Conditions InDepth: Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, disabling brain disease. People with schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices not heard by others, or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. Their speech and behavior can be so disorganized that they may be incomprehensible or frightening to others.
The severity of the symptoms and long-lasting, chronic pattern of schizophrenia often cause a high degree of disability. Approximately 1% of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime; more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year. Although schizophrenia affects men and women with equal frequency, the disorder often appears earlier in men. Men are usually affected in their late teens or early twenties, while women are generally affected in their twenties to early thirties.
Researchers aren’t sure what causes schizophrenia. Problems with brain structure and chemistry are thought to play a role. There also appears to be a genetic component. Some researchers believe that environmental factors may contribute. They theorize that a viral infection in infancy and/or extreme stress may trigger schizophrenia in people who are predisposed.
Schizophrenia increases a person’s risk of suicide, self-mutilation, substance abuse, and other social problems such as unemployment, homelessness, and incarceration. Obsessive-compulsive disorder affects a significant number of people with schizophrenia.
