What is Schizophrenia and What are the Symptoms
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder which can take considerable time to actually surface. The symptoms of this disorder can broadly be categorized as positive and negative. Positive Symptoms are actual changes and additional behavioral factors, like becoming overly disoriented, confused and violent. Negative symptoms on the other hand include withdrawal, isolation and being generally apathetic to everything.
Symptoms of schizophrenia can be very hard to distinguish in the early stages and in some cases, patients suffer from small phases, during which they exhibit the symptoms, but then appear normal after the phase is over. The sooner these symptoms are recognized, the more likely the patient is to be cured in time.
Instructions
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Positive Symptoms
Hallucinations
Hallucinations are basically sensations which are not real. Imagine hearing voices around you, addressing you or speaking about you, and believing they are real, but not being able to find the source. The experience would undoubtedly be very horrific and shocking. This is exactly what a person suffering from Schizophrenia can be going through, except the voices he/she hears are not real.
Delusions
One of the major symptoms of Schizophrenia is that the patient starts believing in absurd and unrealistic things. These delusional thoughts are often linked with hallucinations, which further cement the patient’s unrealistic suspicions.
Schizophrenics generally believe they are being watched, tracked, followed and chased by unknown enemies. They don’t have any facts to back such suspicions but often believe them with full conviction.
Confused Thoughts
People suffering from Schizophrenia start losing track of their own words and thoughts. They will abruptly change the topic of a conversation and will not be able to stay focused. They might even start speaking unintelligibly, without being able to make sense of what they say or read.
Irresponsible Behavior
Schizophrenics lose track of their own grooming and appearance. They may start dressing odd and neglecting personal care. Mood swings are also very common and their behavior can change in an instant from mild to violent.
Some patients have reported feeling like they are being controlled by someone else, who is manipulating their thoughts. -
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Negative Symptoms
Quite obviously, the negative symptoms of schizophrenia are much harder to identify than the positive ones. These include isolation, being socially cut off and losing interest in personal grooming and appearance.
Generally, these symptoms are considered part of the normal ups and downs of life. These symptoms can lead to losing the support of friends and family and pushing the patient even deeper into his mental suffering.
It is important to identify these symptoms correctly so that the patient can be treated rather than being considered rude or lazy.
