Our mind is a masterpiece. It controls the functioning of the body with all its complexities, enables us to perform responsive action to external stimuli, produces numerous thoughts, and even lets us be creative. 

The brain and its functioning are very complex and the brain has more than eighty-six billion neurons and even more neuron networks than connect one neuron to many others. 

One of the most distinctive features of a highly evolved brain like the brain of a human being is helping us imagine and be creative. But how does one differentiate between imaginary and real?

There is not much of a difference. It all depends on our perception, but failing to differentiate between real and imaginary can be a serious mental disorder that may need professional psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. 

Schizophrenia and split personality disorder are two known disorders of the brain that affects the ability to differentiate between reality and the imaginary. If one is suffering from any related symptoms, one must seek help for schizophrenia treatment from a medical professional.

SCHIZOPHRENIA

This is a serious and sometimes chronic mental condition in which the patient suffers hallucinations, instances of feeling uprooted from the real world and may behave differently under different conditions. 

The cause of schizophrenia is still not properly known just like other mental disorders including depression. Although medical professionals believe that genetic structure and environmental effects may hold the mystery of the cause of this mental disorder. 

People may have a tendency to live in a world of their imagination as kids and sometimes, as adults, these imaginary worlds that are built in their minds may be more real for them than the real world. 

This is when a person starts to show symptoms of schizophrenia when they tend to fail at differentiating and rationalizing between the real and the made-up.

SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Some symptoms of schizophrenia are very common and some may vary from person to person depending on the seriousness of the disorder among the individuals. 

If one is undergoing more than a few common symptoms of this illness, it is best to seek professional help for schizophrenia treatment.

Some symptoms of schizophrenia are:

• ISOLATION: This is an early symptom of schizophrenia. The patient may start to stay away or cut off from friends and family.
• SLEEP: This is another early symptom. The person who may develop schizophrenia or has developed it already may have to change sleeping patterns.
• FOCUS: Early symptoms may also cause the patient to lose concentration more than usual. They may also have trouble focussing. 
• AGITATION: A person who has a tendency to be irritated or agitated more than usual or is showing frequent irritable outbursts may start developing schizophrenia.
• HALLUCINATIONS: This is a specific symptom of schizophrenia. Patients complain of hearing voices of people who do not exist, seeing them around, or even developing other sensory hallucinations like smelling things that are not around.
• MOVEMENT: A person suffering from schizophrenia may start moving suddenly or changing posture abruptly. They may even be found sitting or resting in unusual postures that may not be relaxed positions. 
• IMPULSES: Patients may find it hard to not act on their impulses.
• SPEECH: Patients may not be able to stick to a topic while communicating and change the topics rapidly. They may also use words or sentences that are made up.
• EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: Patients of schizophrenia may find it hard to respond appropriately in emotional dialogues or situations. They may also be unable to express their emotions.
• INSIGHT: Another very specific symptom of schizophrenia is a total disregard or acceptance of their own situation or symptoms. Patients may not accept that they are behaving abnormally. 

CONCLUSION

Schizophrenia is one of the most serious mental disorders that affect millions of people around the world. Many people confuse schizophrenia with multiple personality disorder while the two conditions are very different. 

While the root cause of schizophrenia is still unknown, dissociative identity disorder is mostly the result of the failure of recovering from childhood traumas. People tend to develop more than one personality and start behaving as other people that they believe themselves to become.

Both the conditions have some common symptoms like lack of emotional expression and some changes in the sleeping patterns, but apart from these, the two conditions are very different.

Schizophrenia is a serious condition that requires lifelong medical attention. Schizophrenia treatment may require the patient to continue with medicines and even psychological treatments, group therapies, or individual therapy for a very long time. 

Serious cases may even require psychiatric attention or even hospitalization. It is best to consult a professional if one is suffering from any symptoms, early in life.