What is Schizophrenia?
The word psychosis is used to describe a group of conditions that affect the way a person thinks, feels and understands. Typically, a person may experience unusual or distressing perceptions such as hallucinations or delusions, which may be accompanied by a reduced ability to cope with usual day to day activites and routine.
Schizophrenia is one of the most serious psychiatric disorders. It is classified as a psychotic disorder characterised by severe symptoms (that many would refer to as“abnormalities”) in the areas of judgement, emotions, perceptions and behaviour.
The name itself implies some kind of split: not, as popular opinion would suggest, a split personality, but a split between the mind and reality. It was the psychiatrist Bleuler who first labelled the disorder schizophrenia, deriving it from two Greek words meaning split (schizo-) and mind (-phrenia). The schizophrenic appears to retreat from reality into his or her own private world.
Despite the common myth, people with schizophrenia do not have split (Jekyll and Hyde) personalities that can change instantly, neither are they dangerous. Although schizophrenia can appear confusing and frightening for family and friends, it is a highly treatable condition - only the acute stage leads to psychosis.
Schizophrenia affects men and women equally, usually beginning in a person's early twenties. Approximately 1% of the population develops schizophrenia before the age of 45. Symptoms are divided into 'positive' and 'negative':
Schizophrenia can lead to changes in mood and thought processing resulting in someone having unusual ideas. A person may appear to have some loss of contact with reality e.g. seeing or hearing things that other cannot.
People experiencing the symptoms of schizophrenia for the first time may need to stay in hospital for assessment and treatment, although this may not be necessary if the illness is caught early.
Although there is no cure for schizophrenia, the more disturbing aspects can be controlled with anti-psychotic drugs. This, combined with occupational therapy, cognitive therapy and regular contact with a Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN) helps people with schizophrenia to rebuild their lives.
BBC Radio Broadcast on Schizophrenia 
One person in a hundred suffers from schizophrenia and among some groups, especially migrants; the incidence appears to be even higher. Schizophrenia still carries a stigma and many sufferers refuse to accept that they have the condition. Over the last two decades, psychiatrists have standardised the diagnosis of schizophrenia to include a range of symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. But doctors are still at a loss to explain what actually causes the disease.
Is there a genetic influence? Why do women typically present with schizophrenia ten years after men? And why are young black men more than six times likely to be diagnosed with the condition? Richard Hannaford follows the population studies that have highlighted these anomalies and thrown up interesting theories about the cause of this disease.
Schizophrenia PowerPoint Downloads 
Schizophrenia PDF Downloads 
Psychosocial interventions for schizophrenia
Drug treatments for schizophrenia