Schizophrenia Mental Disorder

If you are currently experiencing a life-threatening emergency, please call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room immediately. If you’re thinking about harming yourself, call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free at 1-800-273-8255 to be connected to a trained counselor at a suicide crisis center nearest you.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that disrupts people’s thought process, alters their perceptions, and flattens their emotions.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in every 100 people will develop schizophrenia in their lifetime. The most common onset is in the teens and 20s. It’s uncommon for schizophrenia to be diagnosed before age 12 and after age 40.

A person with schizophrenia may have trouble managing feelings, making decisions or relating to others.

Potential symptoms of schizophrenia may include:

• Hallucinations – Hearing or seeing things that are not real
• Delusions – Believing in something that is not real or true
• Paranoia – Belief that someone or something is a threat
• Disorganized thinking – Trouble with ordering and expressing thoughts, as well as keeping thoughts on target
• Denial – Being unaware of having an illness
• Neologisms – Creating meaningless words
• Lacking feeling or emotional flatness
• Not being able to start or finish activities
• No interest in pleasurable things or life
• Trouble with arranging tasks and self-care

Treatment for schizophrenia.

Psychosocial treatment provides support, education and guidance to people with schizophrenia and their families. It’s important that a primary care provider (PCP) and mental health providers work together to monitor the progress of someone who has schizophrenia.

Antipsychotic medications are used to help control many of the symptoms of the illness. It’s important that someone taking typical or atypical medication is monitored regularly.

Call our behavioral health team toll-free at 1-800-873-2246, TTY 711, for more information on schizophrenia.

Know someone with schizophrenia?

You can help by encouraging them to continue treatment; keeping the symptoms of schizophrenia under control helps to limit damage caused by the illness.

We understand the importance of a balanced and healthy life. Our behavioral health team is available to help during these difficult times. Call us toll-free at 1-800-873-2246, TTY 711. Any personal information you share will remain confidential.