Schizophrenia is a common mental illness worldwide, affecting 1 in 100 people. Still many are unaware of what it really means. Even patients who receive treatment for this illness have very limited knowledge about the same.
Schizophrenia - rather than calling it as a disease of mind, it could be aptly called as the disease of the BRAIN. That is because of the subtle changes in the structure & functioning of the brain which is seen in schizophrenics.
Many a time treatment gets delayed, sometimes even by many years as people fail to recognise it as a disease. Many seek help from faith healers, quacks or accept it as deliberate behaviour by the person. Valuable time gets lost due to this as early detection & treatment can improve the long term outlook for the person with this disease.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia:
Getting suspicious of people, believing falsely & firmly that they might harm him or spy on him, talk about him
Hearing voices inaudible to others or seeing things which others can't see
Self care is neglected
Talking insensible or irrelevant talk
Sometimes can get abusive or aggressive towards others
Poor work or academic performance & decline
Prefer to remain isolated from others or poor communication
Poor acceptance of the above problems (They believe they don't have any problem)
Stigma of mental illness
Causes of Schizophrenia:
Heritability or genetics is the reason in majority of the cases.
Chemical imbalance in brain eg. excess of the brain chemical dopamine.
Complications in pregnancy, delivery or after birth can affect the baby's brain & increase the risk.
Prolonged & heavy use of cannabis in young people at an early age can predispose to schizophrenia in high risk individuals.
Treatment:
1) Timely diagnosis & treatment by a trained mental health professional like psychiatrist is essential to improve the functioning of the patient. Diagnosis is based on the information provided by the caretakers & patient along with the observation of the person's behaviour & a formal assessment session.
2) Antipsychotic medication are the mainstay of the treatment. They help to correct the chemical imbalance of the brain & improve the symptoms. Newer medications have helped to improve the patients functioning as well.
3) Counselling of the family & patient (once he is out of psychosis) can help.
Currently many patients with Schizophrenia face stigma & abuse due to which they are reluctant to open up about their problems & to seek help. Our aim as a responsible society should be to reintegrate such patients into the community & help them function to the best of their abilities. This is very much possible by efforts to educate ourselves about these illnesses & encourage them to seek treatment.