Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that involves multiple disturbances in functioning. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 1 in 100 people worldwide has schizophrenia. This illness prevents sufferers from performing necessary activities of daily living such as caring for one's self, interacting with others and maintaining gainful employment. Self-sufficiency is extremely difficult for schizophrenics due to the seriousness of its symptoms.
Hallucinations
Hallucinations are sensory experiences that are perceived by the schizophrenic alone. The schizophrenic's mind becomes mistakenly convinced of the presence of stimuli due to a distortion in sensory functioning. As such, they may hear or see something that does not exist in reality. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR), auditory hallucinations are the most common type of hallucinations reported by schizophrenics.
Delusions
Schizophrenics are unable to differentiate what is real from what is not real; therefore, they are prone to delusional thinking. Delusions are false beliefs that originate from misperceptions about life experiences. Delusions based on paranoia, such as the belief that one is being controlled, followed or tormented by an outside force, are common. Delusions become so ingrained in the mind that a schizophrenic will continue to harbor these beliefs and discount evidence to the contrary.
Speech
Speech can be impeded in different ways among schizophrenics. Maintaining a conversation about one topic is particularly troubling since thoughts are typically disorganized and loosely associated with one another. The disturbance in speech can become so severe that stringing together words to make a sentence is not possible. As a result, speech becomes incoherent and ineffective as a means of communication.
Behavior
Certain emotions tend to increase among schizophrenics, whereas certain behaviors tend to decrease. Increased agitation, irritability or silliness are common. Interaction with others and maintenance of personal hygiene tend to decrease. One's affect and reactivity to surroundings can decrease to the point of nonexistence and may result in a catatonic stupor. In these instances, a dead stare is present and there is no movement of any kind.
Thoughts
Schizophrenia is associated with disorganized thinking. Retrieving information from memory is compromised due to the inability to sort through one's thoughts. Unorganized thoughts also interfere with the interpretation of new information, as well as paying attention and focusing on any one thing at a time. The Mayo Clinic considers these cognitive deficits to be the most disabling because they inhibit the performance of routine tasks.
References
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed., Text Revision; American Psychiatric Association; 2000
- National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Mayo Clinic: Schizophrenia Symptoms
