Understanding Schizophrenia  Types and Early Symptoms

Dr.Priyanka Trivedi, 4 mins read

Schizophrenia is a severe and debilitating psychiatric disorder; it is chronic in nature. 

Individuals who have schizophrenia will find themselves living a reality that is not real, they may experience distorted versions of reality, all of which can manifest in the form of delusions or hallucinations. Schizophrenia remains highly unreported as many people with the disease are left to fend for themselves, often ending up on the roads or in care homes. About 3 in a 1000 will have schizophrenia in their lifetime, but misgivings and misconceptions around this disorder are common. There are many types of schizophrenia, as opposed to people thinking it’s a single type of disorder which creates a split personality. Did you know that split personality disorder, or rather dissociative identity disorder is very different from schizophrenia. 

Men and women of all ages can develop this disorder but schizophrenia symptoms appear at different ages, usually men begin to notice symptoms in their later teenage years or in their early 20s while the appearance of symptoms begins around the late 20s and early 30s for women, and it does appear that schizophrenia affects men more commonly than women. 

Presently, the running research and studies on patients with schizophrenia have not been able to exacta single cause of the disease. It is broadly believed that a combination of genetics and of environmental factors could play a part in causing schizophrenia.  Psychosocial factors can also potentially affect the onset and type of schizophrenia. Heavy cannabis use has also been associated with a greater risk of developing schizophrenia.

Types of Schizophrenia

There are five types of schizophrenia, categorised by the symptoms an individual exhibits, they are :

Paranoid Schizophrenia

This type of schizophrenia is characterised by paranoid behaviour like delusions and hearing things (auditory hallucinations). Paranoia is basically feeling like someone is watching every step you take, or someone is out to hurt you. People can also associate similar relations with famous people like a celebrity or politician, or think that a major corporation is after them. Individuals with paranoid schizophrenia tend to have anxiety, anger issues, and are mistrusting of most people. However, intellectual functioning remains relatively normal and expression intact.

Residual Schizophrenia 

This is associated with people who have had some history with at least one episode of schizophrenia, but currently have no symptoms whatsoever. These individuals are categorised as having residual-type schizophrenia and they may be in complete remission, or their symptoms may well return later on at some point in time. 

Disorganised Schizophrenia

Individuals with this type of schizophrenia will have disorganised speech, not slurry speech but speaking in such a way that is incomprehensible to a sound being, people could be highly disorganised in life as well, finding menial tasks hard. Emotional reactions may also be inappropriate, like laughing at a funeral. Failing to eat on time or maintain good hygiene, or not having any desire to work are also byproducts of disorganised schizophrenia. 

Undifferentiated Schizophrenia

This type of schizophrenia is meant for individuals display behaviour that can be classified into two or more types of schizophrenia, and symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, disorganized or impaired speech and erratic or catatonic behaviour. 

Early symptoms of Schizophrenia 

Schizophrenia symptoms usually begin in teenage and early 20s. At such ages, the earliest signs can be easily ignored as they may resemble “typical” adolescent behaviour.

Things like changing friends, hobbies, isolating from everyone, losing focus, sleep problems, concentration issues, being irritable and agitated, anxiety, suspiciousness, getting odd ideas and feeling different from others should not be ignored in teenagers. 

The more advanced symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and disorganised symptoms.

“Positive” symptoms basically mean that an individual keeps adding more symptoms to their thoughts or actions like delusions, dysfunctional thoughts, hallucinating, catatonic movement disorder, and disorganised speech or erratic behaviour. 

 “Negative” symptoms mean there is an absence of typical schizophrenic behaviour. 

but they do disrupt normal emotional being and behaviour. Social withdrawal, difficulty expressing emotions, dull or monotonous speech, lack of facial expressions, lack of self-care and inability to feel any pleasure (called anhedonia). 

Cognitive schizophrenia symptoms are very difficult to detect as they are quite subtle, for instance difficulty processing information or making decisions, losing focus constantly or being unable to pay  attention, forgetting important things or facts or just having memory issues in general. 

Affective or mood symptoms are those which affect an individual’s mood. Patients with schizophrenia often have suicidal tendencies as a result of chronic depression.

A comprehensive mental health analysis and evaluation will be needed to diagnose the type of schizophrenia an individual has. Confirming the condition is important for treatment as other mental illnesses lile schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse can also cause symptoms that resemble schizophrenia.

Book an appointment today at Aakash Healthcare and consult our specialist to know the types schizophrenia and its treatment.