The symptoms of schizophrenia reveal why the disorder is considered to be one of the most severe mental health conditions. Schizophrenia manifests itself through different sets of symptoms in patients, which is part of what makes it difficult to diagnose. There's no single behavior that provides bystanders a clue that a person might be developing the illness.
Here are the most common schizophrenia symptoms:
Hallucinations and delusions: Schizophrenic patients might have an alternate perception of reality and exhibit extreme paranoia. They might also hear, see or smell things that aren't there. This can cause them to behave erratically and hurt themselves or those around them.
Negative symptoms: This is an umbrella term for behavior that describes a decrease in a person's physical and mental abilities. This group of symptoms is common among schizophrenic patients, who can have difficulty communicating or performing basic daily tasks.
Cognitive impairment: When individuals develop schizophrenia, they tend to exhibit worsened memory and cognitive function. According to NAMI, this leads to a symptom called anosognosia. This causes many schizophrenic people to lack the awareness needed to realize that their condition has changed
These symptoms are fairly broad, part of the reason why schizophrenia is notoriously difficult to diagnose. Cognitive impairment and negative symptoms can be misdiagnosed as simpler, more common conditions like anxiety, depression or a variety of other disorders.