A Holistic View of Schizophrenia

Mental illnesses affect nearly 35 million Americans, striking one out of every four families. Schizophrenia, a disease meaning "split personality," is a major health problem and the most common of all mental illnesses. One out of every hundred people is diagnosed with schizophrenia at some point in their life. Generally occurring during late adolescence or early adulthood, half of all schizophrenics achieve full recovery with treatment. Scientists are constantly developing alternative therapies and theories as to its mysterious cause. Suffering many shocking and symptoms, schizophrenics are offered various treatments to control the limitations of the illness.

Unlike other mental illnesses, schizophrenics display symptoms visible to both people around them and to doctors. Victims believe everyday events have special purposes in their lives. Talking to themselves, they display bizarre behavior, lack of curiosity, depression, and social withdrawal. Schizophrenia cripples the mind's ability to function. This results in jerky movements, a sense of confusion and fear, auditory hallucinations, and imaginary sensations. They suffer from delusions, fantasies of enslavement, a diminished sense of identity, irrational perceptions and incorrect emotional responses, such as laughing at a funeral. Schizophrenics reveal a lack of emotion, mood shifts, and a unique view of the world. Scientists believe a variety of factors could the disease and its symptoms.