Schizophrenia is a serious and life-long disease that cannot be cured but can be managed and controlled with the right treatment. It is a disorder that affects the brain. In severe cases, the affected person experiences distortion in the way they think, act, express, perceive reality, and interact with others. People with schizophrenia are susceptible to withdrawal; they are mostly not comfortable while relating to society, be it in school or at work. They also have emotional problems while interacting with their friends and family members.

Due to schizophrenia, a person might lose control over their perception of reality. The person is unable to tell the difference between imagination and reality. A psychotic episode is said to occur when a person loses touch with reality.

The intensity of schizophrenia varies from person to person. Even the psychotic episodes and their frequency differ. Some might get one or two episodes in their entire life, whereas others might experience full-blown episodes frequently.

People seem to harbor a lot of misconceptions about this disorder. Here are some myths that people have about schizophrenia:

Myth: Schizophrenia leads to a split personality
Reality: Schizophrenia does not lead to split personality disorder. Perhaps this belief is because the word schizophrenia in modern Latin means “split mind,” but it refers to the gaps in a person’s ability to comprehend (to think) and express themselves. Split personality, on the other hand, is a dissociative identity disorder, which is the result of emotional trauma in most cases. Schizophrenia is entirely due to neurochemical imbalances.

Myth: People with schizophrenia have a dangerous personality
Reality: People with schizophrenia are popularly projected as psychopathic, unpredictable, and violent, but this is not true. While there have been instances of crimes committed by people with schizophrenia, crimes are also committed by so-called “normal, high functioning people.” So, it is best to avoid such blanket statements. Today, even large corporates have started employing people with schizophrenia as they claim that there is nothing abnormal with the behavior of these candidates, and instead, they have been known to show extraordinary output and focus.

Myth: There is no treatment for schizophrenia
Reality: In the movies, we are so used to watching people with schizophrenia and other mental illness being admitted in mental institutions that we have begun to believe that there is no alternative to this. But this is certainly not true. Currently, we have a lot of successful treatment options to control the symptoms of this disorder. They include a combination of medicines, psychosocial therapies, and also certain rehabilitation practices.

Myth: Schizophrenia leads to an early death
Reality: Schizophrenia does not mean that the affected person will die soon. This condition is an imbalance in the chemicals in the brain, and it causes an inability to understand the difference between reality and imagination. But this does not affect their lifespan in any way.