Mental Illness: Schizophrenia or Schizophreniform

Persons with the diagnosed mental illness of schizophrenia or schizophreniform often lead lives that are difficult and chaotic. This difficulty and chaos often flows over into the lives of their families, friends and work associates. In many cases, holding a job is quite challenging and some people with severe forms of mental illness are not able to work. Schizophreniform is a mental illness that presents like schizophrenia, but is not. Schizophrenia is a seriously debilitating life-long mental illness. Schizophreniform typically has a duration of less than six months.

Mental Illness: Schizophreniform Symptoms

Schizophreniform mental illness symptoms are very similar to schizophrenia and can include both delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is a distorted idea or thought that is significantly difficult to change such as feeling someone is following you or that you are God or Napoleon. Hallucinations are sensory causing someone to see, hear, smell feel things that aren't there.

Another symptom of the mental illness schizophreniform is disorganized speech. Some forms this symptom of the mental illness takes is talking and not making sense. Making up words or using nonsensical words. Persons will also be tangential and skip from one topic to the next with no rhyme or reason and no context for the skip.

It is very common for persons with schizophreniform to be motorically agitated and pace, walk and turn in circles or be fidgeting with something all the time. Some persons are pushed to write constantly. These motor behaviors are not under their control and they may not even recognize they are doing them.

Other symptoms of the mental illness schizophreniform include; a loss of energy, inadequate to poor hygiene and little to no grooming routines. There is a general lack of interest and pleasure in life and things going on around them. In some cases there is a withdrawal from families, friends and social events

Mental Illness: Schizophreniform Causes

The exact cause of schizophreniform, as with many other mental illnesses,is not known. Mental health researchers feel it has a genetic base and that there are biochemical and environmental variables also involved.

Mental Illness: Schizophreniform Incidence Prevalence

It is believed that the incidence of schizophreniform is about 1 in 1,000. This mental illness affects men and women equally. It appears that this mental illness occurs earlier in men ranging anywhere from 18 to 24 years of age. It is most common to occur in women between the ages of 24 and 35.

Mental Illness: Schizophreniform Diagnoisis

Since a diagnosis of schizophreniform means that the symptoms last for only about six months, then schizophrenic behaviors lasting longer than six months rules out the presence of schizophreniform.

Mental Illness: Schizophreniform Treatment

As with schizophrenia, the treatment of choice is medication and psychotherapy. When someone has the mental illness of schizophrenia or schizophreniform and is at risk for hurting themselves or others, hospitalization is warranted until the individual symptoms subside or are stabilized.

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