What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a serious potentially chronic mental illness, and disabling brain disease, which affects thinking, emotions and behaviour. The illness often lasts for a long time and can be very disabling. Contrary to common belief, schizophrenia is not ‘split personality’, a term that further stigmatizes this serious illness.

It is a common misconception in society that someone who suffers from schizophrenia can appear perfectly normal at one time and be a deranged killer at another. This is extremely rarely the case. People who suffer from schizophrenia are infrequently dangerous. People misuse the word schizophrenia in two different ways. They may mean 'having mixed or contradictory feelings about something which could be had by anybody, much better described as ambivalence, as in a ‘love-hate’ relationship. Or, just as commonly, they may be behaving in very different ways at different times. Again, this is characteristic of human nature.

Thoughts, feelings and actions are somewhat disconnected from each other so that what a person says may be unmatched with what they feel or do. This may be easier to illustrate by describing the symptoms. These are divided into ‘positive’ symptoms, which are abnormal experiences, and negative symptoms, which are more an absence of normal behaviour such as lack of motivation or lack of pleasure.

Schizophrenia is found all over the world, and studies have found that rates of the illness are fairly constant across countries. The severity of the symptoms and long-lasting, chronic pattern of schizophrenia often cause a high degree of disability. Medications and other treatments for schizophrenia, when used regularly and as prescribed, can help reduce and control the distressing symptoms of the illness. However, some people are not greatly helped by available treatments or may prematurely discontinue treatment because of unpleasant side effects or other reasons. Even when treatment is effective, persisting consequences of the illness such as lost opportunities, stigma, residual symptoms, and medication side effects can be very troubling for all involved.

What is normal?

At times, normal individuals may feel, think, or act in ways that resemble schizophrenia. Normal people may sometimes be unable to think logically. They may become extremely anxious, for example, when speaking in front of groups and may feel confused, be unable to pull their thoughts together, and forget what they had intended to say. This is not schizophrenia. At the same time, people with schizophrenia do not always act abnormally. Indeed, some people with the illness can appear completely normal and be perfectly responsible, even while they experience hallucinations or delusions. An individual’s behaviour may change over time, becoming bizarre if medication is stopped and returning closer to normal when receiving appropriate treatment.