The stigma of schizophrenia is a barrier to those trying to rehabilitate themselves. It is also a very real problem for their families. Therefore, those involved with schizophrenia are concerned about the dozens of misconceptions about the illness. Schizophrenia is a disease that is not well understood and is greatly feared. Most of what people think they know about schizophrenia is wrong.
People confuse schizophrenia with split personality or multiple personality.
They believe that people with schizophrenia are violent and dangerous. A limited number are, of course, but media publicity about particularly frightening and bizarre crimes of violence committed by people with mental disorders has left the public with the impression that most persons with schizophrenia are violent. This is not true. The majority are not. However, wide differences in the effect that schizophrenia has on different people and the difficulty in understanding the actions of someone in a deeply psychotic state, whose thinking is thoroughly confused, reinforce the public's concern.