What is Schizophrenia - The Definition Of Schizophrenia!

Schizophrenia is a very complicated mental disease it affects nearly 1% of the population, schizophrenia has no specific age or sex it may affect any person old or young, man or woman. Many people have a mistaken belief that schizophrenia is a split personality or that the person is possessed by an evil spirit but the reality is beyond that!!

So what is schizophrenia??

Schizophrenia is a major mental illness, a brain disorder that deforms the way the person acts, thinks, speaks and expresses feelings or emotions. A schizophrenic person tend to lose the sense of reality, he is confused about what’s real and what is delusional, he may imagine things that do not exist or hear voices that no one else can hear, those delusional thoughts leave the sufferer with many troubles both at home and work and often with a social withdrawal and a strange behavior.

Schizophrenia is a long term illness that should be diagnosed properly because some symptoms are somehow similar to some other mental disorders such as bipolar disorder or clinical depression. And it should be treated immediately to avoid any unwanted consequences like suicide or a violent behavior that would be devastating for the patient and its family and friends.

Schizophrenia types :

Many people believe that schizophrenia is a very intense mental disease and ignore that it has many types, and varies from one to another, and every type has its own symptoms and characteristics, so let’s get in touch with each type for a better knowledge:

1. Paranoid schizophrenia: this type is known by a very common symptom delusions and false beliefs; the sufferer has a feeling that he is being punished by some force. But luckily that this type doesn’t affect the way the person is thinking, speaking or expressing emotions which remain normal.
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3. Disorganized schizophrenia: this type is known by the difficulty of speaking and disorganized or inappropriate behavior, the sufferer tends to be emotionless and somehow retarded. As a result of this illness the sufferer may experience difficulties in accomplishing things like simple daily activities.
4. Catatonic schizophrenia: the sufferers of this type are in general immobile and they don’t show any response to the world around them, they seem to be rigid and stiff but in some cases the sufferer may show some inappropriate behavior like doing grimaces or repeating phrases spoken by another person. In the other hand some sufferers tend to be creative and engage themselves in restless and pointless activities such as jumping over and over or walking a straight line with no obvious purpose. In general the sufferer goes back and forth between immobility and restless, pointless actions or moves that would be very dangerous for the patient because the risk of an injury and exhaustion is very high, and a reaction should be done immediately to treat the patient.
5. Undifferentiated schizophrenia: this type is diagnosed when the patient does not show any symptoms related to the three previous types.
6. Residual schizophrenia: this type is diagnosed when the intensity of the symptoms is considerably lower than the original symptoms, however, hallucinations, delusions or other symptoms may remain present but they are less severe. In addition some negative symptoms may also be present.

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