- Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness
that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
It literally translates to split mind,
alluding to losing touch with reality.
Schizophrenia affects approximately
24 million people worldwide,
which is roughly one in 300 or 0.32% of people.
Among adults, the rate is more like one in 222 or 0.45%
as the typical age of onset
is in the late teens or early adulthood.
It is very uncommon to develop symptoms of schizophrenia
before the age of 12 or after the age of 40.
Scientists are not entirely sure why this is the case,
but that it may perhaps be due to a combination of genetics,
brain changes, and hormones.
The age of onset is slightly earlier for men,
late adolescence to early twenties, than for women,
which is more early twenties to early thirties.
More subtle changes in cognition
and social relationships may precede the actual diagnosis
often by years, which is also referred to
as the prodromal phase.
The occurrence of schizophrenia in men and women
is roughly the same with 0.49% of males
over the age of 20 experiencing schizophrenia
and 0.42% of females
over the age of 20 experiencing schizophrenia.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of people
with schizophrenia are not receiving mental health care.
More than two out of three people
with psychosis in the world do not receive specialist care.
Most resources for mental health services are inefficiently
spent on care within psychiatric hospitals.
There is clear evidence that psychiatric hospitals
are not effective in providing the care
that people with mental illnesses need.
Approximately 50% of people in these psychiatric hospitals
have a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
These people would likely be far better served
in the community if there was adequate funding
going toward community supports.
Some options for this type of community support
include integration in primary health
and general hospital care,
community mental health centers,
day centers, supported housing,
and outreach services for home-based support.
Financial costs associated with schizophrenia
are disproportionately high
in relation to other chronic mental health
and physical health conditions.
This is a reflection of both direct costs of healthcare,
as well as indirect costs of lost productivity,
criminal justice involvement, social service needs,
and other factors beyond healthcare.
There is plenty of evidence indicating that schizophrenia
occurs equally amongst different races, ethnicities,
genders, social classes, et cetera.
However, black patients are three to four times
more likely to be diagnosed with psychotic disorders.
This indicates that perhaps there is a degree of racism
involved in the diagnostic process.
Approximately half of individuals with schizophrenia
have co-occurring mental or behavioral health disorders.
People with schizophrenia are two to three times
more likely to die early than the general population.
This is often due to physical illnesses
such as cardiovascular, metabolic, and infectious diseases.
Under-detection and undertreatment
of these medical conditions in this population
is one of the possible reasons
for this excess early mortality
in addition to increased rates of these conditions
in this population.
An estimated 4.9% of people with schizophrenia
die by suicide.
This rate is far greater than the general population
and the highest risk is in the early stages of the illness.
About 20% of people living with schizophrenia
will attempt suicide at least once.
The estimated average potential life loss
for individuals with schizophrenia
in the United States is 28.5 years.
There is currently no cure for schizophrenia.
However, a range of care options
for people with schizophrenia exist.
It is estimated that at least one in three people
with schizophrenia will experience
complete remission of symptoms.
Some people with schizophrenia
will experience shifting periods of worsening of symptoms
with periods of remission of symptoms,
while others may experience just kind of a gradual
worsening of symptoms over time.
If you believe that you or someone you know
is experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia,
please speak with your doctor.
My name is Lauren and I live with schizoaffective disorder.
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Thank you so much for watching
and wishing you and your loved ones good health.
See you in the next video. Bye.