How Do You Get Schizophrenia?

Knowing that you or someone you know may be at risk for schizophrenia can be disconcerting. You likely want to know how or why schizophrenia has appeared in your life. If this sounds like you, you’re not alone — this is a common response to being at risk for or diagnosed with a mental illness. While we know a great deal about this mental health condition, there is still very little conclusive research and no official consensus on the reasons and causes of schizophrenia. However, there’s quite a bit of scientific research on the topic. Doctors and mental health experts believe schizophrenia occurs due to a combination of triggers and factors, including genetics, drug use, and stress levels. Some people are more prone to developing schizophrenia in their lifetimes, and a traumatic or stressful event may trigger an episode.

To help you better understand how and why schizophrenia may develop or certain people are more likely to get schizophrenia, we will look at a handful of studies on the subject – but before that, it’s important to understand the basics of schizophrenia.

About mental health conditions like schizophrenia and psychosis

Understanding mental health conditions like schizophrenia involves recognizing that biological and environmental factors can play a role in the development of almost any mental illness. This includes other mental disorders like bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and more. 

Symptoms of schizophrenia (e.g., disorganized speech and false beliefs) can be distressing when they impact your ability to think, feel, and behave clearly, but it’s easier to manage these challenges when you find a doctor who specializes in the condition. 

What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia tends to affect cognitive functions, control of emotions, and perception of reality. Without proper support and medication, people with schizophrenia often have difficulty achieving success at work, school, or relationships and may begin to show worsening symptoms.

The severity and frequency of heavy-symptom psychotic episodes, as well as the general mental health of the person with schizophrenia between episodes, can vary significantly from one person to another. Some may only experience a single psychotic episode in their life, while others may experience many. Some people have relatively healthy lives between episodes; others encounter challenges with daily life.

People with schizophrenia who can get the proper support and treatment can often begin to live more balanced and healthy lives, including maintaining a job and healthy social connections with friends or family.

Signs and symptoms of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia onset tends to occur in young adulthood (though in rarer cases, it can occur in children and older adults) when a series of natural emotional, social, and physical changes occur. Since the warning signs of schizophrenia often overlap with these natural changes in life, many people with schizophrenia are reluctant to seek treatment, and friends and family may be hesitant to suggest treatment for someone they care about.

Schizophrenia symptoms are characterized by feelings, thoughts, and actions that do not match the current situation or reality. People with schizophrenia may laugh at inappropriate times or exhibit signs of extreme paranoia.

Before the publication of the DSM-5 in 2013, there were unique subtypes of schizophrenia classified by the symptoms the patients exhibited. Due to a large amount of overlap, these subcategories are no longer officially used. Some doctors may still use the classic categories (like paranoid schizophrenia) when referring to the types of symptoms one exhibits.

3 categories of symptoms of schizophrenia

The symptoms of schizophrenia can be broken down into three basic categories.

Positive psychotic symptoms

Positive psychotic schizophrenia symptoms typically refer to delusion, sensations that are not real, hallucinations, and a change in behavior and thought patterns. Paranoia and hearing voices are also grouped as positive schizophrenia symptoms.

Negative symptoms

Negative schizophrenia symptoms are characterized by a withdrawal from society and a rise in antisocial behaviors. Emotions and motivations change and decrease.

Cognitive symptoms

Those with cognitive schizophrenia symptoms often show a disrupted ability to have coherent thoughts. Actions and behaviors described as “out of the norm” can result from this confusion.

It should be noted that positive and negative symptoms are not named for how “good” they are. Instead, they are named for whether the symptom is adding something to a person’s perspective (positive symptoms) or taking something away from it (negative symptoms). 

How do you get schizophrenia? Schizophrenia science today

While doctors and scientists are still unsure of the exact causes of schizophrenia, there is quite a bit that we do know. On top of the decades of research papers already cataloged, studies are ongoing to uncover more answers about the factors for schizophrenia development.

Modern research points to a combination of reasons for one to develop schizophrenia. It seems schizophrenia develops due to a complex combination of environmental and physiological factors, with a prevalence in males with a family history of the disorder. Doctors believe schizophrenia appears due to some combination of both nature and nurture.

The general risk in the population for developing schizophrenia is roughly 1%, but if you have a genetic twin with it, your chances are nearly 50%. But someone can have a family with schizophrenia and have little chance of developing it themselves.

Hopefully, in time, we will have a more precise understanding of what genetics and triggers we need to be watch for.

Diagnosing schizophrenia and other mental health conditions

Early warning signs and symptoms of schizophrenia may overlap or be confused with typical issues faced when growing up and handling life changes. For this reason, families and loved ones who feel they can sense a change in someone need to be proactive in getting an evaluation by a professional.

Some of the common signs of the onset of schizophrenia are:

• Depression and reclusion
• Changing of social groups
• Neglecting physical grooming
• Increased anxiety and paranoia
• Emotions becoming incongruent with the surrounding situation

Schizophrenia can appear without any warning, but this is rare. In most incidents, symptoms will begin to show, even if they are masked or hard to detect.

Getting help for people with schizophrenia

While we still do not know how one develops schizophrenia nor how to cure it, getting professional help has shown to be incredibly beneficial to the health and well-being of those with the disorder. Proper medication, good lifestyle choices, and a reliable support network can help someone diagnosed with schizophrenia manage their symptoms and regain a sense of normalcy.

If you want to learn how to support someone who is experiencing the symptoms or challenges of schizophrenia while caring for your own mental health, online therapy can be a great option. Although online therapy may not be suited for more serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, it is an excellent option for friends and family who need support.

Online therapy for mental health