Nature of Schizophrenia

A Brain Disease

Schizophrenia is a brain disease that interferes with normal brain functioning. It causes affected people to exhibit odd and often highly irrational or disorganized behavior. Because the brain is the organ in the body where thinking, feeling and understanding of the world takes place (where consciousness exists), a brain disease like schizophrenia alters thinking, feeling, understanding and consciousness itself in affected persons, changing their lives for the worse. People affected with schizophrenia have difficulty thinking coherently, interacting with others normally, carrying out responsibilities and expressing emotions appropriately. Even simple everyday tasks like personal hygiene can become unmanageable and neglected. The disease can thus impact every aspect of affected people's work, family, and social life. Though not affected directly, family members also frequently become distressed and overwhelmed by the difficulties involved in providing care and in coming to terms with the transformation of their loved one into a patient with a serious chronic illness.

Psychosis and the loss of reality

A defining feature of schizophrenia is psychosis. Psychosis occurs when a person loses the ability to discriminate between real and 'imagined' experiences, and therefor...