It usually develops in the late teens or early twenties, though it sometimes starts in middle age or even much later in life. The earlier it begins, the more potential it has to damage the personality and the ability to lead a normal life. When someone has schizophrenia their thoughts, feelings and actions are somewhat disconnected from each other so that what they do may be out of keeping with what they say or feel. The symptoms are divided into positive and negative symptoms.
Negative symptoms affect someones interest, energy and emotional life.
As a result, the person with schizophrenia may not bother to get up or go out, they may not wash and they may find it hard to talk to other people. New ways of producing pictures of the brain shows that some people with schizophrenia have larger spaces in the brain than people who do not suffer from the illness. This suggests that parts of the brain may not have developed quite normally. The two main theories to explain this are complications during birth and a virus infection during the early months of pregnancy. Approximately 1 in 10 people with schizophrenia have a parent who suffers from the illness.