Psychology
Mental health in Pakistan: stigma, faith and getting help
Mental illness is common in Pakistan and most people never get treatment. How stigma and beliefs shape help-seeking, and where to find help.
27 Sept 20267 min read
Schizophrenia
Pronounced skit-so-FREE-nee-uh
A long-term mental illness that affects how a person thinks, perceives and feels, with periods of psychosis such as hearing voices or holding false beliefs. It is not a split personality.
In Psychology
Schizophrenia usually begins in the late teens or twenties. People with schizophrenia do not have a split personality, and most are not violent. Many recover well, though symptoms can return.
Core features
- — most often hearing voices others cannot hear
- — fixed false beliefs, such as being watched or controlled
- Muddled thinking and speech
- Withdrawal, loss of motivation and poor self-care (the 'negative' symptoms)
Treatment is an medicine together with talking therapy such as and support for the family, ideally started early. Families in Pakistan often seek spiritual help first; prayer and medical treatment can go together, but voices and fixed false beliefs need a doctor as well. The full article is schizophrenia and psychosis.
Where this comes up
Psychology
Schizophrenia and psychosis: signs, causes and treatment
Psychosis means losing touch with what is real; schizophrenia is one cause of it. Both are treatable, and the sooner treatment starts, the better recovery tends to be.
27 Sept 202610 min read
Psychology
Types of talking therapy: CBT, DBT, EMDR and more
What CBT, DBT, ACT, EMDR, psychodynamic, interpersonal, family and group therapy involve, what each is best evidenced for, and how long each usually takes.
27 Sept 20267 min read
Related terms
- PsychosisPsychotic episode, Psychotic symptomsA state in which a person loses some contact with reality — hearing or seeing things others do not, or firmly believing things that are not true. It is a symptom with many causes, and it is treatable.
- HallucinationHallucinations, Hearing voicesSeeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or feeling something that seems completely real but exists only in the mind. Hearing voices is the most common kind.
- DelusionDelusions, False beliefA firmly held belief that is clearly untrue, does not change with evidence and is not explained by the person's culture or religion — such as being certain one is being poisoned or followed.
- AntipsychoticAntipsychotics, NeurolepticMedicines that reduce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions, mainly by blocking dopamine. They treat schizophrenia and mania, and are sometimes used for other conditions.
- StigmaMental health stigma, Self-stigmaNegative attitudes, stereotypes and discrimination directed at people with a condition. In mental health it is the shame and fear that stop many people from seeking help.