What is schizophrenia?

In our country, the mentally ill are being subjected to scrubbing, watering, oiling, dipping in water, being chained and treated with various poetic treatments. Among them, schizophrenia patients are the victims of superstition and malpractice. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that can affect adolescents, men, and women, but is more common in people aged 15-25. Patients do not understand what his problem is, why he is taking medicine why he is going to the doctor.

Causes :

1. Genetic Cause:Genetic abnormality is the major cause of the diseases. 2. Environmental Causes: Some environmental causes and others diseases also responsible for it.3. Canabis: canabis is also risk for schizophrenia 

Risk factor :

Increase chance of schizophrenia when a people having family history of schizophrenia. 

How do you know if your relative is suffering from schizophrenia?

The main symptomsof schizophrenia are: 

1. Confusion in thought. 
2. Behavior problems. 
3. Problems with feeling. There can be all sorts of inconsistencies in thinking Such as:

Unreasonable suspicion:

People walking down the street seem to be looking at him with special eyes, smiling at him, criticizing him. 

Misconceptions: 

These misconceptions can be expressed in different ways. It depends on the patient’s age, religious consciousness, educational qualifications, social status. For example, the surrounding people are harming him, trying to kill him by mixing poison in food and water, trying to harm him socially and economically. 

Confusion of thought:

Even if you do not speak the secrets of the patient’s mind, the people around you know — some people find out through wires, phones, telescopes or some other unknown device. 

 The patient’s activities, thoughts are controlled by someone outside himself or herself, Such as :

• As if someone from Mars is talking to him.
• He is gaining special power from above through dreams and instructed him to serve people.
• He has his special abilities because he is such an angel, but the patient’s dress and manners are not like that. 
• Many say I have angel contact. 
• It has been seen that he changes his father’s name and says another person’s name but after recovering he says his father’s name again. 

Behavior problem: 

1. This is laughing again crying for no reason. 

2. Suddenly excited, ready to kill. 

3. Gossip and blasphemy. 

4. Standing in the bathroom for hours. 

5. Not wanting to mix with people. 

6. Living confined to a solitary home. 

7. Suddenly setting fire to clothes or anything else. 

8. Wandering outside (day after day) but never before. 

9. Lost like hiding under a bridge, in a shrine, in a secret place. 

10. Attempted suicide. 

11. Behaving and talking inconsistently. 

12. Take off your clothes in front of everyone.

13. Putting one’s own toilet-urine in the mouth, and putting it on the wall. 

14. Do not take care of your food, sleep, and body. 

Problems with feeling: 

1. Hearing the voice of the unseen: There are no people around, but the patients can hear: Some people can hear very clear words 2/3 people are talking to the patient. 

2. When again the whisper sounds like the call of a bird. Because of this, many people sit up with their ears or fingers crossed. 

3. The nose smells of something special. 

4. Feeling we have, ‘Run out of gas, ‘ emotionally. If the above symptoms disrupt the patient’s education, family life, career and social life, and the symptoms last for more than 6 months, then we can think of him as schizophrenia. With proper treatment; and family sincerity, patients can get back their careers and family life.

Diagnostic Criteria of Schizophrenia :

When a patient have two or more of the following symptoms present at least six month then you can called schizophrenia. 

1. Delusions 
2. Hallucinations
3. Disorganized Speech
4. Catatonic behaviour 
5. Negative Symptoms 

If patients have schizophrenic symptoms less then 6 month but more than 1 month is called Schizophreniform disorder, on the other hand If patients have schizophrenic symptoms less then 1 month is called Brief Psychotic disorder.

• Schizophrenia = >6 month
• Schizophrenoform disorder =1-6 month
• Brief Psychotic Disorder = <1 month

1. Delusions:

It is a false perception or belief about any things. It cannot change by showing evidence. Such as a patients can think Snak to a Rouf. 

2. Hallucinations:

It is sensory experience of patients that appears in real but it is created by patients mind.

Eg: Hearing Voice from outside which are actually not present.

3. Disorganized Speech:

Quickly or Jump form one unrelated tropics to another topics during discussion with others. Patients can be made new new words or pharse which have no actual meaning to us. They can talke with Word Salad. 

4. Catatonic Behaviour 

Catatonic behaviour have stupor,cataplexy,mute waxy flexibility, negativism,agitations,excessive mannerism, grimacing, echolalia and echopraxia etc

5. Negative Symptoms 

Schizophrenic patients can have some negative symptoms such as, Alogia, affective flattening, avolition, anhedonia, and asociality etc.

Learn more:

1. What are the Causes of Chronic Depression?
2. What are the Conversion Disorder?

How to Manage Schizophrenic patients 

General Management 

1. Assurances and Reassurance of the patients attendance.
2. Hospitalization of needed.
3. Counseling the patients attendance to good support for the patients

Medical Management 

1. First line treatment is Oral antipsychotics 
2. Cognitive behavioral therapy
3. Psychotherapy
4. Supportive treatment 

Complication :

• Tendency to comit suicide 
• Suicide Attempts
• Thought to suicide 
• Depression 
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Broken relationship between nearest relatives, friends etc.

Prognosis or Outcome 

Prognosis of schizophrenia can very patients to patients. Some factor depend on the outcome of the diseases. 

Consult with Psychiatrist near you for better prognosis of Schizophrenia. 
See More:

• Best Psychiatrist in USA
• Psychiatrist in Rangpur