People with schizophrenia may hear voices other people don't hear. They may think other people are trying to hurt them. Sometimes they don't make any sense when they talk. The disorder may make it hard for them to keep a job or fulfill other responsibilities.
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Anyone can develop schizophrenia. It affects men and women equally in all ethnic groups. Teens can also develop schizophrenia. In rare cases, children have the illness too.
Symptoms of schizophrenia usually start between ages 16 and 30. Men often develop symptoms at a younger age than women. People usually do not get schizophrenia after age 45.
Schizophrenia symptoms range from mild to severe. There are three main types of symptoms: positive, negative and cognitive.
1. Positive symptoms refer to a distortion of a person's normal thinking and functioning. They are "psychotic" behaviors. People with these symptoms are sometimes unable to tell what is real from what is imagined. Positive symptoms include:
2. Negative symptoms refer to difficulty showing emotions or functioning normally. When a person with schizophrenia has negative symptoms, it may look like depression. People with negative symptoms may:
3. Cognitive symptoms are not easy to see, but they can make it hard for people to have a job or take care of themselves. Cognitive symptoms include:
Some of this information has been excerpted from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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