Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder in which a person finds it difficult in distinguishing between what is real and not real. Approximately 1% of the entire world population suffers from this disease. It is characterized by difficulty in expressing one’s emotions and making social connections. This disease is not a very obvious one and is often misunderstood for other behavioral issues. Most often it is not taken seriously and therefore the patient is not treated properly. In many cases, proper and timely treatment coupled with support from family can help the individual recover and lead a normal and productive life both at home and at work.

Symptoms

Schizophrenia stems from a combination of genetic factors, biochemical abnormalities in the brain and sometimes due to some damage that happened during the early stages of foetal development. Many a times, this problem is seen to have aggravated because of mental stress and pressure. A person suffering from this illness usually experiences strange fears of being attacked and frequent hallucinations and delusions. They exhibit symptoms like garbled speech, lack of eye contact, show no facial expression and have abnormal motor behavior, etc.

Tips to Handle Schizophrenic Patients

– While conversing with them, try not to look into their eyes continuously for a long time
– Be aware of what you say. Remember that such patients are quite sensitive and anything you say can immensely hurt them.

– Take care of the tone in which you talk; don’t be too loud as high pitched sounds tend to create unnecessary fear and confusion.
– Talk at the same level/position, i.e. you should make sure you both stand while talking or just sit.
– Never touch the person while you talk. Maintain a distance and help them feel their space.
– Ensure that the places you go to are not crowded. Schizophrenic patients normally tend to be socialize selectively and may freak out if they are forced to talk to a lot of people.
– Remember to smile when you talk. This doesn’t mean you can crack jokes and laugh.
– Sometimes such people are intimidated by sarcasm and may not enjoy them.
– Listen to them when they have something to say instead of cutting them off; make them feel special and wanted.
– Tackling people with mental disorders can be very tricky given the fact that they are in their most sensitive state.

Hence it is necessary that such people receive the highest level of support and love from their family and friends.

References:

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/schizophrenia/helping-a-person-with-schizophrenia.htm

http://www.psychguides.com/guides/living-with-schizophrenia/