(THE GIST OF PIB) World Schizophrenia Awareness Day, 2023

(May-2023)

Recently, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) commemorated Schizophrenia to raise awareness and to reduce stigma around mental illness.

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others.
It mostly affects young adults in the productive age group.
One in every 100 people experiences schizophrenia and men are twice as likely to develop this condition as compared to women.

Schizophrenia symptoms can differ from person to person, but they generally fall into three main categories: psychotic, negative, and cognitive.
Psychotic symptoms include Hallucinations, Delusions, thought disorder, Movement disorder.
Negative symptoms include loss of motivation, loss of interest or enjoyment in daily activities, withdrawal from social life, difficulty showing emotions, and difficulty functioning normally.
Cognitive symptoms include problems in attention, concentration, and memory.

Genetics: Schizophrenia sometimes runs in families. However just because one family member has schizophrenia, it does not mean that other members of the family also will have it.
Environment: Research suggests that a combination of genetic factors and aspects of a person’s environment and life experiences may play a role in the development of schizophrenia.
Brain structure and function: Research shows that people with schizophrenia may be more likely to have differences in the size of certain brain areas and in connections between brain areas.

Though there is no cure for schizophrenia,
A variety of antipsychotic medications are effective in reducing the psychotic symptoms present in the acute phase of the illness.
Psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy or supportive psychotherapy may reduce symptoms and enhance function.