Any of a group of psychotic reactions characterized by withdrawal from reality with highly variable affective, behavioral and intellectual disturbances. The talent submerged, the promise broken, the future lost, the life taken. This is schizophrenia. Aimless, hopeless, wandering, waiting . . . No definition of schizophrenia can adequately describe all people with this illness.
Schizophrenia is an extremely complex mental illness caused by a biochemical imbalance in the brain.
It is clear that schizophrenia is a disease which makes it difficult for the person with the illness to decide what is real and what is not real. It is also clear that this brain disease affects normal, intelligent people in all walks of life. Given proper medication and support, many of those with the illness can learn how to deal with it and lead reasonably comfortable lives. We do not yet understand precisely the cause of schizophrenia, although research is progressing rapidly. An imbalance of the brain's chemical system has long been suspected as the main causeof the illness.