- Hi, everyone.
In today's video,
we are going to be talking about what schizophrenia is.
(bright upbeat music)
Hi everyone, and welcome back
to the Living Well With Schizophrenia channel.
If you're new here, my name is Lauren
and I make videos about what it's like
to live with schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia.
And if you would like to see more videos like this one,
make sure to subscribe to our channel.
Also, if you would like to help support
the creation of future videos, just like this one,
please make sure to check out the link to our Patreon page,
it's in the description below.
On Patreon, we are offering access
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And it's just a really, really great environment
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Okay, so I think there are a lot of misconceptions
about what schizophrenia actually is.
And so this video is going to be discussing
what schizophrenia actually is,
and I'm going to be sharing examples from my own experiences
with the illness as well.
So schizophrenia is a serious and chronic condition
that causes the individual
to essentially lose touch with reality.
It literally translates to split mind.
And a very common misconception
is that people with schizophrenia have split personalities.
But it is important to note that it is instead
a split from reality and not from your personality.
Dissociative identity disorder
is when a person may experience multiple personalities,
and that is a different mental illness from schizophrenia.
The "DSM-5" or the fifth edition
of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders" as well as the "ICD-10",
which is the "International Classification of Diseases"
states that in order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia,
an individual must have two or more of the following.
So number one, delusions.
And these are essentially false beliefs
that a person may have.
The second is hallucinations,
which is when you perceive stimuli that is not really real.
And this can be auditory, visual,
olfactory, so sense of smell,
tactile, so sense of touch, or taste.
And number three is disorganized speech,
and this can be word salad
or just kind of loose associations that a person may have.
And number four is grossly disorganized
or catatonic behavior.
And number five is negative symptoms.
And this is the removal of behaviors.
For example, decreased energy, or a sense of apathy,
or that kind of thing.
So at least one of these must be delusions, hallucinations,
or disorganized speech.
So I'm often asked if someone can have schizophrenia
and not experience hallucinations.
And the answer is that yes.
So long as they're experiencing
at least delusions or disorganized speech
and another of the aforementioned criteria.
Symptoms of schizophrenia
can be broken into three main categories,
of positive symptoms, negative symptoms,
and cognitive symptoms.
We did another video detailing this further
which we will link to.
It is also important to discuss the term psychosis
when discussing schizophrenia.
We did another more in-depth video
on what exactly psychosis is, which we will link to as well.
But basically, psychosis is when someone loses touch
with reality.
It is a condition that affects the way an individual
processes information in their brain.
They might hear, see,
or believe things that aren't real,
also known as hallucinations and delusions.
Psychosis is a symptom of schizophrenia,
but it can also be a symptom
of other psychiatric illnesses too.
Now, the peak age of onset for the first psychotic episode
is in the early to mid-20s for males
and it's in the late 20s for females.
My personal onset was in my early twenties
and I was diagnosed at the age of 25.
Schizophrenia is an illness that requires lifelong treatment
and early intervention
can increase the effectiveness of treatment
and the possibility of a more positive prognosis.
It can be difficult to catch early that...
And in my case, I was misdiagnosed for at least three years
and possibly even longer because my prodromal
and even first psychotic episodes
were mistaken for first depression
and then bipolar disorder.
So, roughly one in 100 people
are diagnosed with schizophrenia,
so there is a very good chance
that you've actually met someone with schizophrenia
possibly without even knowing it.
Schizophrenia is an illness that develops
as a result of a combination of genetics
and environmental factors.
We still don't know much about the causes
or how exactly it affects the brain
from a physiological perspective.
Now, for me, there are no known cases
of schizophrenia in my family but I still have it.
So genes and environmental factors both play a role
in the onset of schizophrenia.
It is also very important to note that schizophrenia
does not discriminate in terms of who it afflicts.
It affects people of all genders, races,
economic backgrounds, and education levels equally.
Schizophrenia also looks different for each individual.
There are some common characteristics
but they can present differently from person to person.
And when I'm speaking with other people
who have schizophrenia,
there is a general level of understanding
in terms of shared experiences.
But the specifics of our experiences tend to vary.
There is no cure for schizophrenia currently
but there are effective treatments.
We did a video that we can link to
on treatment options for schizophrenia
if you'd like to check that one out.
But basically, there are anti-psychotic medications
as well as psychosocial treatments
such as individual therapy or group therapy
employing different therapeutic techniques
such as cognitive behavioral therapy or things like that
both combined with more informal support systems
make it possible for people
who are living with schizophrenia
to lead productive and meaningful lives
even with the illness.
Schizophrenia also appears
to be somewhat of a spectrum illness
with there being a range between more seemingly mild cases
and more severe cases.
Some people can have only one psychotic episode
while others may have many episodes over their lifetime.
Some people may be able to lead relatively normal lives
in-between these episodes while others may have
more difficulties functioning over time.
Schizophrenia symptoms seem to get worse
the more episodes an individual has,
which is another reason why early intervention
is so, so important.
Something else to touch on with schizophrenia
is that so often, popular books, movies, and TV shows,
depict people with schizophrenia
as being dangerous and violent.
This usually isn't true, just like any other person,
most people with schizophrenia are not violent.
Often, people with schizophrenia are the victims of violence
rather than the perpetrators.
If a person with schizophrenia
does happen to commit a violent act,
it is usually a result of their psychosis
and the fear that they're being threatened in some way.
Drug or alcohol use can also exacerbate this.
More often than being a danger to others,
people with schizophrenia
can be more of a danger to themselves.
Suicide is the leading cause of premature death
among people with schizophrenia.
And it is estimated that 40%
of people living with schizophrenia
attempt suicide at least once.
So if you think that you or someone you love
is exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia,
please bring it up with your doctor.
They will be able to help guide you
with next steps in diagnosis or treatment.
All right, so I hope you found this video helpful.
Make sure to check out the description below
'cause we are going to link
to the videos that I mentioned in this video,
as well as some more popular videos on this channel.
We would love to hear from you too in the comments below,
let us know what your experiences of schizophrenia
have been like.
And just a reminder again
that if you want to see more videos from us,
make sure to subscribe to our channel.
And also if you would like to help to support
the creation of these videos,
please check out the link to our Patreon page.
Thank you so much again for watching.
And as always, wishing you and your loved ones good health.
We'll see you in the next video, bye.