Symptoms of schizophrenia
1. 1 in 100 people get schizophrenia, likely the worst of disorders.
2. “Schizophrenia” literally means “split mind.” Most people think of it as “split
personalities” but that’s wrong – “split personalities” would be dissociative identity
disorder (DID). Schizophrenia is a split between reality and what a person thinks is real.
It shows itself in 3 ways, they are…
1. Disorganized thinking
1. Thoughts and words come out in no logical order. Schizophrenics often
speak in “word salad” – a jumble of words thrown together like tossed
salad..
2. Schizophrenics cannot use “selective attention” – our normal ability to
focus on the task-at-hand. Thus, they think and speak in a very scattered
manner.
2. Disturbed perceptions
1. Schizophrenics often hallucinate - sensory perception without sensory
input. They can perceive with all 5 senses something that isn’t there.
2. Usually, this comes out with them speaking out loud to no one. Often,
what they say is negative, insulting, or bossy.
3. Delusions of grandeur can occur where the person thinks he or she alone
knows something big, like some type of huge conspiracy that's going on
and no one else realizes it.
3. Inappropriate emotions and actions
1. Schizophrenics often react emotionally in a totally wrong way. For
instance, they may find someone’s death just hilarious.
2. Some schizophrenics go into a no-emotion state called the “flat affect.”
3. Some schizophrenics go into repetitive motions like rocking.
4. Some schizophrenics go into “catatonia” where they remain motionless for
hours, then they get agitated.
The onset of schizophrenia 1. There are some trends in schizophrenia’s beginnings…
1. Schizophrenia often begins to emerge as adulthood comes on.
2. It hits both genders, but slightly more so to men.
3. It can come on gradually, and often hits lower socio-economic groups hardest.
2. There are actually 5 subtypes of schizophrenia. They are…
1. Paranoid schizophrenic – The person thinks there’s some grand conspiracy
going on. Often they think someone is “out to get them.”
2. Disorganized schizophrenic – The person’s speech and behavior is disorganized,
or their emotions are flat or inappropriate.
3. Catatonic schizophrenic – The person remains motionless for long periods, is
very negative, and speaks parrot-like.
4. Undifferentiated schizophrenic – The person has many of these symptoms.
5. Residual schizophrenic – The person just withdraws socially after delusions and
hallucinations go away.
3. When schizophrenia comes on slowly, it’s called either chronic
schizophrenia or process schizophrenia.
1. The cha
More
Less
