Schizophrenia is an exceedingly complex mental illness; in fact, it is probably many illnesses masked as one. A biochemical imbalance is believed to be as one of the root causes behind it.
What are the causes of Schizophrenia?
The actual cause of schizophrenia remains unknown till today. According to the psychiatrists and scientists, changes in brain functions, such as perception, emotions and behavior, indicate that the brain is the biological site of it. Some of the researchers suspect that neurotransmitters are the substances by which cells communicate might be involved in this mental or psychological disorder. There might be changes in dopamine, serotonin or other neurotransmitters. The limbic system (which is an area of the brain involved with emotion), the thalamus (which coordinates outgoing messages) and several other areas of the brain also get affected.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Personality and behavior changes that last a period of time are the signs of a person in need of psychological assistance. When a lot of symptoms persist, it is crucial to seek medical attention immediately. There might be lot of reasons why a person with schizophrenia does not seek medical or psychological assistance, including lack of insight due to the illness. In this case, since the brain doesn’t function as it should, it cannot tell the person what is wrong. Also, the society’s prejudices about mental illness discourage common people from disclosing their symptoms and seek Schizophrenia treatment. There is fear of mental disorders stigma and subsequent rejection and isolation. But, it is advisable to take up psychological counseling if someone is facing such issues.
Treatment of Schizophrenia
Though Schizophrenia is fully not curable, it is surely a treatable and manageable chronic illness, just like diabetes or heart disease. As of now, there is no surefire method for preventing Schizophrenia and there is no cure. Minimizing the effect of the illness will depend mainly on early diagnosis and appropriate psychosocial treatment and medication. Accepting and taking medication overcoming the mental disorders stigma and prejudice caused by ignorance, avoiding stress as much as possible, having a social life, continuing going to school/college, finding a job and having a place to live, establishing and maintaining stable and healthy relationships are some of the important steps for mental health recovery.