Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is best known for causing psychosis and making you lose touch with reality, but with early treatment, you can reduce the frequency of psychotic episodes and regain balance in your life. Asif Choudhary, MD, at Advanced Psychiatry, has extensive experience providing comprehensive treatment for schizophrenia to help patients improve their quality of life. To learn more about schizophrenia or schedule an appointment, call the office in Marietta, Georgia, or book online today.

What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is one of the most severe mental health disorders, as it distorts your thinking and perceptions and alters the way you interact with people. Though its cause remains unknown, schizophrenia most likely arises from a combination of imbalanced brain chemicals, genetic tendencies, and environmental influences.

What are the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia?

The psychotic symptoms caused by schizophrenia include:

Delusions

A delusion is a false belief that you refuse to give up even though the evidence shows it's not real. For example, some people think they're a famous person.

Hallucinations

You have hallucinations when you see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something that isn't real. Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) are the most common type.

Disorganized thoughts and speech

People with schizophrenia have illogical or unusual ways of thinking and difficulty organizing their thoughts. The disorganized thinking process is reflected in their speech. They may stop talking in the middle of a sentence, jump from one topic to an unrelated topic, or speak using jumbled words that don't make sense.

Disorganized or catatonic behaviors

Disorganized behavior refers to senseless or repetitive movements, while catatonic behavior means you stay in one position without moving.

What other symptoms does schizophrenia cause?

In addition to psychotic symptoms, schizophrenia causes negative and cognitive symptoms:

Negative symptoms

Negative symptoms refer to emotions and behaviors you lack (that people usually have). You may not have any emotions, lack facial expressions, lose motivation, or have no interest in socializing, to give a few examples.

Cognitive symptoms

These symptoms reflect poor cognitive functioning, which includes problems with concentration, memory, attention, and information processing.

How is schizophrenia treated?

Individuals with schizophrenia need to take daily antipsychotic medication. Dr. Choudhary frequently follows up with patients to ensure compliance and to monitor their condition. Antipsychotic medications reduce the severity of symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech and behavior. Psychotic symptoms often come and go, but medications can help prevent a relapse.

Dr. Choudhary can also educate families on managing schizophrenic behaviors and ensuring their loved one gets the necessary medication and behavioral therapies.

The sooner you seek help for schizophrenia, the better your chances are of controlling your symptoms. Without treatment, psychosis and other symptoms can turn into a constant problem.

To schedule an appointment, call Advanced Psychiatry or book online today.