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Schizophrenia is a disorder of thoughts feeling and behavior. It’s a chronic and a severe mental disorder which starts usually during the adolescence or in young adult age. Very rarely it affects the middle, old age and in children. Schizophrenia symptoms fall into mainly two categories which are called positive and Negative symptoms. There is also a cognitive symptoms which are subtle and difficult to notice and are now listed as third category. Let us understand what positive symptoms are: Delusion: it’s a false and unshakable belief which contrary to the fact persists and may be bizarre, for example the person who is suffering commonly has paranoid thoughts such as“ people are against me, and want to kill me”, or “ they are is big conspiracy to malign me” etc.. There may be other forms of delusion like their partner is having an affair etc.. Hallucinations: It’s a false perception and in Schizophrenia most common hallucination is Auditory for example the person might hear two or more persons voice and believe it’s true and this hallucination may be continuous or intermittent, may also think sometimes it’s god’s voice or known person voices etc. Disorganized speech: Speech may be deranged, unintelligible or increased volume or sometimes people find them talking to self, etc. Disorganized behavior: Bizarre behavior may be noticed in persons with schizophrenia and common one’s are, “smiling without any reason”, “talking to self”, “staring look” etc. or any behavior which Is unusual for that person etc. You may notice them as “expression less” or having limited emotion, what we call it as flat effect. They may speak less or you may notice them lately they are alone and unto themselves. You might also notice them as not taking up job or “will be sitting idle” or not able to complete their task or not doing activity which they used to do before. They may also find it hard to do even simple household chores. A cognitive symptom means the use of information, data processing and their memory and thinking for their normal day to day activity. You may also call it as simple intelligence. Cognition may manifests in many ways and you may notice that the person may find difficulty to make or come to a decision. They also might have trouble in focusing the task or may find difficulty to complete their task. They also might find difficulty in thinking or planning for long term which is also called as working memory. There are several factors that may contribute towards developing schizophrenia. We currently know schizophrenia runs in family and one of the main reasons for developing schizophrenia is Genes. Not a single gene is yet proven to cause this disorder, however it is noted interaction of several genes increases the risk of developing Schizophrenia. Scientists have also noticed that not only gene interaction but also environmental factors also have led to the increased risk. Some of them noted are exposure to certain viruses, malnutrition before birth, problems faced during their birth and also psycho social issues. Recent evidence also suggest there may also be developmental problems or neuronal wiring problems There is also complex imbalance of neurotransmitters and their protein especially Dopamine and Glutamate and some neuronal Growth factors. Main stay of treatment for schizophrenia is Antipsychotics . Antipsychotics are group of medications and they come in various forms. Usually it will be a single pill which needs to be taken daily sometime it may come as liquid. Some antipsychotics come in injection form and are called depot which can be given once monthly or quarterly. Please contact your nearest Psychiatrist for more information regarding the medication and other therapies. Psychosocial Treatments These treatments are helpful after patients and their doctor find a medication that works. Learning and using coping skills to address the everyday challenges of schizophrenia helps people to pursue their life goals, such as attending school or work. Individuals who participate in regular psychosocial treatment are less likely to have relapses or be hospitalized. For more information on psychosocial treatments contact your nearest Psychiatric doctor.
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