Symptoms

A person with schizophrenia may have a variety of symptoms which can be very distressing for them and their families. The symptoms of schizophrenia can be classed as positive or negative symptoms. Positive symptoms reflect an excess or distortion of normal functions and negative symptoms reflect a decrease in normal functions.

Positive symptoms include:

• Hallucinations (changes in the senses, such as hearing voices or seeing unusual things that are not there)
  
  
• Delusions (bizarre fixed beliefs that are not based in reality, for example, believing that one’s thoughts are being controlled by an external force)
  
  
• Paranoia (feeling fearful that others are plotting against you)
  
  
• Disordered thinking

Negative symptoms include:

• Loss of energy
• Loss of abilities or motivation
• Emotional withdrawal

People with schizophrenia may also have a lack of concentration and learning difficulties also known as cognitive symptoms.

Schizophrenia has three phases:

1. Acute phase: during this phase, patients experience severe positive symptoms; negative symptoms may also become more severe.
   
   
2. Stabilisation phase: acute positive symptoms become less severe. This phase may last for 6 months or longer, following the onset of an acute episode.
   
   
3. Stable phase: symptoms are relatively stable and in some cases may even go away entirely. Some patients have very few symptoms while others may experience symptoms such as tension, anxiety, depression or insomnia.