Reading Comprehension

Schizophrenia – the facts

Every year, 1,5 million people worldwide are diagnosed with schizophrenia. It is a
mental illness which has periods called ‘psychotic episodes’. During a psychotic episode, a
sufferer shows disturbing changes in behavior. They may seem very cold and unemotional,
using few facial expressions, and say strange things in a slow, flat voice. They may lose all
interest in life and spend days doing nothing at all, not even washing or eating. These
distressing symptoms are shocking for family member who, of course, remember what the
sufferer was like before the onset of the illness.
During a psychotic episode, there may be hallucinations. Hearing voices that other
people do not hear is the most common type of hallucination. The voices give orders and carry
on conversations. Sometimes the voices swear and make threats.
Someone with schizophrenia may have delusions, believing for example that they are a
famous, historically important person, or that people on television send them special messeges.
People with schizophrenia may not think logically. They are isolated because conversation with
them is very difficult, so they have no one to communicate with.
It is relatively common for schizophrenia sufferers to commit suicide – 10 percent of
people with schizophrenia (especially younger adult males) kill themselves. Violence and
threats again others, on the other hand, are not symptoms of the illness.
There is medication that can reduce the symptoms, but it often has bad side effects, and
some sufferers discontinue treatment because of this. Although many sufferers can continue to
lelad a relatively normal life, it has been estimated no more than one in five individuals recovers
completely, and most will require long-term treatment.
We do not yet know the cause of schizophrenia. Researchers have looked at links with
genes, with brain development, with infections before birth, and with traumatic life events.