Schizophrenia Dr Trisha Macnair Dr Rob Hicks Schizophrenia is a disabling mental illness where disordered thinking disturbs an individual's ability to function normally.

In this article

What's the cause? What are the symptoms?

Who's affected? What's the treatment?

Advice and support

The precise cause of schizophrenia remains unknown, but there's some evidence of a genetic predisposition. The risk's increased if a child has a schizophrenic parent (ten per cent) or identical twin (50 per cent).

Researchers in the field continue to look for possible genetic clues, but the disease is complex and other environmental or social factors are important.

Signs of schizophrenia may include:

• Delusions - strange, unshakeable beliefs. For example, someone affected may believe that secret agents are watching them or that they're being taken over by an outside force, such as aliens or evil spirits.
• Hallucinations - the person hears, tastes, smells or feels things that aren't there. The most common is hearing voices.
• Disordered thinking - thoughts don't logically follow each other.
• Catatonic movements - a person may freeze like a statue or adopt odd postures. They may also become very agitated and restless.

Other possible symptoms include lack of motivation or energy, difficulty communicating with people, emotional numbness and an inability to do everyday tasks, such as washing.

In acute flare-ups, experiencing and thinking become very distorted, which can lead to intense panic, anger, depression, elation or overactivity, perhaps punctuated by periods of withdrawal.

About 25 per cent of patients recover fully from their first episode of schizophrenia and go on to live normal lives. Around two-thirds have recurrent acute episodes and up to 15 per cent have long-term, persistent disruption from symptoms.

Schizophrenia affects one per cent of the world's population, across all races and countries. It's equally common in men and women, usually occurring between the ages of 18 and 25 in men and 26 and 45 in women. It sometimes runs in families.

Schizophrenia can be treated with medication in the form of tablets or long-acting injections. Social support for the individual and support for carers is important. Counselling may be offered to the person with schizophrenia and their family.

Because its cause is unclear, there's no way to prevent schizophrenia. There's no definitive test for it either (diagnosis is still based on symptoms), and neither antenatal nor postnatal screening is possible.

Brain scanning, especially MRI scanning, has provided a far greater understanding of the condition and led to the development of antipsychotic medication and therapies.

Sane
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This article was last medically reviewed by Dr Rob Hicks in July 2006.