Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that ranks among the top 20 causes of disability worldwide. Understanding the symptoms, risk factors and medications, helps us to have a better awareness of this disorder.

1. What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder and requires lifelong treatment. A person with schizophrenia may experience symptoms intermittently or continuously.

Schizophrenia is not uncommon. According to many statistical reports, about 1% of the general population suffers from schizophrenia. On average, males are more susceptible than females, and they are also more likely to experience severe symptoms than females.

Schizophrenia affects a person's thinking, feelings, feelings, as well as perceptions and behavior. However, not all of these functions are disturbed at the same time and to the same extent. Many people with schizophrenia can behave completely normally for a long time, so most patients do not understand or admit they have the disease.

2. Recognize early signs of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is difficult to diagnose and early symptoms are often difficult to detect. The onset of the disease is gradual, prolonged. In many cases, the disease occurs so insidiously and gradually that it can take the sufferers and their families a long time to find out. In addition, many symptoms of schizophrenia can occur at some point in a person's life even if they do not have a mental illness.

Early signs of schizophrenia include:

- Loss of emotion or motivation

- Apathy or depression

- Decreased attention or performance

- Lack of personal hygiene

- Recluse, alienation from friends, relatives, or past favorite activities...

As the disease progresses, the person may have different symptoms depending on the stage of the disease. The most common symptoms are:

- Delusions: The most common symptom, occurring in more than 90% of patients. Often, the person is constantly afraid of being mistreated or harmed by others.

- Hallucinations: That is, seeing, hearing, smelling, or feeling things that are not real that others cannot understand.

- Confused thinking: Communication becomes difficult, speech is incoherent.

- Abnormal behavior: Reacting to situations indifferently or inappropriately.

- Not showing emotions: Not showing or responding to emotions.

3. Causes and risk factors of schizophrenia

Some of the main factors that can be the cause of schizophrenia:

- Heredity.

- Structural and chemical changes in the brain.

- Pregnancy.

- Complications at birth.

- Premature birth.

- Childhood trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.

- Psychological and environmental factors.

- Social factors.

- Development factors...

Risk factors associated with schizophrenia:

- Family history of schizophrenia.

- Exposure to viruses, toxins, drugs, or severe infections that affect the brain.

- Taking mind-altering medications (psychotropic or psychotropic drugs).

- Complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

- Immune system disorders...

4. Is schizophrenia curable?

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that requires long-term care. There is no complete cure, but treatment can help control symptoms and prevent recurrence.

Early intervention is the best treatment. Early treatment can help:

- Reduces the severity of the disease.

- Maximize the quality of life of patients and their relatives.

- Avoid prolonged interruptions to work or other activities.

- Shorten the duration of treatment.

- Reduce the risk of substance use problems, depression, and suicide.