Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia: Understanding the Condition Beyond the Confusion

What Is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that changes how a person thinks, feels, and relates to the world. It’s commonly misunderstood. Many people confuse it with “split personality,” but in reality, it’s a disorder that affects a person’s ability to interpret reality accurately.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (2022), schizophrenia affects around 0.25% to 0.64% of people in the U.S. Symptoms usually begin between the late teens and early 30s, often showing up earlier in men than in women (World Health Organization, 2019).

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia symptoms fall into three main categories:

1. Positive Symptoms

These are added experiences not typical in healthy individuals:

• Hallucinations – most often hearing voices that aren’t there
  
  

• Delusions – strong false beliefs, like thinking you’re being followed or watched
  
  

• Disorganized speech – talking in a way that’s hard to follow
  
  

• Unusual movements – restlessness or freezing in place (catatonia)
  
  

2. Negative Symptoms

These involve a loss of normal emotional and social functions:

• Reduced emotional expression (flat affect)
  
  

• Lack of motivation to do basic tasks
  
  

• Withdrawal from social life
  
  

• Trouble enjoying things (anhedonia)
  
  

3. Cognitive Symptoms

These can be subtle but very disruptive:

• Poor concentration
  
  

• Weak short-term memory
  
  

• Difficulty with planning and organizing
  
  

Symptoms can vary in severity. Some people go through intense “episodes” requiring hospitalization, while others function better with support and treatment.

What Causes Schizophrenia?

There is no single cause. Schizophrenia results from a mix of biological and environmental factors.

Genetic Risk

Having a close family member with schizophrenia increases your chances, but it’s not guaranteed. Many people diagnosed have no family history (Cardno & Gottesman, 2000).

Brain Chemistry and Structure

Scientists link schizophrenia to imbalances in dopamine, a brain chemical related to motivation and perception. Glutamate, another key chemical, may play a role in memory and thinking. Brain scans often show changes like enlarged ventricles and reduced gray matter, especially in areas involved in decision-making (Insel, 2010; Kahn et al., 2015).

Environmental Stress

Life experiences can increase the risk or trigger symptoms:

• Complications during birth (like low oxygen)
  
  

• Childhood trauma or abuse
  
  

• Social isolation or growing up in stressful environments
  
  

• Using cannabis during teen years, especially in genetically vulnerable individuals (Arseneault et al., 2004)
  
  

How Is Schizophrenia Diagnosed?

Mental health professionals use the DSM-5, a guide for diagnosing psychiatric conditions. To be diagnosed, a person must show at least two of the five key symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, or negative symptoms) for six months or more, with clear impact on daily life (APA, 2022).

Doctors must also rule out other conditions that can look similar, such as bipolar disorder with psychotic features or substance-induced psychosis.

How Is It Treated?

There’s no cure yet (scientifically), but treatment can significantly improve quality of life.

1. Medications (Antipsychotics)

These are used to reduce hallucinations and delusions:

• Risperidone
  
  

• Olanzapine
  
  

• Clozapine (used in treatment-resistant cases)
  
  

Side effects like sleepiness, weight gain, and tremors are common, so regular monitoring is important.

2. Therapy and Social Support

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps challenge distorted thinking and improve coping.
  
  

• Family therapy strengthens relationships and reduces relapse.
  
  

• Employment and life skills training support long-term independence.
  
  

3. Community Services

Programs involving case managers, support groups, or housing assistance can make a major difference in long-term recovery and stability.

Spiritual Insights: What Science May Not Explain

Modern medicine focuses on biology and the environment. But in many spiritual traditions, symptoms like hearing voices or feeling watched aren’t always seen as “illness.”

In Islam, the presence of jinn—invisible beings created from smokeless fire—is believed to influence human thought and behavior. In Christianity and Judaism, some interpret such symptoms as signs of spiritual attack or oppression.

While science doesn’t formally accept these interpretations, millions of people worldwide experience symptoms through both spiritual and medical lenses. For them, healing means addressing both dimensions.

HAQ's Embrace

At the Home of Abrahamic Quiver, we understand that suffering is never one-dimensional. We approach healing with respect for both clinical knowledge and spiritual wisdom.

We offer:

• Compassionate and thorough mental health screening
  
  

• Spiritual consultation for individuals experiencing distress
  
  

• Guidance on whether medical care, spiritual guidance, or both may be best
  
  

You don’t have to choose between science and belief. At HAQ, we help you explore both—so you can move toward clarity, healing, and peace.

"Sometimes the Voices Whisper My Name"

A fictional narrative from the mind of a 45-year-old man living with schizophrenia

It started small.

A flicker in the corner of my vision. A shadow that shouldn’t have been there. I told myself it was nothing — a trick of light, a tired eye. But then I began to hear things.

At first, it was harmless. Static, murmurs. Like a TV left on in another room. Then the voices became clearer. They knew my name. They laughed when I was alone. They whispered things I didn’t understand, but I felt them — beneath my skin, in my bones.

By the time I told anyone, I had already stopped trusting them. Because how do you say, “There’s someone following me, but no one else can see him,” and expect to be believed?

My wife said I needed rest. My brother thought maybe I was just going through something midlife. A coworker suggested I get out of the house more. Everyone meant well. But none of them knew what it was like to live in a mind you can’t always trust.

And in that silence, the voices got louder.

Some days I’d wake up and forget what I was supposed to do. I’d stand in the kitchen, keys in hand, not sure if I had just come home or was about to leave. At the store, I’d feel people watching me, and I knew — absolutely knew — they were talking about me behind their eyes.

I started writing reminders to myself. Notes like “don’t answer them” or “stay calm, they’re not real.” I avoided crowds. I avoided mirrors. I avoided eye contact with the man I used to be.

Doctors gave me pills that dulled the noise, but also dulled everything else. It felt like trading fire for fog. Some days, I chose the fire.

Other days, I wanted to disappear completely.

But there were moments of clarity, too — strange little windows where I could breathe. A counselor once told me, “This isn’t your fault. Your brain is sick. Not broken.” That stuck with me.

Still, people don’t really understand. They either pity you, or they fear you. Both feel like distance.

But I am not just a man with schizophrenia. I’m still someone who remembers how to fix a sink, who can hold a conversation, who can notice when the sky looks particularly blue after rain.

What I see may not always be real — but the fear is. The confusion is. The loneliness is.

And if those things are real, then maybe healing can be real, too.

If you’re living through this — the doubt, the voices, the fear, the silence — know this: HAQ has a solution that sees both the mind and the unseen. You don’t have to face it alone.