According to the American Psychiatric Association, schizophrenia is one of the most debilitating and baffling mental illnesses known. Schizophrenia appears to be caused by an imbalance of chemicals in the brain. Stress, heredity, drugs, other medical illness, and physical injury to the brain can also contribute to schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is characterized by a dysfunction of the thinking process, such as hallucinations and delusions, and withdrawal from the outside world.

It is thought that schizophrenia is a genetic illness. It runs in families. 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia. If you have a mother or father who suffers from it, you have a 10% chance of suffering from it. If you have an identical twin with it, you have a 50% chance of becoming schizophrenic. The closer you are genetically to an individual with schizophrenia, the greater your chances of suffering from it as well.

American Psychiatric Association's Guideline For The Treatment Of Patients With Schizophrenia states: "antipsychotic medications are indicated for nearly all acute psychotic episodes in patients with schizophrenia." In addition to antipsychotic medications, some patients also take anti-depressants or mood-stabilizers to help control related symptoms.

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There is currently no physical or lab test that can absolutely diagnose schizophrenia - a psychiatrist usually comes to the diagnosis based on clinical symptoms. What physical testing can do is rule out a lot of other conditions (seizure disorders, metabolic disorders, thyroid disfunction, brain tumor, street drug use, etc) that sometimes have similar symptoms.

No, there are most likely going to be several genes involved in these disorders. Different research groups may find different risk genes in their genetic studies. These genes will have different amounts of impact on risk for mental illness. In addition, it is possible that different groups of individuals may have different risk genes (i.e. an Irish person may have different genes that confer risk than one of Chinese descent.

The likelihood of developing it as some time in your life is about 1 in 100- about the same chance as for rheumatoid arthritis. The number of sufferers of schizophrenia at any one point in time (prevalence) is about 2 to 4 cases per 1000 people. That’s a quarter of a million people today in the UK with schizophrenia. Affected men show signs of schizophrenia earlier in their life than women. Men tend to show signs from their teens to early twenties.

If the doctor (GP) suspects a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a specialist (psychiatrist) will admit the patient to hospital for assessment. (This may be with or without the person’s consent. If the doctor believes the person is at high risk of harming themselves or a danger to others, he/she may legally enforce admission to hospital). On confirmation of diagnosis treatment will begin. Antipsychotic drugs* are used to control the strange behaviour.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that results in irrational behavior and disjointed speech. The individual may be paranoid, catatonic or disorganized. The paranoid schizophrenic suffers from delusions and hallucinations. The catatonic may have almost no body movement or may become agitated and exhibit excessive body movements. The disorganized schizophrenic exhibits speech and behavior that is jumbled, and may also exhibit inappropriate emotional responses.

Schizophrenia affects men and women in equal numbers, but women sometimes develop schizophrenia later in life.

Health-and-Fitness:Diseases] Symptoms of schizophrenia can be easily recognized especially by family members who see that the person is not like it used to be any more and go for a check up at the doctor's. Health-and-Fitness:Diseases] Bile is a substance made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder which helps the digestion of fat. Health-and-Fitness] Gout is a disease that affects body joints, especially the ones from the extremities.

Here's a few added features, hearing voices that can't be understood to be from ones own mind, strange postures of limbs, fears and anxieties that seem out of proportion, wild thinking, and even depression. Ask or just browse the newsgroup. People usually know a positive symptom when they post so these can be clearly identified in posts. Best advice is to read the newsgroup, psychology textbooks, the self-help books, and ask all the professionals you can afford to ask.