Johannesburg – Mental health issues have skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic and on Thursday, the first Mental Health Action Day was commemorated around the world with the aim to move from awareness to action.
There are many mental disorders, with some worse than others. One of the more severe ones is schizophrenia.
According to Schizophrenia24x7, a practical website featuring professional advice and treatment options for people living with schizophrenia, the condition does not mean multiple personalities.
The mental disorder is globally mistaken as being dissociative personality disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. Both these conditions are serious mental disorders that share certain symptoms.
These experts also state that it is not a common disorder, affecting approximately only one percent of the population.
With schizophrenia, the symptoms include delusional behaviour: paranoia or the belief that they have special powers; may experience visual, auditory, or psychological hallucinations; disorganised speech, the patients may be unable to have a normal conversation or form coherent sentences; disorganised or catatonic behaviour, in which the patient may appear alert at times and unresponsive at times; and little or no emotional reactions to social interactions or news – be it good or bad.
Dissociative personality disorder involves depersonalisation where a person is detached from actions and believes that people or things are not real.
They have dissociative amnesia where they struggle to remember information such as events or even their identity in severe cases. They also display identities fighting for control of emotions and states of mind. They may also suffer from memory gaps.
Several scientific studies have concluded that schizophrenia is genetic.
It is known to be passed down through generations, but no single gene is responsible.
If a person has a first degree relative, such as a parent or sibling, the risk of developing schizophrenia rises to 10%.
If both parents were diagnosed with schizophrenia, the risk increases to 50%. The onset of schizophrenia and its symptoms begin between the ages of 15 to 30.
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