Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. Symptoms can be different for everyone, but include hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thoughts.

Prodromal Phase

“Prodromal” means the early symptoms and signs of the illness. These are the first symptoms someone with schizophrenia may experience. These include:

  • social isolation

  • difficulty in daily function

  • odd behaviors

  • poor hygiene

  • decreased emotional expression

  • changes in speech

  • unusual thoughts or beliefs

  • changes in perception (example: things may seem to be magical or controlled by special forces)

  • decreased energy and interest in activities

Acute Phase

The “acute” phase of schizophrenia means the periods of time when symptoms are most severe. Symptoms are often called “positive” or “negative”, but in this case, “positive” does not equal “good”.

Positive symptoms means experiencing something that shouldn’t be happening. These include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thoughts and speech, and disorganized behavior.

Negative symptoms are things that aren’t there but should be. These include decreased expression of emotion (this sometimes called a “flat affect”), decreased motivation and interest in activities, decreased speech, isolation, and not attending to hygiene needs.

Residual Phase

“Residual” means remaining- these are the symptoms that continue when the severity of the acute phase has resolved. Hallucinations and delusional thoughts may continue, sometimes even with medications, but the hallucinations become much more mild.

A lack of insight, or understanding of the illness, is the most common reason people stop taking their medications. This results in a relapse of acute symptoms.