Schizophrenia exists among all races and cultures, and it is found in all countries.
Not all schizophrenics suffer the same illness. Most mental health experts believe that what we call schizophrenia is actually a series of disorders, some of which display similar emotions. Over the years, attempts have been made to divide and categorize schizophrenia into various subgroups. Knowing one type of schizophrenia from another would be helpful in diagnosing patients, in helping researchers understand the causes of the disorder, and in learning what treatments work best in each form of the disease. .
Schizophrenia has been broken down into two types. Type one is characterized by positive symptoms. They include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and thinking, and inappropriate affect. Negative symptoms, or things lacking in the victim then characterize type two schizophrenia. These include social withdraw, poverty of speech, flat affect, and loss of volition.
An example of all these features is the disjointed conversation of its victims. This usually consists of a series of vague statements strung together in an incoherent way. Listeners are left puzzled by what they have just heard and perhaps wondering if they had missed something. Sometimes conversation is a chaotic and unintelligible jumble of words. This is referred to as "word salad." To one degree or another, schizophrenics are often flat in mood. Their whole emotional lookout is deadened. They show little or no warmth towards others. Even the most gruesome personal experience raises barely a flicker of anger, sadness, or grief.
Prolonged immobility and jerky robot-like movements are other symptoms. Typically schizophrenics withdraw both physically and emotionally from the world and people around them. They typically exclude reality and focus on their delusions, hallucinations, and other thoughts locked within their troubled minds.
