Schizophrenia
24 July 2024Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterised by impaired thinking processes and emotional reactions, a chronic course, and a gradual increase in symptoms.
Pros. data According to the WHO, about 50 million people worldwide have this disorder. The onset of the disease is most often observed in people under the age of 30. In the future, the progressive disease has a negative impact on a person, as they may lose the ability to solve everyday problems and fully function in life.
Schizophrenia causes psychosis, is associated with severe disability, and the likelihood of early death, which is 2-3 times higher than the average in the population. Suicide is one of the key causes of death, according to researchApproximately 13% people with this disorder die by suicide.
Causes of schizophrenia.
It is believed that schizophrenia may be the result of the interaction of a number of genetic and external psychosocial factors. There is a 25% chance of inheriting the disease if one of the parents has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
In most cases, stress, brain trauma, viral infections, drugs, etc. are the triggering factors for an acute schizophrenic episode.
The main manifestations of the disease.
Increasing development of the following mental processes: disconnected thinking, emotional alienation, isolation, social isolation.
Schizophrenia is characterised by significant disturbances in the perception of reality and behavioural changes, such as:
- persistent delusions (the patient thinks that someone wants to harm him or her), despite evidence to the contrary;
- a sense of external influence, the patient's feeling that his or her feelings, impulses, actions or thoughts are dictated from the outside;
- constant hallucinations: the patient hears, sees, feels, non-existent things;
- disorganised thinking, often expressed in incoherent or subjectless speech;
- Significant disorganisation of behaviour, manifested in unpredictable or inadequate emotional reactions;
- "negative symptoms", such as extreme poverty of language, smoothing of emotional reactions, inability to experience interest or pleasure, and social autism;
- persistent cognitive or mental impairment affecting memory, attention or problem-solving skills;
- extreme excitement or, conversely, slowness of movement, freezing in unusual positions;
- aggression - there are far fewer violent people among schizophrenics than among other ordinary citizens.
Where to go for help with schizophrenia.
The diagnosis of schizophrenia is made by a psychiatrist, you can directly contact him or her for advice, you can find such a specialist at portals HELSI, upon referral from a family doctor.
It is necessary to start treatment before the onset of the first episode of psychosis. Further efforts of the doctor are aimed at overcoming the acute period of the disease (medication, psychiatric care). Worldwide, about 50% patients diagnosed with schizophrenia are in psychiatric hospitals, but hospitalisation is not an effective way of providing care, as indicated by a number of scientific studies.
People with mental and behavioural disorders can get the necessary medicines under the programme "Available medicines".
For the category of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, psychosocial support and rehabilitation that you can receive by joining a peer support group is of great importance. It will help you to find new friends, hear each other, share your thoughts and experiences, understand and accept your true self and others.
You can learn more about the disease in the training course by Pavlo Duplenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychiatry at the Bogomolets National Medical University, at the link https://youtu.be/2BGeLko3huo
https://www.who.int/ru/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/schizophrenia
https://doc.ua/ua/bolezn/shizofreniya
Tatyana Khil, medical assistant at the VEN(s) of the National Health Centre
