It affects approximately one person in every hundred in all countries throughout the world. More hospital beds are filled by people suffering from schizophrenia than from any other single illness. Schizophrenia frequently has a debilitating affect on all aspects of the sufferer's life and can extract an enormous emotional toll on their family and relations, who will often be responsible for their care. These include specific types of hallucinations, delusions and disturbances of thinking.
Hallucinations are false perceptions.
The sufferer hears things, sees things or smells things that are not heard, seen or smelt by other people. Hearing voices, often talking about the person in a hostile manner, is a very common symptom of schizophrenia. Delusions are false beliefs, that are frequently bizarre and held with often unshakeable conviction but are not shared by other people. Disturbances of thinking or thought disorder refer to a disorganisation of thought that can result in strange and jumbled language. These types of key symptoms are often referred to as positive symptoms, and they can be extremely distressing and frightening to people who experience them.