What are the main symptoms of Schizophrenia?

What does the mental disease do to you in reality without all the scientific jargon?

I have a friend who I suspect may have it.

Schizpohrenia is grossly misunderstood and is often associated with voices in the head and split personality. From the start i want to be clear that multiple personality disorder is different from schizophrenia. I suppose without the jargon you could compare it more to mood swings, one minute the person is happy, the next in a fowl mood. On occasion there can be symptoms of bizarreness and some displays of paranoia, they either feel that the whole world is against them of feel that they have to sort out the problems of the world. At times they can have difficulties in knowing what is real and what is not real but you would be unlikely to be aware of this as they often withdraw into themselves, spending more time alone than with others.

There is often a lack of interest and motivation to go out and their thinking patterns seem to change. They can jump from one subject to another in conversation or take ages to respond to a question.

They lose interest in the things they previously loved doing, whether it be a job or something they do for fun and they can give up washing and grooming themselves. Finally, they can on occasion see things which are not there, the voices in their head are thought to be their own thoughts which they somehow start to believe are someone else talking to them. If you work out how many times a week you think, 'i'm gonna kill him,' then take into account that there is a very real danger that a schizophrenic will obey these 'voices' then you can understand why the majority of society feels that they are dangerous. Only a small minority display these symptoms.

Finally, they can be come ultra sensitive to light, sound smells etc which can make them feel like they are not living in reality or that they are floating, again only in extreme cases.

Having said all of this, a lot of these symptoms can also be found in other disorders, such as stress, depression, drug use and panic attacks so don't read this and run off thinking your friend is schizophrenic. Any diagnosis would have to come from a qualified psychiatrist who would have to assess him against something called the DSM IV, and even if he was, it can easily be maintained with modern medication leaving him to lead a normal healthy life.

One final thing, schizophrenia can affect someone for a while before disappearing never to be heard of again; Or it could come and go throughout his life.

PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME HE IS SCHIZOPHRENIC JUST BECAUSE HE DISPLAYS SOME OF THESE SYMPTOMS!!!! It could just as easily be something completely different which displays the same symptoms. Hope it helps, good luck with your friend.