The word schizophrenia roughly translates to as “splitting of the mind” and comes from the Greek word, schizein. Schizophrenia refers to the separation of functions between personality, thoughts, memory, and perception. It is a serious mental condition that is linked with abnormal behavior and disorganized speech.

Symptoms
Major symptoms of schizophrenia include:

• Delusions – The patient can experience false beliefs in many forms, such as delusions of persecution, or delusions of grandeur. They may want to adopt different approaches about controlling them or simply feel that they are authorized to control others.
• Hallucinations – A wide range of hallucinations, for example, hearing different voices is possible in patients with schizophrenia.
• Thought disorder – The person may jump or turn from one subject to another with no logical organization in thought and speech.
• Lack of motivation (avolition) – The patient loses their drive. He/she can forget cooking, eating, etc.
• Poor expression of emotions – The patient is unable to express emotions such as happiness or sadness.
• Social withdrawal – Generally, schizophrenic patients withdraw themselves from the society and family, friends, and social connections.
• Unawareness of illness – Patients are so engaged with their false beliefs that they never agree that they are sick, and they refuse medication.
• Cognitive difficulties – The patient’s skills to concentrate, recall things and events, planning, and to organize their lives are affected. Communication becomes difficult for schizophrenic patients.

Causes of schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is possible due to the following causes:

• Genetic inheritance – Risk of schizophrenia increases from 1% to 10 % for cases wherein even one parent was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
• Chemical imbalance in the brain – According to experts, an imbalance of dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is a major cause of schizophrenia in many cases.
• Family relationships – It is not yet proved that stress and other factors can cause schizophrenia, however, some patients can experience schizophrenia because of a stressful life, or due to multiple frustrations.
• Environmental factors – Many experts think that trauma before birth and viral infections may contribute to schizophrenia.

Risk factors
The factors that can increase the risk of developing or triggering schizophrenia include

• Family history with this disease
• Increased immune system activation
• Late decision of parenthood
• Certain pregnancy and birth complications, with malnutrition or exposure to toxins or viruses that may harm brain development.
• Consumption of mind-altering (psychoactive or psychotropic) drugs during teen years and young adulthood.

Schizophrenia is a long-lasting or almost permanent disease. It can be controlled with proper medication and practices. Counseling is very important to schizophrenic patients. In many cases, family members of schizophrenic patients also need counseling. Treatment in an early stage of schizophrenia is taken voluntarily by the patient. But he/she might be forced for the treatment in advanced stages of the condition. Generally, schizophrenic patients can stay at home along with their family.

With proper medicines, dopamine from the patient’s brain can be controlled, but these medicines have several side effects like sleepiness. Identifying schizophrenic symptoms and treating patients as early as possible is the best practice to make the patient feel better.