7 Key Facts About Schizophrenia You Ought to Know!

Imagine meeting someone on the street who claims to be the resurrected Messiah, or being pursued by aliens that invaded his house. Your first thought, and that of many people, would be a flight response. Unfortunately, mental illness like schizophrenia is stigmatized in Nigeria and globally. It is a safely ignored topic until someone you know suffers from it.

You’ve most likely heard about schizophrenia from a movie or a book. However, schizophrenia is a terrifying brain disorder characterized by four traits. These traits are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts, and disorganized behavior. This condition affects how people act, think, and see the world around them. The details about this condition have been highly exaggerated by certain myths. Therefore, in this article, we will unravel 7 key facts about schizophrenia (a debilitating monster of the mind).

Fact 1: 

The first of these 7 key facts about schizophrenia is, not everyone diagnosed with schizophrenia is prone to violence. Some individuals with schizophrenia tend to have violent tendencies; this does not cover all cases. This is because different people show different levels of severity, signs, and symptoms.

Fact 2:

The symptoms associated with schizophrenia are categorized: This implies that the symptoms associated with this condition are two grouped into; positive symptoms, which are changes added by the disorder not normally present in a healthy individual. These positive symptoms include sensory hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and delusions. The second category is known as negative symptoms, which are abilities that are absent in a schizophrenic individual but present in a normal person. For example, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, social withdrawal, etc.

Fact 3:

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder without a specific cause. However, certain risk factors predispose individuals to developing this condition. These factors include the intake of hard drugs, adverse childhood trauma or experiences, prenatal complications that could affect the development of the fetal brain, environmental factors, etc.

Fact 4:

There are different forms of schizophrenia: These include catatonic schizophrenia (abnormal movements), paranoid, disorganized, residual, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Hence, self-diagnosis is discouraged. An appropriate diagnosis is necessary for adequate treatment strategies.

Fact 5:

There can also be a sudden onset of schizophrenia: The scary part about this condition is that you can wake up in the morning and begin to hear voices in your ear and have hallucinations and delusions in various forms. This is why it is critical to constantly evaluate the state of your mental health, as certain situations, such as poverty or living in a highly stressful environment, can be surprise triggers.

Fact 6:

There are early warning signs of the condition: These signs include a lack of interest in important matters, an angry or illogical attitude towards loved ones, inappropriate or unusual behavior, a lack of concentration and sleep, seeing or hearing things, etc. This doesn’t mean you can diagnose them immediately, but the individual with these signs needs medical attention as soon as possible.

Fact 7:

There is a link between malnutrition and schizophrenia: Neonatal Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia. Also, unhealthy nutrition lacking in Vitamin B12 can trigger the onset of this condition. Thus, supplementing with a brain-health-boosting supplement like NATURE’SFIELD MEMOCAP would help reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia.  

On this World Schizophrenia Day, it is paramount to realize that this condition is not a sentence to condemnation and abandonment. However, do what you can to support the people living with this condition, as it can happen to anyone. A little kindness goes a long way in restoring the mental state of these individuals, and it starts with you.