How to tell if someone has schizophrenia
This disorder usually appears in people between the age of 15 and 25, although it can affect children younger than fourteen, with a sub-type known as childhood-onset schizophrenia. This disorder can come over a period of years or be very rapid. It affects 1% of the general population.
The patient will have similar characteristics found in the "Characteristics" page.
The list most qualified psychologists and psychiatrists will use to diagnose patients is subdivided into Physical Symptoms, Feelings and Mood, Behavior, Cognitive Problems, Delusions, and Hallucinations. They will also consider the patient's clinical history.
Examples of each category are provided below:
Visual hallucinations run on a spectrum. They begin with over-acuteness of the senses, then come in the illusions, and on the far end are actual hallucinations.
***However, many of these symptoms above overlap with many other related disorders. There is no typical case of schizophrenia. Some of the symptoms above can be present in a normal person to a certain degree. In order to have schizophrenia, the disturbance must be present for at least six months, including certain key symptoms such as the list described above.
The patient will have similar characteristics found in the "Characteristics" page.
The list most qualified psychologists and psychiatrists will use to diagnose patients is subdivided into Physical Symptoms, Feelings and Mood, Behavior, Cognitive Problems, Delusions, and Hallucinations. They will also consider the patient's clinical history.
Examples of each category are provided below:
- Physical: blank, vacant facial expressions
- Feelings and Mood: hypersensitivity to criticism and rapidly changing mood for no apparent reason (labile mood)
- Behavior: social isolation, deterioration of academic success, desire to smoke, cannot cope with minor problems
- Cognitive Problems: Racing thoughts, lack of insight (such as their brain cannot tell when they're sick), loose association of thoughts/speech
- Delusions: Overpowering feeling that people are talking about you and that you are being watched, thinking your thoughts are being broadcast over TV or radio, feeling that people can read your mind, thinking someone is trying to poison your food
- Hallucinations: **these are as real as any other experience to a person with schizophrenia, as many as 70% hear voices
Visual hallucinations run on a spectrum. They begin with over-acuteness of the senses, then come in the illusions, and on the far end are actual hallucinations.
***However, many of these symptoms above overlap with many other related disorders. There is no typical case of schizophrenia. Some of the symptoms above can be present in a normal person to a certain degree. In order to have schizophrenia, the disturbance must be present for at least six months, including certain key symptoms such as the list described above.
http://schizophrenia.com/earlysigns.htm