A person may suspect that others are conspiring against, harassing, persecuting, cheating or trying to harm him or her in some way. Trouble thinking or concentrating. Studies indicate that about 40 percent of the time, basic symptoms are the prodromal, early warning signs of schizophrenia or similar psychotic disorders. What excites me is that our studies could lead to strategies that could prevent someone from developing schizophrenia and suffering from the frightening and disabling effects of the illness. Lieberman said that it now takes the average patient with schizophrenia about a year to obtain appropriate treatment.
Schizophrenia is a degenerative illness.
As with other degenerative illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, the longer symptoms are left untreated, the harder it is to treat and the less likely it is that the patient can recover.