To gain a deeper understanding into that internal experience, it is best to look into them individually. It will also enable you to better understand the manifestations for each symptom.

Experiencing Delusions

A person suffering from delusions as a symptom of schizophrenia becomes obsessed with an idea and experience absolute certainly as to the truth behind that idea. Although a person has logical ability to reason, the premise of their conviction can be incorrect.

When a delusional idea occupies one’s brain, it has tremendous power to last in there. In fact, the patient will even begin to consider their delusions as something that is real. Treating delusions is tricky since the person affected by it must learn to identify first that these thoughts are delusion. This is only possible with what expert psychologists call as meta-awareness of the symptoms that exist above the level of awareness wherein the symptom itself is located.

Experiencing Hallucinations

When a person suffers from delusional thoughts, you can almost always expect hallucinations to go with it. This is characterized by hearing “voices” that the patient think is real, but is actually coming from inside their head instead of an external source.

However, there are other forms of hallucinations that a patient might manifest aside from auditory hallucinations as described above. One example is visual hallucination wherein a person sees objects or visual perceptions that are “weird” and out of the ordinary.

Experiencing Disorganized Behavior or Speech

This is another vital symptom experienced by people with schizophrenia. The problem with disorganize behavior or speech is that the tools that enable them to function properly are malfunctioning, which makes it difficult to correct them. A common example of schizophrenics suffering from disorganized speech is when they are aware of certain thoughts although these are not communicated as intended.

In terms of disorganized behavior, an individual will manifest gestures or body postures that they are unaware of. These behaviors can range from simple to dramatic to downright bizarre.

Experiencing Negative Symptoms

Negative symptoms in schizophrenia is referred to as those that are abnormal as a result of the acquisition of this mental disorder. These types of symptoms are the ones that typically result to depression if not addressed properly. When a person develops negative symptoms of schizophrenia, they will lose motivation or lack energy needed to realize certain activities.

Dealing with Real Emotions

One of the biggest challenges when dealing with schizophrenia is the need to cope with the emotions that go with this experience. It is therefore important for others to respect and treat people with schizophrenia fairly given the depth of their pain. After all, they are dealing with real feelings and emotions here.

Since schizophrenia is considered as a progressive mental illness, it is important to provide social and emotional support to cope with the internal experience of this disease.

Sadly though, this is not always a successful attempt each time. In fact, there has been several cases of undiagnosed or misdiagnosed schizophrenia in the past. Make sure you read more below to find out how this happens and how you can prevent it.

Overlooked Causes of Schizophrenia

Diagnosing schizophrenia is indeed a tough challenge given the several layers of symptoms to look out for. You need to evaluate the behavioral symptoms, analyze their physical stimuli responses, and cognitive functions before you can come up with a diagnosis.

However, it is also important to evaluate the potential causes for schizophrenia to be able to truly finalize diagnosis. Hereditary causes to schizophrenia is one of the most commonly overlooked causes out there, especially since it is not readily evident unless upon closer examination. The number of genes present in one’s genetic makeup could determine their susceptibility rate to developing this mental disorder.

Possibility of Developing Complications

Why is it so important to diagnose schizophrenia in the soonest possible time? This is because the patient could manifest any of the following complications or behavioral patterns:

• Violence (toward self or others)
• Aggression
• Tendency for substance abuse
• Suicide

Misdiagnosis

How do you determine whether a given thought is merely a different point of view or a product of your delusional thoughts? Surely, a patient suffering from schizophrenia is incapable of telling the difference between the two. However, the analysis of this particular symptom becomes more complex when you factor in the idea that not all people who are suffering from paranoid beliefs have schizophrenia.

In fact, mental health experts cite other possible diagnosis for those with paranoid personality, which is totally different from that of schizophrenia. These conditions include paranoid personality disorder, schizotypal, schizoid, among other mental disorders relating to symptoms of paranoia.

Common Reasons for Undiagnosed or Misdiagnosed Schizophrenia

Misdiagnosis is a more interesting aspect in dealing with schizophrenia out of the two. Experts point out several factors that could lead to this condition being misdiagnosed despite the fact that health experts have been trying their best to spread information about its symptoms.

One reason cited by experts is that social stigma that exists in society, thus instilling that fear in the patient’s mind. They feel embarrassed to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, such that they would rather have it to be some other mental condition or be left undiagnosed at all. As a result of denying the existence of this condition, they also deny treatment.

Another factor to consider that makes coping with schizophrenia a bit more tricky is the fact that most patients are not aware that the “voices” they are hearing out of their hallucinations or delusions are not real. This often comes as a result of their distorted view of reality, such that they cannot tell apart what is real or not. As a result, they end up accepting as real whatever it is they perceive around them.