Schizophrenia Misunderstood

There are often many misconceptions about schizophrenia and having worked with several clients impacted, it has become clear to me how much they suffer from negative perceptions in society. That is why is important to raise awareness,  help to reduce the stigma and discrimination faced by those with this diagnosis.

Schizophrenia is perceived as less common than other mental health disorders and does experience a lot more discrimination than other mental health disorders because of the many erroneous beliefs given if you’re a schizophrenic.

‍Schizophrenia is more common in men than women and for men it begins between adolescence and young adulthood whereas for women usually the onset is from 20 to their early 30’s. It is unusual for someone to develop schizophrenia under the age of 12 or after the age of 40.

‍The most common symptoms are disorganised thoughts, hallucination and delusional experiences (often referred to as hearing voices or seeing things that are not real). Other symptoms are poor concentration, memory problems, becoming overly excited, behaving inappropriately, emotionally withdrawn, entering a catatonic state which is disassociating starring continuously at a particular thing and uncommunicative. Another common feature is looking dishevelled, poor hygiene and diet.‍

There are many theories as to what triggers the onset of schizophrenia: is it hereditary; or could it be the environment: or does it relate to adolescent hormonal changes: or could it be due to the development of the frontal cortex of the brain in adolescence?