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Schizophrenia is the most common serious mental illness, affecting 1 in 100 people at some time in their life, writes Natalie Valios. It usually develops in late adolescence and can be inherited. It is a psychotic disorder. Symptoms can be split into two groups - positive or florid, and negative. A common florid symptom is hearing voices. Negative symptoms can include feelings of emotional numbness, difficulty communicating with other people, and an inability to care about everyday tasks. About one in 10 people with schizophrenia commits suicide. Causes are unknown but episodes of schizophrenia seem to be associated with changes in some brain chemicals. Other triggers can include stressful events and some recreational drugs. Paranoid schizophrenia is the most common type of schizophrenia. The main features of paranoid schizophrenia are delusions or hallucinations. Patients often also have unfocused anxiety and anger. The most common paranoid symptoms are delusions of persecution, or exalted birth, or the patient thinking they are on a special mission. Patients can imagine hallucinatory voices that threaten or give commands or auditory hallucinations such as whistling, humming or laughing. Hallucinations can also be of smell or taste or of sexual or other bodily sensations. Schizophrenia is not curable but symptoms can be managed with antipsychotic drugs. However, these drugs often have side-effects including involuntary muscle movements and tics.

Paranoid schizophrenia can be episodic, with partial or complete remissions. In chronic cases, symptoms persist over years.

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