Disorganized thinking, speech, and behavior affect most people with this illness. Negative Symptoms include emotional flatness or lack of expression, an inability to start and follow through with activities, speech that is brief and lacks content, and a lack of pleasure or interest in life. Before the six-month period is reached, the person is diagnosed as having a schizophreniform disorder. Schizoaffective disorder is a diagnosis used to indicate that the person has an illness with a mix of symptoms of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Although the cause of schizophrenia has not yet been identified, recent research suggests that schizophrenia is linked to abnormalities of brain chemistry and brain structure.
Genes play some role, but the magnitude of that role remains to be ascertained.
The brain changes in some cases as suspected to date to childhood. Brain-imaging technology has demonstrated that schizophrenia is as much an organic brain disorder, as is Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. While there is no cure for schizophrenia, it is a highly treatable disorder. In fact, according to the National Advisory Mental Health Council, the treatment success rate for schizophrenia is comparable to the treatment success rate for heart disease. It is important to diagnose and treat schizophrenia as early as possible to help people avoid or reduce frequent relapses and re-hospitalizations.