Schizophrenics
| Schizophrenia | |
|---|---|
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| Self-portrait of a person with schizophrenia, representing that individual's perception of the distorted experience of reality in the disorder | |
| Pronunciation | |
| Specialty | Psychiatry, psychology |
| Symptoms | False beliefs, confused thinking, hearing voices others do not |
| Usual onset | Typically early adulthood |
| Duration | Chronic |
| Causes | Environmental and genetic factors |
| Risk factors | Family history, cannabis use, problems during pregnancy, being raised in a city, older father |
| Diagnostic method | Based on observed behavior, reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person |
| Similar conditions | Substance misuse, Huntington's disease, mood disorders, autism |
| Treatment | Counselling, job training |
| Medication | Antipsychotics |
| Prognosis | 18–20 years shorter life expectancy due to increases in suicide, heart and lifestyle disease |
| Frequency | ~0.5% |
| Deaths | ~17,000 (2015) |
| Classification |
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| External resources |
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices that others do not hear, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation. People with schizophrenia often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety, depressive, or substance-use disorders. 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 during adolescence, 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, the person's reported experiences and reports of others familiar with the person. 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 "dissociative identity disorder" – conditions 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 whether typical or atypical antipsychotics are better. In those who do not improve with other antipsychotics clozapine may be tried. In more serious situations 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.
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