Posted by med_empowered on January 30, 2005, at 23:20:03
In reply to Re: When is the on-set of Schizophrenia?, posted by linkadge on January 30, 2005, at 21:30:07
hey! for males, onset is usually in adolescence or early adulthood...think 15-early 20s. There is childhood schizophrenia as well (its rare) and late-onset schizophrenia (more common in women, but it happens). Anyway, I've been researching schizophrenia, and the whole category of illness is kind of slippery...lots of people who are bipolar or have brief psychotic disorders can be dx'd as schizophrenic. Anyway, I wouldn't fret, nor would I "monitor" myself too closely. A brain scan probably won't show anything out of the ordinary, unless it picks up drug-induced brain changes...these can come from street and RX drugs. Supposedly, schizophrenia is a life-long illness, but this is based on American data; a number of World Health Organization studies, beginning in the late 1960's, found that "schizophrenics" in poorer countries with lower use of antipsychotics often recovered, and often remained well. No one actually knows what causes schizophrenia, and the term appears to be applied more liberally in the united states than in europe. In addition, in the United States the poor and minorities are more likely to be labelled "schizophrenic" than are affluent whites with similar symptoms, who are often instead labelled as bi-polar or dx'd with a less severe psychotic disorder (ie, psychotic depression) and treated accordingly. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much. Try to reduce stress, maybe try some supplements, and talk to your doc if your problems interfere with your life. Should you be dx'd as schizophrenic, always, always, always get a second opinion.
poster:med_empowered
thread:450292
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050128/msgs/450403.html