What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, act and behave in a normal way. It is characterized by thoughts or experiences that seem out of touch with reality,

What causes Schizophrenia?

The cause of Schizophrenia is not clearly known. The interaction between genetics, environment, and altered brain chemistry and structure is believed to play a role in this disorder.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Delusions, Hallucinations, grossly disorganized speech, disorganized thinking and negative symptoms such as flat affect, absence of pleasure, reduction in speech, decrease in motivation and decrease in goal direct activity.

How is schizophrenia diagnosed.

According to DSM5 criteria, the symptoms must be present for at least 6 months.

Treatment

Schizophrenia is unfortunately a lifelong disease that requires lifelong treatment even when symptoms are not present. The combination of medications such antipsychotics and psychosocial therapy is recommended for the treatment of schizophrenia.