Schizophrenia is a mental illness. It is confusing even for health care professionals, and it may actually be a combination of several separate illnesses. People with schizophrenia may have the following symptoms: Delusions, false beliefs held with conviction in spite of evidence to the contrary, hallucinations, strong perceptions (can be sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch) of objects or events that aren’t there, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior and catatonic behavior, in which the affected person’s body may be rigid and the person may be unresponsive. Estimates of how many people are diagnosed with this disorder vary. One million to two million people have long-term schizophrenia, and 100, 000-200, 000 people become schizophrenic every year. Fifty percent of people in hospital psychiatric care have schizophrenia.
There is no known single cause of schizophrenia, although research is focused on several factors believed to contribute to its development. These factors include genetics (heredity), chemical imbalance, and complications during pregnancy and birth. Schizophrenia is known to run in families, and people who have a close relative with schizophrenia are more likely to develop this illness than those who do not. Schizophrenia is a mental illness. It is confusing even for health care professionals, and it may actually be a combination of several separate illnesses. People with schizophrenia may have the following symptoms: Delusions, false beliefs held with conviction in spite of evidence to the contrary, hallucinations, strong perceptions (can be sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch) of objects or events that aren’t there, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior and catatonic behavior, in which the affected person’s body may be rigid and the person may be unresponsive.
Estimates of how many people are diagnosed with this disorder vary. One million to two million people have long-term schizophrenia, and 100, 000-200, 000 people become schizophrenic every year. Fifty percent of people in hospital psychiatric care have schizophrenia. There is no known single cause of schizophrenia, although research is focused on several factors believed to contribute to its development. These factors include genetics (heredity), chemical imbalance, and complications during pregnancy and birth. Schizophrenia is known to run in families, and people who have a close relative with schizophrenia are more likely to develop this illness than those who do not..