User:Mr. Ibrahem/Schizophrenia
Medical condition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis.[5] Major symptoms include hallucinations (often hearing voices), delusions (having beliefs not shared by others), and disorganized thinking.[7] Other symptoms include social withdrawal, decreased emotional expression, and lack of motivation.[5][13] Symptoms typically come on gradually, begin in young adulthood, and in many cases never resolve.[3][7] Many people with schizophrenia have other mental disorders such as an anxiety disorders including panic disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, or a substance use disorder.[7]
Schizophrenia | |
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Cloth embroidered by a person diagnosed with schizophrenia | |
Pronunciation |
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Specialty | Psychiatry |
Symptoms | Hallucinations (usually hearing voices), delusions, confused thinking[2][3] |
Complications | Suicide, heart disease, lifestyle diseases[4] |
Usual onset | Ages 16 to 30[3] |
Duration | Chronic[3] |
Causes | Environmental and genetic factors[5] |
Risk factors | Family history, cannabis use in adolescence, problems during pregnancy, childhood adversity, birth in late winter or early spring, older father, being born or raised in a city[5][6] |
Diagnostic method | Based on observed behavior, reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person[7] |
Differential diagnosis | Substance abuse, Huntington's disease, mood disorders (bipolar disorder), autism,[8] borderline personality disorder[9] |
Management | Counseling, job training[2][5] |
Medication | Antipsychotics[5] |
Prognosis | 20 years shorter life expectancy[4][10] |
Frequency | ~0.5%[11] |
Deaths | ~17,000 (2015)[12] |
The causes include genetic and environmental factors.[5] Genetic factors include a variety of common and rare genetic variants.[14] Possible environmental factors include being raised in a city, cannabis use during adolescence, infections, the ages of a person's mother or father, and poor nutrition during pregnancy.[5][15] There is no objective diagnostic test; diagnosis is based on observed behavior, a history that includes the person's reported experiences, and reports of others familiar with the person.[7] To be diagnosed, symptoms and functional impairment need to be present for six months, (DSM-5), or one month, (ICD-11).[7][11]
About half of those diagnosed with schizophrenia will have a significant improvement over the long term with no further relapses, and a small proportion of these will recover completely.[7][16] The other half will have a lifelong impairment,[17] and severe cases may be repeatedly admitted to hospital.[16] Social problems such as long-term unemployment, poverty, homelessness, exploitation, and victimization are common consequences of schizophrenia.[18][19] Compared to the general population, people with schizophrenia have a higher suicide rate (about 5% overall) and more physical health problems,[20][21] leading to an average decreased life expectancy of 20 years.[10] In 2015, an estimated 17,000 deaths were caused by schizophrenia.[12]
The mainstay of treatment is an antipsychotic medication, along with counselling, job training, and social rehabilitation.[5] Up to a third of people do not respond to initial antipsychotics, in which case the antipsychotic clozapine may be used.[22] In situations where there is a risk of harm to self or others, a short involuntary hospitalization may be necessary.[23] Long-term hospitalization may be needed for a small number of people with severe schizophrenia.[24] In countries where supportive services are limited or unavailable, long-term hospital stays are more typical.[25] About 0.3% to 0.7% of people are affected by schizophrenia during their lifetime.[26] In 2017, there were an estimated 1.1 million new cases and in 2019 a total of 20 million cases globally.[27][2] Males are more often affected and on average have an earlier onset.[2]