What can be signs of impending schizophrenia?

introduction

The signs of schizophrenia are varied and unfortunately not always clear. This refers to the symptoms or abnormalities that a person shows shortly before a schizophrenic flare-up. Such an attack is usually announced before the actual symptoms of schizophrenia begin.

Unfortunately, these harbingers are not specific and individually different, so there are no general warning signs. Nevertheless, some signs occur more frequently than others and can be interpreted as harbingers of a previously known schizophrenia.

What are the typical signs?

There are no specific, but typical signs of schizophrenia. These occur in a variety of mental illnesses and mainly affect the state of mind. Patients with the onset of schizophrenia, for example, are often moody, suspicious and emotionally unbalanced long before the actual schizophrenia occurs. This phase is called the prodromal phase and begins years before the disease.
It occurs in many diseases, including depression. In schizophrenia, however, this phase is usually more noticeable. Those affected often notice little of these changes themselves, but their relatives notice them.

The prodromal phase can range from slight mood swings to massive changes in personality. Positive symptoms typical of schizophrenia, e.g. Delusions or hallucinations do not yet occur. These are referred to as positive because they are added to normal thinking and feeling. However, negative symptoms, which denote a lack of emotions and other cognitive functions, can appear even at this early stage. These include, for example, depressive moods, anxiety and restlessness, thinking and concentration disorders, distrust and similar symptoms.

The result is often a social withdrawal, through which those affected literally isolate themselves. One speaks of a social handicap that these people go through and can therefore no longer be a regular part of society. However, since these symptoms are not specific to schizophrenia, the disease is not recognized and therefore not treated. When it finally comes to real schizophrenia, most of those affected have long been excluded from the rest of society.

Find out all about the topic here: The schizophrenia.

Is there a test for schizophrenia?

There are many tests for schizophrenia, especially on the Internet. However, since the signs of schizophrenia are unspecific and the person affected does not notice them as such, there is no need to clarify these symptoms. In addition, most of these tests are not particularly meaningful and in no way replace a visit to the doctor, which is why the implementation can be viewed as critical from the outset.

Nonetheless, if you have a justified suspicion of schizophrenia, you can of course consult such tests, especially as a relative. Good tests should ask about the symptoms of the prodromal phase, as the typical symptoms of schizophrenia do not appear in this early phase.Tests for an already pronounced schizophrenia will consequently not detect this early phase and will be false negative. Tests are therefore most meaningful for people who have already had a schizophrenic flare-up and who are suspected of having a relapse. With these sufferers, one already knows the individual form of schizophrenia, can remember the prodromal phase and, if necessary, recognize parallels to the current situation. In this case, however, a visit to the attending physician would make more sense than carrying out tests.

In summary, it can therefore be said that although there are tests for schizophrenia and its signs, these are rarely used or are not useful.

How can you test for schizophrenia? Find out more about the topic here.

What do I do as a victim if I am facing a schizophrenic phase?

As already discussed, very few people affected consciously perceive their schizophrenia as a disease and cannot interpret the first signs of a relapse as such. If a person has been suffering from schizophrenia for a long time and has a good relationship with his psychiatrist, the advantages of therapy can be shown to him and he can be encouraged to actively cooperate. Such patients tend to pay more attention to their symptoms and their relapsing course. However, those affected cannot do much more than turn to their psychiatrist.

The only help with pronounced schizophrenia is care by experts with drug therapy and possible inpatient admission to the hospital. So if a patient notices that a new attack is imminent, they should contact their therapist as soon as possible. However, it is usually the relatives who notice the first symptoms.

Also read the article: The therapy for schizophrenia or what is a schizophrenic psychosis?

As a relative, what do I do if I suspect a schizophrenic phase?

Friends and family are usually the first to notice when a person develops schizophrenia or is on the verge of a schizophrenic flare-up again if the disease progresses for a long time. The relatives can therefore usually react faster than the person affected.

However, since the signs before an attack vary from person to person, recognizing new symptoms is not always easy. Many affected people know how to hide their illness and often appear completely inconspicuous in everyday life. Only close relatives therefore have a chance to notice the first changes. However, since many patients isolate themselves from their surroundings due to illness, many of them have no close relatives who could recognize a change in their symptoms. It is therefore extremely difficult for those affected and relatives to recognize an impending flare-up.

If, in spite of everything, friends and relatives suspect that the schizophrenia is getting worse, they can in principle do nothing other than contact the attending physician. The quick reaction to a developing surge therefore usually fails not because of the implementation, but because of the initial recognition of the problem.

Find out more about the symptoms of schizophrenia.

What are the signs in children?

Children rarely suffer from schizophrenia. The onset of the disease is typically in early adulthood, sometimes a little earlier, i.e. in adolescents, but almost never in childhood. In the case of childhood schizophrenia, one can therefore never speak of “typical”, not with the actual symptoms and certainly not with the first signs of an acute attack. The first changes that children show before schizophrenia are therefore neither typical nor clear.

In principle, the same symptoms are possible as in adults, above all mood swings, social isolation, cognitive impairments such as concentration disorders and so on. However, these can occur with all mental stress and illnesses, which is why they are not specific indicators of schizophrenia. However, since all mental illnesses should be treated, especially in such young patients, the most important measure is always to see a doctor. Parents usually have a good sense of which mood problems are normal and which are completely atypical.

So if a child seems particularly depressed, isolated, overly suspicious or in any other way unusually conspicuous for no inventive reason, they should be presented to a doctor.

Read more about this topic here: Schizophrenia in children.