schizophrenia...how do we find out if we have?

Answer 1

A psychiatric doctor would have to diagnose it.

Usually the symptoms of a catatonic schizophrenic person are: motor disturbances; Stupor; Negativism; Rigidity; Agitation; Inability to take care of personal needs; decreased sensitivity to painful stimulus.
Paranoid schizophrenia's symptoms are delusional thoughts of persecution or of a grandiose nature; Anxiety; anger; violence; argumentativeness.
Disorganized type: Incoherence; Regressive behavior; flat affect; delusions; hallucinations; inappropriate laughter; repetitive mannerisms; social withdrawal.

Answer 2

There are several symptoms: Psychosis or positive symptoms include hallucinations and delusions.
Hallucinations--seeing or hearing things that other people can't see or hear. Delusions--believing this that aren't true, somebody might believe people are putting poison in his food or that he is Jesus.
Negative symptoms include social withdrawal, flat affect (failure to show emotions appropriately or a lack of facial expression).
Other common symptoms are disorganized thinking, some people with schizophrenia laugh when nobody else thinks anything is funny.
A psychologist can recognize the symptoms, but it's better to go to a psychiatrist--a medical doctor who can treat the illness with medication. Counselling and so on might help, but medication is almost always required to properly treat schizophrenia.
Some people think schizophrenia is having more than one personality, that's incorrect. Multiple Personality Disorder or Dissociative Personality Disorder is a different type of mental illness. I hate that move "Me, Myself and Irene"--schizophrenia isn't anything like that.

Answer 3

My sister has schizophrenia!! So, I know quite a lot about it. They use to call it PARANOID schizophrenia.... for a reason!!

First of all, it IS HEREDITARY; usually passes to a FEMALE child of a schizophrenic parent!! There are various DEGREES of schizophrenia!!

For instance, you can have an UNREALISTIC fear of something BAD happening!! Hence, the word PARANOID comes in. And that may be ALL?? This is a minor case of schizophrenia.

But if you have UNREALISTIC fear MOST of the time, it is like the middle case of schizophrenia.

My sister, has a SEVERE case of schizophrenia. She hears voices, sees things that aren't there, becomes violent very easily, and is PARANOID almost all of the time!!! She tells of her voices that say to her to take a knife & kill someone.

However, most people with schizophrenia don't have a clue that they have it!!! Let alone understand why they do what they do!! In fact, a lot of times; they don't even remember doing it!!!

Mainly, people around you will let you know if they THINK you have a problem that needs medical attention!! But don't DWELL on it......... just take the advice of those people around you that YOU TRUST!!

Answer 4

Schizophrenia is characterized by at least 2 of the following symptoms, for at least one month:
Delusions
Hallucations
Disorganized speech, Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior
Negative symptoms

A psychiatrist will diagnose schizophernia when there is evidence of a profound break in reality by symptoms for several months:
belief that someone is putting thoughts into your head, belief that others can hear persons thoughts,belief that persons thoughts and actions are being controlled by someone else,
hearing voices, delusional beliefs out of the blue,
But from my experience I would say go to a doctor or tell a Mental Health worker.

Answer 5

You simply see a doctor or a psychologist and they evaluate you over a period of time.
You pretty much spill everything to them, thoughts you get things you become convinced of (maybe people are watching you) anything at all and from there they see whether you have any symptoms that fall into schizophrenia.

Answer 6

Usually with schizophrenia, the person's inner world and behavior change notably. Behavior changes might include the following:



Social withdrawal


Depersonalization (intense anxiety and a feeling of being unreal)


Loss of appetite


Loss of hygiene


Delusions


Hallucinations (eg, hearing things not actually present)


The sense of being controlled by outside forces
A person with schizophrenia may not have any outward appearance of being ill. In other cases, the illness may be more apparent, causing bizarre behaviors. For example, a person with schizophrenia may wear aluminum foil in the belief that it will stop one's thoughts from being broadcasted and protect against malicious waves entering the brain.

People with schizophrenia vary widely in their behavior as they struggle with an illness beyond their control. In active stages, those affected may ramble in illogical sentences or react with uncontrolled anger or violence to a perceived threat. People with schizophrenia may also experience relatively passive phases of the illness in which they seem to lack personality, movement, and emotion (also called a flat affect). People with schizophrenia may alternate in these extremes. Their behavior may or may not be predictable.

In order to better understand schizophrenia, the concept of clusters of symptoms is often used. Thus, people with schizophrenia can experience symptoms that may be grouped under the following categories:

Positive symptoms - Hearing voices, suspiciousness, feeling under constant surveillance, delusions, or making up words without a meaning (neologisms).


Negative (or deficit) symptoms - Social withdrawal, difficulty in expressing emotions (in extreme cases called blunted affect), difficulty in taking care of themselves, inability to feel pleasure (These symptoms cause severe impairment and are often mistaken for laziness.)


Cognitive symptoms - Difficulties attending to and processing of information, in understanding the environment, and in remembering simple tasks


Affective (or mood) symptoms - Most notably depression, accounting for a very high rate of attempted suicide in people suffering from schizophrenia

Answer 7

You need to go to your doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or local mental health clinic. Do not self diagnose. Schizophrenia is tricky to diagnose.

Answer 8

Your doctor would be the first stop, but if you have problems with that, try ringing one of the mental health charities like Mind (0845 766 0163) or Sane (0845 766 8000).
I hope you are not asking for yourself, as it is a terrible condition to live with and people suffering from it experience a great deal of prejudice.

Answer 9

i was told i had schizophrenia and that i was wrong in how i percieved things etc this has made thngs worse for me and i thgt this "theres no such thng as madness until u are told you are coz u dont kno u been weird so realy madness is in the minds of others" stik wiv it ,dont accept it ,it aint u all the time

Answer 10

If you have it someone would have seen signs of it by now.It is such an intense condition that no on goes for long without their behaviors being detected and then some one reporting it .