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Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (most usually hearing voices), delusions (false beliefs), and disordered thinking. Other symptoms may include social withdrawal, decreased emotional expression, and lack of motivation. Symptoms typically come on gradually, begin in young adulthood, and in many cases never resolve. There is no objective diagnostic test; diagnosis is based on observed behavior, and a history that includes the person’s reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person. To be diagnosed with schizophrenia, symptoms and functional impairment need to be present for six months. People with schizophrenia often have other mental health problems like anxiety disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, or a substance-use disorder.About 0.3% to 0.7% of people are affected by schizophrenia during their lifetimes. In 2017, there were an estimated 1.1 million new cases and a total of 19.8 million cases globally. Males are more often affected and onset is on average earlier in age. The causes of schizophrenia include environmental and genetic factors. Possible environmental factors include being raised in a city, cannabis use during adolescence, certain infections, the ages of a person’s parents, and poor nutrition during pregnancy. Genetic factors include a variety of common and rare genetic variants.About 20% of people with schizophrenia have a favorable outcome, and some individuals recover completely. About 50% have lifelong impairment. Social problems, such as long-term unemployment, poverty, and homelessness, are common. Compared to the general population, people with schizophrenia have a higher suicide rate (about 5% overall) and more physical health problems, leading to an average decreased life expectancy of 20 years. In 2015, an estimated 17,000 people worldwide died from behavior related to, or caused by, schizophrenia.The mainstay of treatment is an antipsychotic medication, along with counselling, job training, and social rehabilitation. In those who do not improve with other antipsychotics, clozapine may be tried. In situations where there is a risk of harm to self or others, involuntary hospitalization may be necessary, although hospital stays are shorter and less frequent than they once were.
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Schizophrenia (noun)
A psychiatric diagnosis denoting a persistent, often chronic, mental illness characterised by abnormal perception, thinking, behavior and emotion, often marked by delusions.
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Schizophrenia (noun)
Any condition in which disparate or mutually exclusive activities coexist; a lack of decision between options.