Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects a person’s thinking, emotions, and behavior. It is characterized by a range of symptoms that can be categorized into three main categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms.
- Positive Symptoms: These are abnormal experiences or behaviors that are added to a person’s normal functioning. They include:Hallucinations: False sensory perceptions, such as hearing voices or seeing things that are not there. Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) are the most common.
Delusions: False beliefs that are resistant to reasoning or contrary evidence. Delusions can take many forms, such as paranoid delusions (believing others are plotting against the person) or grandiose delusions (believing one has extraordinary abilities or significance).
Disorganized thinking: Individuals with schizophrenia may have difficulty organizing their thoughts and may exhibit incoherent speech or “word salad.”
Negative Symptoms: These are disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors, leading to a reduction or loss of normal functioning. - Negative symptoms include:
Affective flattening: Reduced emotional expression and responsiveness.
Alogia: Limited speech output, often due to poverty of thought.
Anhedonia: An inability to experience pleasure from activities that were once enjoyable.
Avolition: A lack of motivation and inability to initiate and sustain goal-directed activities.
Social withdrawal: Difficulty in establishing and maintaining relationships. - Cognitive Symptoms: These symptoms affect cognitive processes, including memory, attention, and decision-making. Cognitive deficits are often present in individuals with schizophrenia and can significantly impact their ability to function in daily life.
The exact cause of schizophrenia is not fully understood, but it is believed to result from a complex interplay of genetic, neurological, environmental, and developmental factors. Onset typically occurs in late adolescence or early adulthood.