Schizophrenia is associated with a division of the mind into two parts.
Schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by the division of the mind into two parts : one portion that is related to reality and another that interacts, to a greater or lesser degree, with an imaginary world. The concept has its origin in two Greek terms: schizo ( "division" , "split" ) and phrenos ( "mind" ).
It is usually believed that the first manifestations of this disease occur at the beginning of adolescence , but several cases of children with schizophrenia have come to light in recent years. The difficulty of diagnosis in young people lies in the fact that the symptoms are often confused with those of autism or, in mild cases, with a lack of adaptation to school.
Jani Schofield's schizophrenia
In 2009 , Oprah Winfrey , a well-known American television presenter, broadcast a documentary about a 7-year-old girl, Jani Schofield , with an especially severe degree of schizophrenia. This creature claimed to live with dozens of beings , especially animals, who actively interacted with it, despite being invisible to other people . Each and every one of them had their own name and lived in a place called "Calalini" , which was, in Jani 's words, on the border between their world and the real one. As often happens, some of these imaginary beings used to ask the girl to carry out violent acts, such as hurting other people or breaking things.
But to detect schizophrenia, it is not necessary to wait for these types of characteristic attitudes to emerge. When reviewing footage from when Jani was just months old, for example, you can see that the girl used to stare at a point where there seemed to be nothing . Furthermore, contrary to what is normal for a newborn baby, he slept for periods of no more than 30 minutes and a total of no more than 4 hours a day, against the expected 16 hours. Another interesting fact is that at the age of 5, she suddenly began demanding to be called by a different name, claiming that Jani was not the correct one.
Schizophrenia must be treated in psychiatry.
The delusions
Schizophrenics are often delusional, have behavioral and emotional problems, and think illogically. Contact with people who do not suffer from this disease is very difficult, since the influence of the imaginary world is very strong and impossible to ignore.
Hallucinations , which involve a distortion of what is perceived, can be visual or sound, and patients usually maintain fluid conversations and interact with them as if they were really present . The fear of potential attacks by family members and the feeling of a plot against the person are very common and it is the characters of the mind who warn them of these dangers.
Types of schizophrenia
It is possible to distinguish various types of schizophrenia, among which the following stand out:
- Paranoid schizophrenia : the most common, characterized by delusions and auditory hallucinations. The feeling of persecution is common, distorting irrelevant situations to turn them into ridicule or acts of contempt by close or unknown people.
- Disorganized schizophrenia : often people who cannot take care of themselves present behaviors typical of regression and communicate incoherently, easily losing the thread of a conversation.
- Catatonic schizophrenia : characterized by motor dysfunctions, poor sleep hours and hyperactivity. Acts of violence are frequent, as is the adoption of strange poses for long periods, in which they often skip meals and lose control of the bladder and bowel.
Causes and treatment
Although the origins of schizophrenia have not yet been determined, it has been recognized that genes , social conditioning, stress and certain pathologies that develop during pregnancy have an impact. However, there are as many contradictions as there are theories, which makes their detection and the appropriate choice of treatments difficult .
It is important to note that, although schizophrenia is a chronic condition , it is absolutely possible to improve the patient's quality of life. Psychotherapy and the provision of certain drugs are part of the medical recommendations to treat schizophrenic symptoms and achieve the highest possible degree of social integration . It is essential to keep these people connected to reality through constant stimuli, which is very difficult, given the absorbing nature of the imaginary world and its manipulative characters.