Faulty Connections Lead To Aberrant Messages

The symptoms that schizophrenics experience are divided into three categories. These are positive, negative and cognitive symptoms. Here is a brief description of each one of them. 

Positive and negative symptoms

Positive symptoms refer to all those behaviors that make the patient look as if he or she had lost touch with reality. 

Delusions, or false beliefs, are also positive symptoms. A delusional patient will often feel like he or she is being followed, or that people gossip behind their backs. Delusions can go as far as believing that someone can control their minds or that they are involved in some kind of conspiracy, which was the case of John Nash.

Thought and movement disorders also fall into this category of symptoms, and they are mainly detected as difficulty to articulate ideas, and to control of movements.

Negative symptoms refer to alterations in the patient’s emotional state.

Cognitive symptoms and treatment of the disease

Finally, cognitive symptoms include subtle changes in brain activity and performance. For example, schizophrenic patients have a hard time focusing and paying attention, as well as memorizing and remembering facts and situations; they also have difficulties to acquire new knowledge and expressing themselves.

These situations could be followed by states of anxiety and depression. The fact that they start feeling that they can't control what they think and their actions makes them prone to develop other mental problems. 

Antipsychotics, like haloperidol, chlorpromazine and risperidone, are used to avoid hallucinations and delusions. Antipsychotics have several side effects though, including dizziness, drowsiness, rashes, alterations in vision and movement and weight gain. One of the main side effects is the loss of white blood cells, also known as agranulocytosis, which is mainly caused by the antipsychotic clozapine.

See Also: New solutions in Pharmacotherapy of Schizophrenia

Psychotherapy for schizophrenia is a therapeutic approach that involves one-on-one or group sessions between a person with schizophrenia and a trained mental health professional. Unlike traditional talk therapy, psychotherapy for schizophrenia often focuses on practical coping strategies and skill-building to help individuals manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. The therapist works with the individual to explore their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, aiming to identify and challenge distorted beliefs or delusions.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is commonly used, emphasizing symptom management, problem-solving, and improving social functioning. Psychotherapy can help individuals understand their condition, enhance insight, reduce distress, and develop strategies to navigate daily challenges. It is often used in combination with medication and other support services to provide a comprehensive approach to managing schizophrenia.

These therapies help the patient in dealing with the disease and in knowing how to interact with family and people in general, in order to prevent patients from falling into alcohol and drug abuse, depression and suicide. Depending on the severity of the disease, it may be necessary to hospitalize the patient so that he or she can get the proper care from a health professional. 

There are diseases that can mimic the symptoms of schizophrenia. Among these are brain injury caused by trauma or embolism, brain tumors, epilepsy, narcolepsy, encephalitis, vitamin deficiencies and other genetic disorders.