Schizophrenia, is a mental-health difficulty that might affect different areas of your life, including your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. When medical professionals talk about schizophrenia, they will often class it as a form of ‘psychosis’, which is where people lose touch with what is reality.
Schizophrenia might include symptoms like: hallucinations (where people might see or hear things that aren’t really there), and delusions (where you think something is totally true, where other people might say that it isn’t). Schizophrenia can affect our behaviour because people often say they feel like they are being controlled by something else.
Symptoms are usually described as one of these:
- Positive symptoms- such as hallucinations or delusions,
- Negative symptoms- a lack or loss of something, e.g. enjoyment or motivation,
What Might Help?:
- Talk to someone: talking to anybody who you feel comfortable to do so. Often when we keep problems to ourselves, our own mind can make them seem worse,
- Keep calm: Make sure that you are keeping as relaxed as you can, and doing things you enjoy. Learning some relaxation techniques might also help,
- Recognise patterns/ early signs: Making sure you notice early signs and symptoms becoming worse, such as no motivation and changes in sleep,
- Listen: Find something that you like listening to and can concentrate on if you are finding it hard to focus, when it feels like there’s lots of things going on in your head,
- Seek professional help: it’s important to ensure that you get the right help, so make sure you make an appointment with your GP, who will be able to point you in the right direction.
