Facts

• The prevalence rate for schizophrenia is approximately 1.1% of the population over the age of 18 (NIMH). In other words, at any one time as many as 51 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia.
• It tends to present itself in women between the ages of 25 and 35 and in males, between the ages of 15 and 25 (Schizophrenia: Info, Support and Education).
• It is one of the most misunderstood illnesses (PsychiatricDisorders.com).
• It is a widespread problem in Canada: 8% of hospital beds are taken up by those with schizophrenia (schizophrenia.com).
• The first-degree biological relatives of individuals with schizophrenia have a risk for schizophrenia that is about 10 times greater than that of the general population (mentalhealth.com).
• Teens with schizophrenia have approximately a 50% risk of attempted suicide (schizophrenia.com).
• Some famous people with schizophrenia are: Theodore Kaczynski (the Unabomber), Peter Green (guitarist from Fleetwood Mac), Mary Todd Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln’s wife), Lionel Aldridge (football player for the Green Bay Packers), Eduard Einstein (Albert Einstein’s son) and John Nash (mathematician whose life inspired the film “A Beautiful Mind”).

Types

There are five different types of schizophrenia:

• Paranoid: have delusions and hallucinations.
• Catatonic: abnormal body movement and positioning and speechlessness.
• Disorganized: disorganized speech and behaviour (strange gestures, fragmented speech).
• Undifferentiated: lack of catatonia, paranoia or disorganized speech, and may resemble other neurological illnesses.
• Residual: positive symptoms (see below) like delusions, hallucinations and disorganized behaviour have disappeared.

Symptoms

There are three different categories of symptoms that schizophrenics may have, but they don’t have to have all three at the same time. They are called positive, negative and disorganized symptoms.

• Positive Symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, agitation, disorganized thinking
• Negative Symptoms: lack of drive or initiative, social withdrawal, apathy and emotional unresponsiveness
• Disorganized Symptoms: confused speech, thinking and behaviour that doesn’t make sense (slow body movements, for example)

Causes

There is no one specific cause, but there are many risk factors that can contribute to schizophrenia. They include: genetics, abnormalities in brain structure, abnormal brain chemistry, birth trauma, seasonality (exposure to a virus) and environmental conditions.

Indicators

• Constant feeling of being watched
• Seeing or hearing things that aren’t there
• Strange posturing
• Peculiar or nonsensical way of writing or speaking
• A change in personality
• Sleep and concentration problems
• Increasing withdrawal from social situations
• Bizarre behaviour
• Extreme preoccupation with religion and the occult
• Not caring about important things
• School or work performance is suffering
• Fearful, irrational and angry responses toward loved ones

These symptoms must be present for more than two weeks. Just because some of these symptoms are present, it does not mean the person has schizophrenia – only a doctor can tell you for sure.

What you can do

If you know someone who has schizophrenia:

• Be supportive and reassure them of your support.
• Always talk about it seriously.
• Stay calm.
• Listen to their concerns.
• Give the person hope.
• Assure them that help is available and that it’s a treatable illness.
• Stay positive and be open to talking about it. It is stressful for the person as well as for you.

If you want to learn more about schizophrenia, talk to a doctor, nurse, mental health professional, teacher or your parents.

Books

How to Live with a Mentally Ill Person. A Handbook of Day-To-Day Strategies by Christine Adamec and D.J. Jaffe.

When Someone You Love Has a Mental Illness: A Handbook for Family Friends & Caregivers by Rebecca Woolis & Agnes Hatfield

Children with Schizophrenia by Devyn Noble & Sandy Lenz

Links

Schizophrenia Society of Canada
Schizophrenia Society of Ontario
Public Health Agency of Canada: Schizophrenia, a Handbook for Families
Psychosis Sucks
Schizophrenia : Information, Support and Education
cbcnews.ca