain disorder which results in disordered thinking, delusions, hallucinations, and a lack of energy and motivation.
Schizophrenia strikes one in every hundred Canadians, typically people in their late teens or twenties.
Schizophrenia patients occupy one in every twelve hospital beds in Canada - more beds than are needed for any other single illness, except cardiovascular illness.
Schizophrenia costs more than $2.3 billion in direct health care costs in Canada, and an additional $2 billion in direct costs such as welfare, family benefits, community support, etc.
Schizophrenia drastically affects peoples quality of life. Many people in prison have the illness, as do about one-third of the homeless. Forty percent of the people with schizophrenia try to commit suicide; ten percent succeed.
Schizophrenia research in Canada is funded at about one-tenth of the rate of other illnesses; if yo measure against the total health care costs for each illness.
While there are several forms of the illness, childhood schizophrenia and late-onset schizophrenia, occur outside the usual age of onset (16-30).
Schizophrenia in children is rare. Affecting 1 in 40,000 compared to1 in 100 adults. Children with schizophrenia experience the same symptoms as adults.
Late-onset schizophrenia (which develops after age 35) is more common among women than men. People with late-onset schizophrenia respond well to treatment as developing schizophrenia later in life often allows the individual to draw on a strong support system and previously learned life skills.
The precise cause of schizophrenia remains unknown. It is believed to result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families. It occurs in 1% of the general population, but is seen in 10% of people with a first degree relative (parent, brother, sister) with the disease.
Changes in key brain functions indicate that the brain is the biological site of the disease. There may be changes in dopamine, serotonin, or other neurotransmitters (the substances through which cells communicate).