What is schizophrenia and what are common symptoms?
Schizophrenia is a serious and challenging medical illness and although often feared and misunderstood, schizophrenia is a treatable medical condition. Schizophrenia often interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, to distinguish reality from fantasy, to manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others. The first signs of schizophrenia typically emerge in the teenage years or early twenties, often later for females. A person with schizophrenia does not have a “split personality,” and almost all people with schizophrenia are not dangerous or violent towards others while they are receiving treatment. The World Health Organization has identified schizophrenia as one of the ten most debilitating diseases affecting human beings. The symptoms of schizophrenia are generally divided into three categories — Positive, Negative, and Cognitive: • Positive Symptoms, or “psychotic” symptoms, include delusions and hallucinations (lost touch with reality) as well as paranoia. • Negative
