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By reading this section and educating yourself about schizophrenia, you have taken the first step to help eliminate misperceptions about this devastating illness. Now you can help stop perpetuating the cycle of misinformation…

Unfortunately,  many people know very little about schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness. Society has several misconceptions about psychiatric disorders in general, and schizophrenia in particular. The media often perpetuate myths…

Three months after his hospitalization,  Kevin returned home to live with his parents. It has been a difficult adjustment, but he feels like he is getting better every day. Kevin was in the…

  *  Major depression (MD) and alcohol dependence (AD) are strongly connected to one another.
  * New research looks at how mood-related drinking…

Although early schizophrenia researchers such as Bleuler and Kraepelin insisted that schizophrenia is, at its core, a disease caused by biological factors, many others believed that schizophrenia was caused by the family. Today,…

When scientists study how the brains of people with mental illness are different, they are commonly interested in two issues: brain structure and function. Researchers can study structure by comparing the brain anatomy in…

In the past, researchers could only examine the brain after a patient died. Now, there is technology that allows researchers to examine the brains of living people. New techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging…

When we think of a child’s “environment,”  we tend to think of their family and friends.  In fact,  our first “environment”  is inside the womb. The nine months during which a baby…

Why are some twin pairs concordant for schizophrenia whereas others are not? There must be factors other than genes that contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Another creative way of studying heredity is through adoption…

Why do some people develop schizophrenia rather than others? Risk factors are the characteristics that may make a person more likely than others to develop a disorder like schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is caused by…

The causes of schizophrenia are not known. However, an interplay of genetic, biological, environmental, and psychological factors are thought to be involved. We do not yet understand all the causes and other issues involved, but…

A drug that is safe for use during pregnancy may not be safe for the nursing infant.  Exposure to antipsychotic medication in breast milk markedly differs from exposure to antipsychotics by the fetus…

Guidelines for prescribing antipsychotics during pregnancy and lactation include the following:

1.  Consider nondrug options
2.  Avoid drugs if possible during weeks 6–10
3.  Use antipsychotics about which most is known…

Genetics, age, height, weight, lean-fat ratio, diet, exercise, concurrent disease, smoking and alcohol, and the administration of concomitant drugs all contribute to antipsychotic drug response, as does…

The diagnosis of schizophrenia is usually made between ages 15 and 25.  During those 10 years, schizophrenia is diagnosed in 12 men to every 10 women (32). This may be because the…

It is not known whether schizophrenic women have increased incidence of complications during pregnancy and delivery. Data from the Danish Medical Birth Register were used to compare 2212 births to 1537…

  This Schizophrenia Prevention and/or Curing Protocol is for people who are ready to take the full responsibility for their own health.

  “The person who says it cannot be done…

Preventive strategies can be divided into universal, selective and indicated prevention and early intervention. Universal interventions are directed to the general population.

Selective approaches are targeted at people who have risk factors…

Research conducted in the past decade indicates that schizophrenia is due to a genetic predisposition and environmental stressors early in a child’s development (during pregnancy and birth, and/or early childhood) which lead to subtle alterations…

Low birth weight has been associated with schizophrenia throughout each era of investigation, but this association is not invariably found, and there was significant heterogeneity in the estimate for low birth weight…

Statistical Power
The effect sizes for the relationship between obstetric risk factors and later schizophrenia are generally small, with odds ratios of less than 2.…

The much-investigated association between obstetric complications and schizophrenia has provided crucial support for developmental and nongenetic etiological models of the disorder. But does such an association really exist? This…

We wear seat belts when we drive in a car,  so that we are protected if we get in an accident.  When we are out in the sun, we wear sunscreen to protect our skin…

Patients with schizophrenia who abuse drugs or alcohol are called dual-diagnosis patients. A dual-diagnosis patient has two diagnoses;  in this case,  schizophrenia and substance abuse.

Research suggests that schizophrenia patients…

On average, about one out of 10 schizophrenic patients commits suicide. The high risk of suicide in schizophrenia is due in large part to the depression and paranoia that characterize the disorder. Some patients…