Schizophrenia

 Introduction

There has been a lot of talk regarding mental health recently, people are being encouraged to enlighten themselves about the fact that like physical health, mental health should also be a concern of well being for the people. More and more people are being made aware of the important health and it is surely not in vain; abusive environment and resulting trauma arising from it may lead to severe mental disorders like schizophrenia. A disease characterised by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, the self of self and behaviour, things that impair daily functioning and can be disabling. This disease affects more than 10 lac, people, every year in India and is common to adults between the age of 15 to 30.

Causes and Symptoms
Researchers are yet to find a single factor leading to schizophrenia, but most commonly it is thought to be an interaction between genes and varying environmental factors that may lead to schizophrenia. Common symptoms of schizophrenia may be e delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thinking and speech, disorganised motor behaviour like childlike silliness to unpredictable agitation, and other negative symptoms like neglecting personal hygiene or a lack of emotions. In teenagers, it may affect their mood and their sleeping schedules also their performance in school.

Treatment and Care
Schizophrenia has no known cure as of now but it can be managed with the help of treatment and drugs like anti-psychotic medications which are administered in the form of pills or liquid, psychosocial treatment like cognitive behavioural therapy, behavioural skills training and supporting families in providing homecare by educating them and guiding them etc.