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Introduction
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness. People with schizophrenia don't perceive and respond to the world as most other people do.
Paranoid schizophrenia is a subtype of schizophrenia. People with paranoid schizophrenia hold untrue beliefs (delusions) or hear things others don't hear (auditory hallucinations).
The onset of schizophrenia in men is usually in the teens or 20s. The onset in women is usually in the 20s or early 30s. Paranoid schizophrenia tends to appear toward the later end of this range.
Although there's no cure for paranoid schizophrenia, medications and well-coordinated mental health care services can help people manage the disease.
Signs and symptoms
Early signs and symptoms of schizophrenia — such as social withdrawal, unusual behaviors, anxiety and decline in daily functional abilities — may begin gradually before the primary symptoms of schizophrenia, known collectively as psychosis, are manifested. But disease onset may also be acute with the sudden appearance of psychosis.
Delusions and auditory hallucinations are the prominent psychotic symptoms in people with paranoid schizophrenia.
Delusions
When people have delusions, they believe something to be true that essentially no one else in their culture believes. A person with paranoid schizophrenia misinterprets experiences and then holds on to those interpretations despite evidence or reasoning to the contrary.
Delusions are commonly focused on the perception of being persecuted and often result in the mistrust of other people:
Delusions can become complex stories, and interpretations of experiences often "confirm" the person's view of reality. For example, a traffic officer blowing a whistle is alerting FBI agents on the trail of the person with paranoid schizophrenia. A man who looks at the officer is an agent. When he uses his cell phone, he's reporting the person's location.
Delusions may result in a violent outburst if a person believes a perceived threat creates a dangerous situation in need of self-defense.
A person with paranoid schizophrenia may also have delusions of grandeur — holding the belief that he or she has superhuman skills, is famous, has a relationship with a famous person or is a historical figure. These delusions can be dangerous, as when a person believes he or she can fly and acts on that belief.
Auditory hallucinations
An auditory hallucination is the perception of sound — usually voices — that no one else hears. The sounds may be a single voice or many voices, either talking to the person or to each other.
The voices are usually unpleasant. They may give a constant critique of what the person is thinking or doing, or they harass the person about real or imagined faults. Voices may also command the person to do things that can be harmful to himself or herself or to others. They may be thematically related to the person's delusions. For example, the voices may say that the FBI is after the person with schizophrenia because of some crime they say he or she committed.
To a person with paranoid schizophrenia, these voices are real. The person with paranoid schizophrenia may talk to or shout at the voices. However, after years of relatively successful disease management, some people may learn to recognize the voices as manifestations of the disease.
Other paranoid schizophrenia symptoms
If people with paranoid schizophrenia have other characteristic signs or symptoms of schizophrenia, they are mild. These psychotic behaviors, which are more prominent in other schizophrenia subtypes, include:
The other main subtypes of schizophrenia are catatonic, disorganized and undifferentiated schizophrenia.
Causes
Most researchers believe that schizophrenia results from problems with early brain development. Studies have focused on the way brain cells communicate with each other through nerve pathways. Too many or too few connections in the important pathways of emotional regulation may lead to psychotic symptoms. More specifically, certain areas of the brain that are rich in the chemical dopamine seem to be affected most often in schizophrenia.
The contributing factors associated with the development of these brain-pathway problems are controversial and are being carefully investigated. Some of the areas of current research include risk-associated genes, exposure to certain viruses or malnutrition in the womb, and stressful childhood environments in genetically susceptible children.
Hope that helps you a little bit hun :hug: If you follow the link to the source page, there's also some treatment and coping strategies on there.
Introduction
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness. People with schizophrenia don't perceive and respond to the world as most other people do.
Paranoid schizophrenia is a subtype of schizophrenia. People with paranoid schizophrenia hold untrue beliefs (delusions) or hear things others don't hear (auditory hallucinations).
The onset of schizophrenia in men is usually in the teens or 20s. The onset in women is usually in the 20s or early 30s. Paranoid schizophrenia tends to appear toward the later end of this range.
Although there's no cure for paranoid schizophrenia, medications and well-coordinated mental health care services can help people manage the disease.
Signs and symptoms
Early signs and symptoms of schizophrenia — such as social withdrawal, unusual behaviors, anxiety and decline in daily functional abilities — may begin gradually before the primary symptoms of schizophrenia, known collectively as psychosis, are manifested. But disease onset may also be acute with the sudden appearance of psychosis.
Delusions and auditory hallucinations are the prominent psychotic symptoms in people with paranoid schizophrenia.
Delusions
When people have delusions, they believe something to be true that essentially no one else in their culture believes. A person with paranoid schizophrenia misinterprets experiences and then holds on to those interpretations despite evidence or reasoning to the contrary.
Delusions are commonly focused on the perception of being persecuted and often result in the mistrust of other people:
- The FBI is spying on me.
- Someone is poisoning my food.
- My thoughts are being broadcast over the radio.
Delusions can become complex stories, and interpretations of experiences often "confirm" the person's view of reality. For example, a traffic officer blowing a whistle is alerting FBI agents on the trail of the person with paranoid schizophrenia. A man who looks at the officer is an agent. When he uses his cell phone, he's reporting the person's location.
Delusions may result in a violent outburst if a person believes a perceived threat creates a dangerous situation in need of self-defense.
A person with paranoid schizophrenia may also have delusions of grandeur — holding the belief that he or she has superhuman skills, is famous, has a relationship with a famous person or is a historical figure. These delusions can be dangerous, as when a person believes he or she can fly and acts on that belief.
Auditory hallucinations
An auditory hallucination is the perception of sound — usually voices — that no one else hears. The sounds may be a single voice or many voices, either talking to the person or to each other.
The voices are usually unpleasant. They may give a constant critique of what the person is thinking or doing, or they harass the person about real or imagined faults. Voices may also command the person to do things that can be harmful to himself or herself or to others. They may be thematically related to the person's delusions. For example, the voices may say that the FBI is after the person with schizophrenia because of some crime they say he or she committed.
To a person with paranoid schizophrenia, these voices are real. The person with paranoid schizophrenia may talk to or shout at the voices. However, after years of relatively successful disease management, some people may learn to recognize the voices as manifestations of the disease.
Other paranoid schizophrenia symptoms
If people with paranoid schizophrenia have other characteristic signs or symptoms of schizophrenia, they are mild. These psychotic behaviors, which are more prominent in other schizophrenia subtypes, include:
- Disorganized thinking
- Grossly disorganized, irrational behavior
- Physical immobility
- Excessive mobility with no purpose
- Absent or inappropriate emotional expression
- Little verbal communication with other people
- Inability to initiate plans
The other main subtypes of schizophrenia are catatonic, disorganized and undifferentiated schizophrenia.
Causes
Most researchers believe that schizophrenia results from problems with early brain development. Studies have focused on the way brain cells communicate with each other through nerve pathways. Too many or too few connections in the important pathways of emotional regulation may lead to psychotic symptoms. More specifically, certain areas of the brain that are rich in the chemical dopamine seem to be affected most often in schizophrenia.
The contributing factors associated with the development of these brain-pathway problems are controversial and are being carefully investigated. Some of the areas of current research include risk-associated genes, exposure to certain viruses or malnutrition in the womb, and stressful childhood environments in genetically susceptible children.
Hope that helps you a little bit hun :hug: If you follow the link to the source page, there's also some treatment and coping strategies on there.
My mother had a ex bf that had paranoid schizophrenia and one thing my mom always told me is if he was on his meds he would be fine but sometimes he would think he didn't need them and then he really went crazy. So one thing you need to do is to make sure he keeps taking his meds. i know that sounds like common sense but it could make all the difference.
I'm sure the reactions people have to it vary, but my cousin has it and she totally loses it when she goes off her meds.
She's tried to kill her brother and her mother, she tore apart her entire apartment beyond repair, she trusts absoloutley no one, and gets incredibly violent.
However, when shes medicated she acts quite normally, just a bit dopey from the medication.
She's tried to kill her brother and her mother, she tore apart her entire apartment beyond repair, she trusts absoloutley no one, and gets incredibly violent.
However, when shes medicated she acts quite normally, just a bit dopey from the medication.
It's not the worst thing in the world. It all depends on the person who has it and to which degree they suffer from hallucinations and/or delusions like the government is after you. If you are on the right meds than you live just like you would if you didn't have the disorder. The meds work to correct the imbalance in your brain. The condition is still not completely figured out but the meds will reverse the symptoms. Schizophrenia is a terrible condition.
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