Schizophrenia is challenging to diagnose and treat

Schizophrenia symptoms often appear suddenly

Schizophrenia is a particularly shocking mental illness because its symptoms may appear seemingly without any prior signs of illness after a person has had no symptoms for the first couple of decades of their life. Among teens, symptoms may look like typical adolescent behaviors—withdrawal, being irritable, and having trouble sleeping.

Schizophrenia literally means 'split mind'—a reference to patients' break with reality

Contrary to the name, patients do not have multiple personalities. Rather, the split mind refers to the sufferers' inability to distinguish reality from hallucinations when they are aware and awake. Cognitive difficulties, including challenges focusing and communicating are also common among those with schizophrenia, as well as auditory and visual hallucinations.

Less than 1% of people globally have schizophrenia, a syndrome strongly linked to genetics

Schizophrenia's causes remain largely unknown, though scientists suggest it's caused by multiple factors. Its symptoms include disruption of thought processes rather than the exhibiting of multiple personalities. This brief video provides an overview of the condition.

People with schizophrenia are excluded from psychedelic research

Individuals with this mental health condition are routinely eliminated from any psychedelic research due to concerns about triggering or worsening psychosis. Yet there is little high-quality research in this area, raising questions about if further research into this question is warranted as interest grows in using psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

People with schizophrenia have triple the risk of developing diabetes

It remains contentious if something inherent about the disease or antipsychotics' side effects (weight gain) are mostly to blame. Some newly diagnosed schizophrenia patients already have insulin resistance, raising questions about if patients' brains are getting enough energy from glucose, and if dietary changes—like a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, moderate-protein diet—may help alleviate symptoms.

Schizophrenia is being studied with pea-sized 'mini-brains'

Brain organoid research is enabling researchers to study distinct electrical firing patterns associated with schizophrenia. These "mini-brains" that are constructed in the lab from patients' cells could lead to better diagnosis approaches and drug development.

Traumatic childhood experiences heighten the risk of developing schizophrenia

Clinically termed as "adverse childhood experiences," events such as physical or mental abuse or the death of loved ones have repeatedly been linked to an increase in rates of developing schizophrenia later in life. The reasons behind this link remain under investigation.

Learn about a new schizophrenia healthcare model that's making a difference

Schizophrenia used to be considered a progressive disease that was beyond a patient's ability to manage. This article gives an in-depth look at OnTrackNY, a New York-based program that empowers patients to define the goals of their own treatment for psychotic disorders. At the time of this 2022 article, it consisted of 25 affiliate clinics and hospitals in 14 New York counties, with another seven sites then slated to begin offering services in 2023.

The term schizophrenia was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908

He launched the word during a lecture at the German Psychiatric Association in Berlin. In his talk he focused on the splitting of psychic functioning as a defining feature of the disease and noted it wasn't associated with dementia or factors like early puberty onset.

Why might someone want to stay in psychosis?

Author Abigail Gosselin writes that her verbal auditory hallucination, often assumed by others to be harmful or threatening in nature, offered a salve to loneliness, even as it told her to kill herself. This perceived benefit and others Gosselin shares offer insight into why people in psychosis may struggle to adhere to treatment and medication plans.

Having five of nine key symptoms constitutes a major depression

Before professional standards were adopted, practitioners used varying criteria to diagnose mental health disorders. By the 1970s, more objective lists were organized, culminating in this list of polythetic criteria—a list of symptoms where no single criterion is required, but a minimum number must be present.

Government watchdog says nursing homes are inappropriately diagnosing schizophrenia

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said in a March 2026 report that nursing homes are incorrectly diagnosing their residents with schizophrenia to mask the facilities' misuse of antipsychotic medications. The drugs, the report states, are being widely used to make staff members' jobs easier and to keep nursing home quality measures high—since antipsychotic use for schizophrenia wouldn't be counted against the facility. (PDF)

What's the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

While both psychiatrists and psychologists are mental health professionals, the big difference is that psychiatrists are medical physicians (MD or DO) while psychologists are not. Learn what makes these two profession different with this brief explainer.

Key tips for helping the depressed—including listening without judgment

Major depressive disorder is a clinical diagnosis and is not a lifestyle choice. Those who struggle with depression can express persistent feelings that are difficult to process and make sense of for friends and family. This guide walks through some counterintuitive perspectives, including resisting the urge to force a depressed person to do the things that would make them feel better.

How MS is diagnosed with brain and spinal cord MRIs and eye tests

There's no definitive test for MS, but to make a diagnosis doctors typically use MRIs of the brain and spinal cord to hunt for telltale lesions. Also, optic nerve tests to see how quickly information travels down the optic nerve—since degraded myelin sheaths will slow electrical signals between the eye and brain.

Circadian rhythm disruption can influence various mental health disorders

This 2020 research overview surveys the relationship between disrupted circadian clocks and disorders including schizophrenia, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. It incorporates findings and therapeutic approaches drawing from human night shift studies and jet lag studies alongside animal research.

Is it possible to cure diabetes?

Treatments for diabetes depend on the type of condition a patient has. Gestational diabetes typically goes away after birth, and those with Type 2 diabetes may be able to reverse their condition through diet, exercise, and blood sugar management. Type 1 diabetes has no cure, but can be successfully managed.

Autism Spectrum Disorder, defined in 2013, was previously categorized as numerous disorders

This exploration of ASD history walks through how autism science and diagnoses have evolved over the decades, including the new category in the DSM-4 in 1994 that created Asperger's disorder and pervasive developmental disorders, and the new, broader ASD definition in 2013 in the DSM-5 that has led to more diagnoses.

CBT helps rewire the brain's false beliefs by challenging negative thoughts

Cognitive behavioral therapy identifies how specific situations can trigger distorted core beliefs—often formed early in life—that negatively shape thoughts and behavior. It frequently uses structured questioning that promotes self-reflection to uncover distorted thinking and guide people toward more balanced perspectives.

Sclerosis is the technical term for the lesions or plaques that form without myelin

In the absence of myelin, the body forms scar tissue called sclerosis. That scar tissue hampers nerve's abilities to transmit nerve impulses, essentially acting as a roadblock to speedy communication.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

The disease no one survives (yet)

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is currently incurable and can cause one's death within months of symptoms appearing. It involves misfolded proteins that, for some reason yet unknown to science, aren't cleared by the brain as typical and instead trigger similar proteins to misfold. These malformed major prion proteins—prion being a portmanteau of protein and infection—clump inside nerve cells, blocking signals crucial to processes ranging from speaking to organ function.

Chronic lyme isn't a medically recognized diagnosis in conventional medicine

It describes a constellation of symptoms attributed to a persistent Lyme infection—meaning the bacteria have remained present even after antibiotics. It often occurs among people who have never received a positive test for Lyme. Doctors do recognize "post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome," however, which can include muscle and joint pain, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties after treatment for confirmed Lyme.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a mental health disorder, not a personality quirk

In popular culture OCD has been incorrectly overused to describe neatness or perfectionistic behaviors, but the disorder involves intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors that take over a person's actions.

Dementia describes progressive memory issues that impact daily activities

Although Alzheimer's disease is sometimes thought of synonymously with dementia, there are multiple types of dementia, which manifest in memory loss and other symptoms that make it challenging to perform daily tasks. These types include Lewy Body dementia, vascular dementia, and frontotemporal dementia. Parkinson's disease is not a form of dementia, but this movement disorder can sometimes develop into issues with memory and a formal diagnosis of dementia.

Hippocratic doctors treated severe mental illness with the poisonous plant hellebore

Since symptoms like hallucinations were believed be due to an imbalance of black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm, the treatment at the time was to bring those humors back into balance. That meant standard treatments could include bleeding a patient or using substances like hellebore to induce vomiting or diarrhea.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

The 2026 Ebola outbreak is hampered by a lack of vaccine against the species of the virus, heightening the need for rapid tests to aid in disease control.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

See images of medical cases of firework injuries shared on this 'Instagram for doctors.' (Warning: Graphic content)

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.