Generally, schizophrenia’s onset is in adolescence or young adulthood. Schizophrenia affects young men just as much as young women. The symptoms often appear gradually. At onset of schizophrenia the patient may feel tense, be unable to sleep and can not concentrate. They may also have a change in work performance and appearance and social relationships will begin to deteriorate.

The illness often progresses to have peculiar behavior; the patient begins talking nonsense, and has unusual perceptions. This is the beginning of psychosis. People with schizophrenia often experience symptoms of delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking and speech. Someone with schizophrenia may go through periods with no sy

Brain activity has been studied by scientists. They have determined that in a brain of a schizophrenic person the prefrontal cortex remains quiet in those people given an analytical task. The prefrontal cortex in healthy people governs thought and higher mental functions. This part of the brain in a healthy person “lights up”. In people with schizophrenia a magnetic resonance image (MRI) suggest that the neural connections and circuits between the temporal lobe structures and the prefrontal cortex may have abnormal structure or function. The prefrontal cortex in those with schizophrenia seems to be atrophied or have abnormal development.

Antipsychotic medications often have severe side effects. A schizophrenic patient may experience restlessness, stiffness, tremor and dampening of accustomed movements. They may feel muscle spasms in the face, body, arms and legs. A common side effect is TD or tardive dyskinesia. This affects approximately 20 to 30 percent of patients on antipsychotic drugs. This begins with tongue tremors, facial tics and abnormal jaw movements. The symptoms may progress into thrusting and rolling of the tongue, lip licking and chewing or sucking motions. The patient may later develop spasmodic movements in the hands, feet, arms, legs, neck and shoulders. Most of these symptoms reach a plateau and do not become progressively worse.

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