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Understanding schizophrenia + getting help

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Understanding schizophrenia + getting help

What is it?

Schizophrenia is the name given to a group of psychotic disorders illustrated by significant disturbances in thought, emotion and behaviour. A person must experience these disturbances for a significant period of time to be classified as schizophrenic, as there are other psychotic disorders which have similar symptoms.

A person with untreated schizophrenia can experience sequences of ideas that do not logically relate to one another, disorganised speech, a faulty perception of reality, and unusual motor activity or body movements. Someone who is experiencing untreated schizophrenia will often withdraw from the people around them into a land of fantasy. Schizophrenia does not mean that someone has more than one personality or a 'split' personality.

What are the causes of schizophrenia?

The causes of mental illness have been linked to several factors:

Biological factors - ie the body's chemistry, genetic make-up and physical health.

Psychological factors like the person's upbringing, emotional experiences and interactions with other people

Social factors that are to do with the person's current life situation and the cultural and social things that they are influenced by.

There seem to be several factors which have to be present in order for schizophrenia to develop, and often it's the interaction, or the combination of all those factors, which cause its development.

So, for example, there might be an interaction between a person's biological make-up, a stress or change in their environment and the person's ability to deal with this stress or change, especially if they don't have good relationships with friends and family and therefore possibly less support.

Genetics

People in the general population have a very small chance of developing schizophrenia in their lifetime, but this chance gets bigger when there's a history of family members have a history of experiencing schizophrenia.

Genetic factors seem to play a very important role in determining whether someone will develop schizophrenia. For example, a child of one parent with schizophrenia has a greater chance than the general population of developing schizophrenia and if both parents have schizophrenia the risk increases.

Environment

A baby may be affected if the mother is exposed to the flu while she is pregnant or if the baby does not get the right amount of nutrition during pregnancy. It has also been suggested that stress and/or trauma can be one of the things that may cause schizophrenia.

Family factors causing stress may affect the course of the illness, like how severe the symptoms are and how long they last, but there is no convincing evidence to say that a person's family situation causes schizophrenia.

Brain development

There could be a possibility that one of the reasons that schizophrenia can develop later in life is from the brain not developing properly whilst the baby is still inside the mother. This isn't necessarily anything that can be controlled by the mother.

Drug misuse

Some research suggests that drug misuse is related to the development of schizophrenia. It is likely that substance misuse may bring on or worsen the symptoms and get in the way of the treatment of a person with schizophrenia.

Biochemical factors

It may be that chemical imbalances in a person's brain could be involved in the cause of schizophrenia. It has been thought for a long time that the neurotransmitters (the chemicals in the brain that allow nerve cells to talk to each other) are involved in the development of schizophrenia. There are no definite answers about this yet but there is lots of research going on in this area.

The main symptoms of schizophrenia

Positive symptoms

Positive symptoms are additional experiences or excessive behaviours that are not usual for that person to go through, and are considered by the general population to be unusual. These are things like hallucinations, delusions and thought disturbances/disorganised speech.

  • Hallucinations - The hallucinations can be in a few different forms.

    The most commonly experienced are auditory hallucinations where the person can hear voices talking, laughing or making noise.

    The voices can comment on the person's activities, they can argue, or it may be just that the person can 'hear' their own thoughts being repeated or commented on. Noises around them may also become too much for them and hearing them could be painful.

    Other sensory hallucinations can occur where the person can feel sensations that do not exist, such as burning, tingling or stinging sensations.

    They may experience sensations of not feeling 'real' or machine-like, or they do not feel connected to their body. Their bodies or a particular body part may feel and/or look strange to them.

    Visually
    they may imagine that they see things that aren't there, or find visual stimulus in an extreme form such as light could be almost blinding.
  • Delusions - The hallucinations may be accompanied by a delusion that the illusion may confirm and encourage.

    Delusions are thoughts held by a person which most people would disagree with. An example of a common delusion is where a person believes that they someone other than who they actually are, usually someone famous.

    Paranoid delusions can be experienced where the person believes that they are being watched or persecuted.
  • Disorganised Speech (thought disorder) - This means that a person has difficulty in organising their thoughts and communicating them in an order that a listener would understand.

    Random words or new topics are injected into the conversation which will not make any sense to the listener.

Negative symptoms

Negative symptoms are the absence of thoughts and behaviours that are normal present in people in the general population. These symptoms are often very stable and affect the person throughout their life.

If you are experiencing negative symptoms, they might include:

  • Lack of expression - also referred to as 'blunted affect'. Sometimes people who are psychotic find that their expressions are diminished.

    Their face, voice tone, and gestures may seem flat, and they may seem uninterested in their surroundings (which is not necessarily the case).
  • Unmotivated - also called Apathy. People often feel unmotivated and sometimes sleepy. They might have trouble doing even simple things, and feel like there is nothing they are interested in.
  • Lack of pleasure - also referred to as Anhedonia. A psychotic illness often affects a person's ability to feel pleasure.

    Sometimes the person may no longer feel enjoyment like they used to be from things like going to the movies, or sharing a close relationship.
  • Difficulty speaking - sometimes called Poverty of Speech. Sometimes the person can find it hard to speak.

    Often their conversations are short and uncomfortable. This can make conversation with them difficult, and frustrating for both the person experiencing this symptom, and anyone else in the conversation.
  • Inattention - this is when the person can often be easily distracted and this can make work, school or any activity very difficult and often highly frustrating.

Catatonia + inappropriate affect

People with schizophrenia can also experience other symptoms that don't fit into the categories of 'positive' or 'negative'.

  • Catatonia - grimaces, strange facial expressions, repeated gestures, manic gestures.
  • Catatonic immobility - strange positions that a schizophrenic person will hold themselves in for a long time.
  • Inappropriate affect - A person with schizophrenia may express a response to some news that does not match, or is not appropriate. For example, some sad news may cause them to smile and laugh.

Finding help

The most effective form of treatment is a combination of medication and support.

Support means things like individual counselling, information, support from the person's family and friends, psychosocial treatment.

People with schizophrenia can also benefit a lot from a stable living environment, structure, a meaningful job/study/hobby and being kept from as much stress as possible.

Medication will need to be prescribed by a doctor or psychiatrist and it is important that you seek help.

A psychologist, social worker or mental health nurse can also help manage your symptoms and help you to get on with your life. For more information on how these people can help you check out the Who can help you section.

To find a doctor or mental health professional see the beyondblue Directory of Medical and Allied Health Practitioners in Mental Health

You may also want to ask friends or your local doctor if they can recommend anyone.

Remember - help is available and schizophrenia can be treated.

  • This content was created by Reach Out Australia.
  • Last updated 04 Sep 09

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6 Comments

anna

over 1 year ago

Reply Report

Hey everyone :) Did you know last week was schizophrenia awareness week? Sounds like a good time to become more aware about what schizophrenia actually is - there are a lot of myths out there.

The Schizophrenia Research Institute has a new campaign - SwearStop - to help raise money for research into a cure for schizophrenia. Check it out here: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/swearstop

jesusrockz2

about 1 month ago

Reply Report

My ex partner has schizophrenia and let me tell you he looked like any other person.Yes it was his upbringing,his parents were part of a cult that brainwashed him.
 I loved him BUT he pulled a knife on me and that was that.Psychosis is also a part of this illness too and that is what ended my relationship with him.
I`m not saying he was a good guy or not but my safety was paramount at the time
With proper meds and medical intervention schizophrenics can lead a normal life.

Yep people with schizophrenia can and do live normal lives,but as with any mental illness it has it`s myths.I don`t know what`s happened to my ex but I hope he`s getting the help he needs.

Bella - Community Builder

about 1 month ago

Reply Report

Hey Jesusrockz2,


Thanks for sharing your experiences. I think it is important that you always put your safety first, and I also feel like your lasting compassion for your ex despite this is admirable. 

Thanks for you're insights into schizophrenia and psychosis, it is important that all people in the community learn about these issues. Hopefully you'll be great at raising awareness in your own social circle. 


Bells xo

Jodez

about 1 month ago

Reply Report

My brother is Schizophrenic.
He gets really angry, and he yells and screams and break things. He used to throw stuff at me when I was younger, but then I started throwing them back so he kinda learned not to throw stuff at me anymore. He has hit me a couple of times, but thankfully it wasn't at his full strength because I'm pretty sure he would have broken my face in half if he had.
He can go days, weeks or months without an 'episode', which just makes it all the more harder to cope with when he does snap. His bedroom is so riddled with holes it's a wonder that he has any wall left at all. He's broken nine doors in total. The worst part though is that his girlfriend of nearly four years lives with us, too. And he throws her around and punches her, etc... And from where our two bedrooms are, I get to hear every little thing that goes on in the room. Wait, I lied. That's not the worst part, him beating up his girlfriend. The worst part is hearing it when it happens and knowing that there is absolutely nothing that I can do, because if I go in there and tell him to get out, he's just as likely to turn on me, and then when I leave, take it out on her twice as bad.
He's tried to get help and he was on medication for a while, but it made him gain a lot of weight so he stopped taking it. And since then, he only ever took another type regulary once, then he went to this new place where they were meant to help him, but they told him to stop the medication so they could 'get to know him as a person.' So, now he doesn't go there anymore, doesn't take any medication, and refuses to get any help for himself because he's convinced he doesn't need any type of medication anymore.
So we get to walk around on egg shells everyday trying not to set him off. He can roll over and wake up one day and instantly be yelling and screaming and punching holes in the walls, the simplist of things he can snap over.
He was diagnosed when I was sixteen, but was like it three years prior to getting diagnosed. I'm now nearly twenty-one. My brother is two years older.
I'm not sure what other kinds of... 'symptoms' he gets, because no one talks about it. It's like a dirty secret shoved in the back of a locked closet. Only more and more secrets get locked in there with it, that it explodes and everything comes out all at once.
His 'episodes' can last half an hour, but mostly at least three days. The longest I remember is five straight weeks, and that was only a few months back.
I've kinda blocked out most things from when I was younger.
The sad part is, is that my brother is the funniest, kindest person that you'll ever meet... it's just this thing that he has.
He's a normal everyday person, but living with that for nearly eight years, it gets hard to remember that.
(Sorry this is really, really long, by the way. Kinda couldn't stop typing once I started.)

Bella - Community Builder

23 days ago

Reply Report

Wow Jodez,


What an experience you've had. I know I can't possibly understand, but it honestly just sounds like the most frustrating, heartbreaking and terrifying experience all at once. 

I have no doubt that you love and care for your brother, and I can tell that by the way you talk about him. But I guess I can also tell that it's really hard for you to cope with this stuff, particularly after so many years. It's really understandable that you'd be struggling, and I think anyone in your position would be.

Have you ever accessed help for yourself? I know your brother is experiencing an illness, which is why he behaves in certain ways, but that doesn't mean that it's not difficult for you. Being hit really isn't okay. And I don't say that to blame your brother at all, because I totally understand that he's suffering from really serious stuff, I am just saying that to let you know that you and your safety matters as well.

I lived with a couple of people that were schizophrenic at one stage. One of the guys did tend to get violent and aggressive, which did create an atmosphere of fear for everyone living in the house. But he's a good guy. No one ever doubted that, but at the same time, no one ever doubted that it was difficult for all of us. In these situations, you really do need to look after yourself, and make the life decisions that help you to feel safe. 

I wonder if you've ever talked with your brothers girlfriend about what's going on? Perhaps you could both attend a counselling session together (or support each other to go independently), in order to start to feel a bit better, and work out some strategies for coping? Is this something you feel you could do?

Anyway, now I've written and equally long reply! I just hope you get it!

Take care and it's great to see a new poster on the site :)

Bells x

Ps: don't forget to join us on the forums to chat some more...x

Jodez

9 days ago

Reply Report

Yeh, I've got my own battles, haha. Depression, anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia, plus an addiction to cutting which I haven't for about six months (yay me!), which I'd been doing since I was thirteen.
I've gone to see a couple of different counsellors but they always seem to think that they know it all and just tell me to do crap that really doesn't help, so I don't bother anymore. I have a tight network of friends and they help me a lot, but still they don't understand, but we make do.

He hasn't hit me in years, and a few months for his girlfriend... it still doesn't make it right, no. But we recently went down to the police station and explained the situation to them, so now if we ring up our house comes up as a red alert, which means they have to put it first before other matters, so we've got them on our side now.

His girlfriend and I used to talk all of the time but we kinda drifted apart for a while but we're getting closer again, which is good. She's gone to see a few people as well, but I think it's the same as me: no one can really, truly get it and they say all this stuff and tell us to do all this stuff that really doesn't help, so I think we both just try and mould our lives around it.

It would be easier if he was on medication, but I guess that's his choice and there's not a whole lot we can do about it.
I'm learning to deal with it a bit better, though. It doesn't affect me as much as it used to, (:
Plus, my pets help, :D.

Thanks, (:
xx.

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