Causes and Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia as a mental disorder was known to medicine as far back as the 18th century, but its exact classification was made only at the beginning of the 20th century, precisely at this time the causes of its occurrence and symptoms were determined.But it is worthwhile to clarify that there are no absolutely exact reasons for the development of the considered mental disorder - doctors can only guess what factors provoke this pathology.There is nothing more mysterious in medicine than mental illnesses - unfortunately, science is still unable to explore a person's consciousness.

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Estimated causes of schizophrenia

Doctors identified three main groups of factors / causes that provoke schizophrenia.Of course, even this division is rather conditional, because this mental disorder has not been fully understood until the end - for example, some scientists claim that schizophrenia-like disorders can be detected in every person.And only some kind of push( for example, a strong nervous shock or powerful negative emotions) can provoke the emergence of a clear clinical picture of schizophrenia.And they may not provoke it.

Biological Causes

This group includes features of the development of the body - physiological and psychological, as well as violations in the functioning of systems and individual organs. In particular, it is quite possible to provoke the development of schizophrenia:

1. Postponed viral / infectious diseases by the mother during the period of gestation.Scientists know for sure that herpes of types 1 and 2, rubella virus, Epstein-Bar virus and cytomegalovirus are one of the causes of congenital schizophrenia.
2. Genetic predisposition.If one of the parents is sick with this mental disorder, then the probability of having a baby with congenital schizophrenia is 10-15%, in the case of the birth of a child from both schizophrenic parents, this probability increases at times - up to 98%.
3. Intoxication of harmful substances in the fetus.This applies to cases where the mother is pregnant using drugs - especially dangerous in this regard kanabioids.

Reasons for the psychological nature of

Even before the development and manifestation of schizophrenia itself, people can differ:

• as a closed-mindedness and reluctance to communicate with others;
• suspiciousness and incredible perseverance;
• is too much susceptible to stressful situations.

These are not unconditional reasons for the development of schizophrenia - such distinctive features are inherent in many people and are defined simply as a manifestation of character.A person with the above behavior can not clearly articulate the idea, can for a long time become isolated in himself, suffer for a long time from the loss of some trifle, but be absolutely indifferent, for example, to the death of a loved one.

Important: The diagnosis of schizophrenia is made only by specialists and after prolonged monitoring of the intended patient.But in the presence of the above features of character / behavior, any stress or negative emotion can serve as an impetus to irreversible mental disorders.

A very detailed account of the causes of schizophrenia in a person is told by a specialist:

Social factors that provoke schizophrenia

In this case, it is about urbanization, family relationships and stress.According to medical statistics, it is in urban areas( especially in megacities) that the number of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia is much higher than the same in rural areas.Family relationships also strongly affect the development of mental disorders - for example, if a child has an imperious mother, a hard father, then a schizophrenia attack can occur at any time.

In general, scientists do not consider any one and unconditional reason for the development of schizophrenia - everything is very interconnected.For example, a child is born to a mother who has had an infectious disease during pregnancy - this does not mean an indispensable schizophrenia, under favorable circumstances, seizures may not happen at all, and parents will simply note a slight lag in the child's physical and mental development.At the same time, if such a child is born in a dysfunctional family, then the likelihood of developing schizophrenia increases at times.

Constant stressful situations, very strong negative emotions, hormonal changes in adolescence - these factors can lead to the first attack of schizophrenia, because the threshold of stress resistance in a person will be exceeded.

Symptoms of schizophrenia

This mental disorder can affect both men and women.It is noteworthy that male schizophrenia is manifested in early childhood, but in women the first signs of the disease are usually seen at an older age.There is a certain differentiation of the signs of schizophrenia - for example, they are divided into positive and negative.

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia:

1. Hallucinations.This is a state where a person sees / hears / feels something that is not really there.In schizophrenia, a wide variety of hallucinations can occur-auditory, visual, or tactile.But according to statistics most often schizophrenics hear voices either inside the head, or from the outside.If at the beginning of a mental disorder hallucinations appear periodically and not for long, then as schizophrenia progresses, "visions" become intrusive, almost constant.
2. Obsessions.The patient lost the ability to separate real experiences from fictitious ones, so there are stable thoughts, ideas - for example, a schizophrenic may think that his dog is sick and requires special attention.He will manage to put her to bed with her to bed, such an idea( sleeping together) will haunt him for a long time and develop - if at first it is a question of one dog, then in the future the patient brings to his bed all the stray dogs.No persuasion on him does not work, if his plans are violated, the schizophrenic becomes aggressive, agitated and can be dangerous for others.
3. Thinking in a disorderly manner.The patient completely lacks logical thinking, he is not able to connect the two facts together.For example, even children are well aware that if a light turns on at a traffic light, then cars go.With schizophrenia, a man can not remember and repeat this logical chain - he does not understand when cars are going.
4. Excitation.One of the signs of schizophrenia is constant excitation - a person becomes irritable, more demanding, his emotions are too bright.In some cases, the excitement develops into aggression - the patient may not realize this, believing that he calmly communicates with others and behaves adequately.

Negative signs of schizophrenia:

1. Complete lack of initiative.The symptom of schizophrenia is a long stay in a reclining position or sitting, in which there is no initiative or desire to do something.Such patients have no goals or even attempts to do something.They live on the principle of "woke up-called to eat-ate-lay-called for lunch-ate-lay-called for dinner-eat-lay".
2. Self-Isolation and Depression.It is possible to attribute independent / voluntary isolation from the community and even close people to the symptoms of schizophrenia, unwillingness not only to see them, but also to hear.The slightest attempt to break the loneliness leads to an outbreak of aggression.

Similar behavior may be present in a completely healthy person who has suffered severe stress.For example, people experiencing the death of relatives or loved ones may need temporary solitude.But here the key word is "temporary" - they just need to come to their senses, calm down and get used to the idea of ​​loss.Such desires do not last long, a healthy person can not be in isolation for more than 10 days.

1. Apathy.The patient with schizophrenia is not able to finish any of the cases started, complains of a sense of emptiness and "uselessness."
2. Absence of natural emotional manifestations.It is a question of the absence of joyful or sad experiences, the patient loses the ability to smile in response to a merry joke or crying at some kind of frustration.

These symptoms are schematically shown below:

It is unequivocal to answer the question of how to recognize schizophrenia - it will only be done by a specialist.In no case should the above symptoms be taken for truth.After all, non-emotional people can be completely healthy in relation to mental disorders and need only work in tandem with a psychotherapist, and quickly excited are also found among absolutely healthy people.

How to recognize a schizophrenic?

It's worth "beating an alarm" if a loved one suddenly behaves as follows:

• has stopped responding to any emotional outbursts - his face is constantly "tense with indifference mask" - neither a burst of laughter nor tears fromYou will not get it;
• fell into a deep and protracted depression, and all attempts to help end in hysterics and aggressive behavior of the patient;
• ceased to communicate with others, suddenly quit work, stopped monitoring its appearance and surrounding environment;
• began to get annoyed at trifles, screams at both parents and children, and even on a close friend - an excuse for this may not be at all;
• complains about other people's voices that prevent him from sleeping or reading a book;
• suddenly began to tell that to him every morning comes a small animal, which he feeds - are visual hallucinations.

The early signs of schizophrenia include: depression, anxiety, thoughts of suicide - in medicine it is referred to as affective changes in a sick person.There are also cognitive changes( also refer to early symptoms) - lack of attention, lack of understanding of their "wrong" state, slow thinking.

With the above signs it is worth to go to the doctor, but since during the development of schizophrenia patients are often irritable and aggressive, it is better to invite a specialist to consult at home.And do not be afraid of this diagnosis - modern medicine perfectly copes with attacks of schizophrenia, and medicines and folk remedies will help to keep the patient in a state of remission for a long time.By the way, according to statistics in 70% of cases of diagnosing schizophrenia, a repeated attack does not happen ever.But such a favorable outcome of the disease is possible only with timely medical assistance and accurate, full compliance with all prescriptions and recommendations of the treating doctor.Otherwise, schizophrenia is progressing and the patient, eventually, can become a "vegetable", lose touch with reality, and in some cases people with actively developing schizophrenia pose a danger to others and themselves.

How to recognize schizophrenia?Responsible psychiatrist:

Tsygankova Yana Alexandrovna, medical reviewer, therapeutist of the highest qualification category.