What is schizophrenia?
This edition of Disability Support Guide will cover the basics of schizophrenia, including positive and negative symptoms, treatment, support and possible misconceptions surrounding people living with the condition.
Key points:
- One in every three hundred people will be affected with schizophrenia worldwide
- ‘Schizo’ comes from the Greek word for split, with ‘phrene’ meaning mind
- Schizophrenia is a psychosocial disability and people with the condition may be eligible for NDIS support
Future guides will cover similar conditions, such as schizotypal, schizoid and schizophreniform, however this article will specifically look at schizophrenia and how it can impact a person’s quality of life.
Positive and negative symptoms
People with ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ symptoms of schizophrenia are not experiencing ‘good’ and ‘bad’ symptoms, but rather, symptoms which are ‘added’ by schizophrenia and changes in behaviour which ‘subtract’ something from someone with the condition.
Positive (added by schizophrenia) symptoms may include:
- Delusions — believing things which are not true
- Hallucinations — sensing (hearing, seeing or smelling) things which are not there
- Attention problems
- Confused or jumbled patterns of thought, known as ‘word salad’
Negative (taken away or diminished by schizophrenia) symptoms may include:
- Withdrawal from social settings and personal connections
- Reduced joy in life — flat affect, indifference and a lack of motivation
- A diminished sense of self control
In addition, schizophrenia has a third category, for cognitive symptoms, such as:
- Reduced processing speed
- Issues with social learning
- Weaker memory
People with the condition tend to develop it in their 20s and 30s, with childhood prevalence being incredibly rare. For children experiencing positive symptoms of schizophrenia, differential diagnosis is important and they may be living with a condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), brain injury, substance abuse disorder or severe anxiety.
Prior iterations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders listed different categories for schizophrenia (paranoid, disorganised, catatonic, residual and undifferentiated), which have since been removed in the latest (DSM-5) fifth edition.
Positive, negative and cognitive symptoms must be present for at least six months in order to differentiate it from other potential conditions, such as schizophreniform (identical symptoms, but clearing up after a brief period). Schizophrenia is a lifelong condition with a strong hereditary connection, meaning a family history is a likely determinant for passing on the condition — however, schizophrenia does not have an exact cause.
Treatment for schizophrenia
Treatment for schizophrenia may include talk therapies (family, psychosocial or cognitive behavioural therapy — CBT), antipsychotic medication (risperidone, clozapine or ziprasidone) and possible hospital care.
Schizophrenia cannot be self-diagnosed or cured, as it is a severe lifelong condition which can be managed by adhering to the advice of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and medical professionals.
Misconceptions surrounding schizophrenia
Despite coming from the term ‘split mind,’ schizophrenia is not the same thing as dissociative identity disorder (DID) which is commonly known as ‘multiple personality disorder.’ People with schizophrenia may have delusions or hallucinations which cause them to have a warped sense of who they are or their status, but do not ‘change personalities,’ as people living with DID claim to.
Similarly, schizophrenia has been treated as synonymous with ‘insane’ or ‘dangerous,’ in some media, which has caused some people to assume that those living with the condition are not to be trusted and have lost their minds. Many intelligent and brilliant people, such as mathematician John Nash, have lived with the condition and done great things for humanity. Through medication, many people with schizophrenia have gone on to live relatively normal lives in today’s age, however, managing the condition is still difficult and coordinating care is incredibly important.
Related content:
Taking care of your mental health when living with a disability