Schizophrenia is a severe mental health disorder. Find out more about the condition and what to do if you think you’re affected by it.
Schizophrenia is a long-term severe mental disorder resulting in problems in thought, emotion, and behaviour, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion.
Men tend to get develop schizophrenia slightly earlier than women; males can become ill between 16 and 25years of age. The peak ages of onset are 20–28 years for males and 26–32 years for females.
About 1% of the general population may be affected.
Schizophrenia affects men and women equally. However, the incidence of may be slightly higher in males than females.
• Hallucinations
• Delusions
• Disorganised thinking
• Social withdrawal
• Agitation
• Slowness to move, think, speak or react
• Difficulty in understanding things and talking incoherently
Experience one or more of these symptoms doesn’t mean you’re affected by schizophrenia. It’s important to talk a psychiatrist or a general physician to get a full diagnosis.
People affected with schizophrenia may do self harm.
Take the first step – if you think you are affected by schizophrenia, talk to someone you think can guide you, a psychiatrist or a general physician.
The first stage of treatment is to control hallucinations and delusions which needs medications.
You may then be advised to join self help organizations. Psycho-social interventions can help maintain maximum level of functioning and reintegration into society.
MATERS Trust envision a Bangladesh where every individual has opportunity to gain optimum mental health and where every individual with a mental health disorder has access to necessary facilities for early identification, treatment and management.
