Schizophrenia

            Schizophrenia is a disease of the brain. It is one of the most disabling and emotionally devastating illnesses that are known to man. It has been misunderstood for so long, therefore it has received relatively little attention and its victims have been ignored. Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders characterized by disturbances in thought, perception, affect behavior, and communication lasting longer than six months. It is the most common psychotic condition and affects nearly 1% of the earth's population, including more than 2.7 million people in the United States. Without adequate treatment, those with the illness, as well as the people who care about them, suffer tremendously.
             Schizophrenia is characterized by a constellation of distinctive and predictable symptoms. The symptoms that are most commonly associated with the disease are called positive symptoms that refer to the presence of vilely abnormal behavior. These can include thought disorders, delusions, and hallucinations. Delusions are common among individuals with schizophrenia as well. An affected person might think that he is being conspired against. This is called "paranoid delusion". "Broadcasting," describes a type of delusion in which the individual believes that others can hear their thoughts. Hallucinations can be heard, seen, or even felt. Usually, they take the form of voices heard only by the troubled person. These voices might describe the person's actions, warn him of danger or even tell him what to do. At times the individual may hear several voices carrying on a conversation. Less obvious than the "positive symptoms," but equally serious, are the deficit or negative symptoms that represent the absence of normal behavior. These include flat or blunted affect, such as lack of emotional expression, apathy, and social withdrawal.
             There is no real known cure for schizophrenia, but it is curable.