24 May is World Schizophrenia Awareness Day.
24 May 2025The World Schizophrenia Awareness Day was introduced to raise public awareness of this mental disorder and to demonstrate support for people with schizophrenia and their families who suffer from discrimination, human rights violations and low levels of assistance.
Schizophrenia - is a severe mental disorder characterised by impaired thinking and emotional reactions, often accompanied by significant stress and difficulties in personal relationships, family life, social contacts, education, work or other important areas of life.
Pros. data According to the WHO, schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people, or 1 in 300 people worldwide. Among the adult population, this figure is 1 in 222 people. Schizophrenia typically begins between the ages of 16 and 30, during the most active and productive phase of a person's life and growth, with a tendency for women to have a later onset. Suicide is one of the key causes of death in people with schizophrenia.
Symptoms:
- disturbances in self-perception and perception of the world around them, smoothening of emotional reactions, social withdrawal and autism;
- hallucinations, when a person sees, hears and feels something that is not really there;
- persistent delusions and the patient's strong belief in the truth of certain things, despite evidence to the contrary;
- persistent cognitive or mental impairment affecting memory, attention or problem-solving skills;
- a feeling of external influence or control, when the patient feels that his or her feelings, actions or thoughts are dictated from the outside, put into his or her own consciousness by someone else's will;
- disorganised thinking, which manifests itself in incoherent or subjectless speech and extreme poverty of language, suspicion, fear of persecution, etc;
- disorganisation of behaviour, which is manifested by actions that may seem strange or meaningless, extreme excitement or, conversely, slowed movements, freezing in unusual positions.
What causes schizophrenia?
The exact cause of the disease is unknown, but it is believed to be related to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, changes in the chemical composition of substances and brain structures, the impact of psychosocial factors and abuse psychoactive substances.
Where can I go for help with my mental health?
Schizophrenia is a lifelong diagnosis, but patients still have a chance to feel healthy and return to society with the help of supportive therapy, modern pharmaceuticals and various rehabilitation methods. It is important to involve the person with schizophrenia, their family members and members of the local community in the care process.
If you have symptoms that are alarming, you can seek help from your family doctor, who can refer you to a psychiatrist if necessary, or you can seek a psychiatrist's advice yourself.
