Schizophrenia is a brain disorder which affects ONE in 100 persons. This means that 300,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with this illness at one point in their lives. Symptoms include disorganized thinking, delusions, hallucinations, changes in emotions and changes in behaviour. It is a disease which generally strikes people in their late teens or early 20's. One out of 10 persons with Schizophrenia will commit suicide.
Schizophrenia is a lifelong illness.
Some may return to a fairly normal way of life, while many others may require life long support. Schizophrenia will affect one percent of the population. It is estimated that 300,000 people in Canada will be diagnosed with the disease at some point in their lives. One of the biggest obstacles to understanding is that many people think they know what schizophrenia is. In fact, they are far more likely to withdraw from society and to inflict harm upon themselves.