In this article

What are the symptoms? How common is it? What's the course of the disease?

What support is available? What can I do to help myself?

What professional help is available? Myth busting

Media misrepresentations of the disease stigmatise the half a million people in the UK with the illness, making them more anxious and depressed than ever. While some people with schizophrenia are seriously disabled by their illness, many live relatively normal lives.

Even so the implications of the diagnosis are very serious, so much so that as many as 15 per cent of consultant psychiatrists avoid using the term 'schizophrenia' when telling their patients what the problem is and instead use other (often confusing) terminology. Their paternalism actually puts the patient at a disadvantage, because information and understanding are central to keeping the illness under control.

So what are the misunderstandings andmyths about schizophrenia? Let's get rid of the worst one first:

Myth: schizophrenics kill other people

People with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, are no more likely to kill complete strangers than any other individuals are, and are far more likely to hurt themselves than others. Sadly, there are occasional deaths when schizophrenics act in a deluded state. With better medical care these deaths could be avoided, but 95 per cent of homicides are committed by 'normal' people with no mental illness. The public are more at risk from drunks and people on drugs.

Neither has there been a wave of killings since people with schizophrenia were abandoned to their fate under 'care in the community'. Research shows that killings by people with mental illness have fallen by half since the 1980s.

Myth: schizophrenia is caused by bad parenting

Not that long ago there was a fashionable theory that schizophrenia was the result of bad parenting. This completely unfounded idea put many families, already deeply distressed by their loved one's illness, through additional torment.

Myth: stress or drugs cause schizophrenia

Stress does not cause schizophrenia, although very intense stress such as moving home may trigger an episode. In younger people, schizophrenia sometimes seems to start after they've taken drugs, especially after a bad trip.

The cause of schizophrenia isn't yet fully understood but there's a genetic link: if an identical twin develops schizophrenia, the other one probably will too.

Strangely, schizophrenia tends to be more common among people born in late winter and there may be other risks factors which lay the basis for the condition while a baby is in the womb (explained in greater scientific detail here). These support the idea that there may be some abnormal brain development (possibly related to maternal viral infections) that leads to the condition.

Myth: schizophrenics have a split personality

People with schizophrenia don't have two or more different 'personalities'. We all tend to act in different ways at different times - it's part of human nature. Many people use the term 'schizophrenic' to mean having very mixed feelings about something, but this too is part of human nature and better described as ambivalence.

What tends to happen in schizophrenia is that a person's thoughts, feelings and actions don't match. What they say may seem out of keeping with what they're doing, while they might laugh at something very sad, for example.

Myth: schizophrenia can't be treated

Treatments for schizophrenia continue to improve, and many people manage to control their symptoms well with medication. But medication isn't the only answer - it rarely treats every symptom completely and many people have to cope with side effects. Others need more intensive daily support, in the form of sheltered housing, day care and help with employment.

Unfortunately, schizophrenia often begins just as a young person is building their life and career, when it can wreak maximum havoc by interrupting study, work and relationships. But the way the illness is managed in the early stages may be critical in reducing long-term problems. Many people aren't diagnosed for up to three years after the onset of clearly recognisable symptoms.

This article was last reviewed in September 2006.
First published in June 2000.