Schizophrenia and Related Disorders

Psychotic disorders are mental illnesses that center around abnormal thinking and perceptions. Individuals with a psychotic illness may experience hallucinations, delusions, or illusions: seeing, hearing, or even smelling something that, in fact, does not really exist.

Psychotic disorders can be caused by physical conditions, such as a brain tumor, or by use of or withdrawal from an intoxicating substance, such as crack cocaine. Perhaps the most widely known psychotic disorder is schizophrenia, which is a real illness with a biological basis, such as cancer or diabetes. Although the exact cause is not known, certain factors such as genetics, brain chemistry or abnormality, or environmental factors, such as viral infections or severe stress, are being studied.

People with schizophrenia may have delusional thoughts such as believing that other people are putting thoughts into their head or that he or she is God or the devil. Or they may have hallucinations such as seeing things that are not there, or feeling sensations on their skin even though there is nothing touching their body.

Other symptoms can include: talking in nonsensical sentences, writing excessively but without meaning, or a lack of emotion and expression, including thoughts and moods that do not fit with a situation (such as crying instead of laughing at a joke).

Schizophrenia is a relatively common disorder, with about 1% of the population affected by the disease. It commonly appears in the teenage years or early 20s, and affects both men and women.

Schizophrenia and similar disorders are usually first addressed by the patient’s medical doctor, who will perform a complete medical exam. If no physical reasons for the symptoms are present, the patient may be referred to the Schizophrenia and Psychotic Disorder program at Okaloosa Mental Health And NeuroPsychiatric Center. The patient is first seen by a psychiatrist, who may perform psychological testing and evaluation. Once an evaluation and diagnosis is made, a treatment program which may include individual and family education, therapy and support, medications, and sometimes social and occupational rehabilitation. In severe cases, hospitalization may be necessary to stabilize a patient.

Entry into the Schizophrenic and Psychotic Disorders program at Okaloosa Mental Health can be made by referral from the patient’s medical doctor, by contact from a family member, or by calling our office.