Here's a real case: More than a decade ago (now, 2022), a Columbia University graduate with a Ph.D. in economics curled up in a wooden cabinet at home for three years.
He didn't take off his clothes or take a bath, stayed in the cupboard all day, didn't communicate with people, and lived only on some food and drink placed by his family.
What's going on? Director Jia Zhuxiao of the Department of Psychiatry of Beijing Anding Hospital made an interpretation for us.
It turned out that this doctor was a patient with schizophrenia, and the "isolation" he showed was actually one of the symptoms of schizophrenia - emotional indifference.
Of course, this is only an extremely serious situation, and it does not mean that all patients will be like this, to the step of eventual isolation from society.
Especially when the disease is mild, many people may only show some symptoms that are not easy to detect, and medically call this more insidious low consciousness and behavior, called the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, there are three manifestations:
/ Poor Thinking /
That is, the content of thinking is relatively small, in the dialogue question and answer, ask him ten sentences may only answer one sentence, the wording is particularly simple and empty.
For example, ask him if he has eaten? What to eat? The other party may only answer a "eat" word and will not use rich words to describe.
In severe cases, it may not say a word, and gradually become taciturn, making people feel very withdrawn.
/ Emotional Indifference /
Just like the case at the beginning of the article, the emotions are flat, and there is no emotional communication with the people around you.
For example, not communicating with classmates, colleagues, and friends, not knowing how to care for others, or being indifferent to the illness of parents.
/ Lack of will /
Human conscious behavior activities, from low to high, include biological instincts such as food, sex, and sex, the need for work, study, entertainment, and friendship, and higher-level activities such as self-actualization and social contribution.
Lack of will is mainly manifested as the gradual loss of conscious behavioral activities from high to low, for example, it may first lose the motivation to learn, then do not want to eat, do not want to take a bath, and the whole person is very lazy and unmotivated.
Schizophrenia is a syndrome composed of a group of symptoms, in addition to the more insidious negative symptoms, there are some more active, more easily detectable positive symptoms, also divided into three manifestations:
/ Auditory Hallucinations /
It often manifests yourself in an empty room, when there is no one around, you can hear someone talking to you, it may be some comments, saying bad things about others or yourself, or it may be some orders, let you attack people, or even jump off the building.
/ Delusional /
It mainly refers to imagining something that does not exist out of thin air, or insisting on things that have nothing to do with oneself, and firmly believing in it.
Some of the words and deeds of others may be over-interpreted, may cough a little, a look, think it is a satire on themselves, and talking behind their backs is talking about themselves.
Or feel that you are not born to your parents, feel that you are crushed by others, feel that your spouse is unfaithful, etc.
/ Thought and Behavior Disorders /
It is often manifested as the answer is not asked, the question is not relevant, and the logic of thinking is strange, such as thinking that people are plant-born.
There can also be some strange behaviors such as wanton fighting regardless of the occasion and regardless of the object.
"Omens" before schizophrenia
Although the cause of schizophrenia is not yet clear, many studies have shown that the root cause of schizophrenia comes from the inherent abnormalities in the development of neural networks, which may be genetic mutations, or abnormal migration of nerve cells caused by viral infection in the maternal and infant stages.
Therefore, schizophrenia often does not suddenly become ill at once, but may manifest itself from birth and gradually become apparent with age.
At first, in infancy and student period, it may show some basic symptoms, which are more or less different from other children, such as decreased attention, decreased executive ability, and slightly strange personality, which is called the predysylogen of schizophrenia.
Growing up, after being stimulated by pressure such as school and work, there may be some symptoms that can be self-aware, relatively mild and less frequent, such as auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, suspicion, thinking disorders, lazy life, etc., but can barely maintain learning and work, this period is called the predome of schizophrenia.
The specific differences between the prodromal phase of schizophrenia and the diagnosable schizophrenia are as follows:
Symptoms of the general predux phase of schizophrenia are mostly between the ages of 16 and 18.
Because the brain develops rapidly at this time, the nerve cells of the brain will also appear to be self-"pruned". At this time, it is also facing pressures such as further education, military service, and love, and the environment is often greatly changed, which makes the neural network that is already "shaky" more likely to collapse.
But you don't have to be too nervous, even if you are diagnosed with schizophrenia prodromal period, without intervention, it will take 1-5 years (an average of 3 years) to transform into true schizophrenia.
Moreover, the rate of final transition to true schizophrenia is not high, accounting for only about 15%-35%, and a considerable number of patients do not have conversion.
If these abnormal symptoms mentioned above appear, it is recommended to seek medical attention in time and take appropriate methods for early detection and early intervention.
References: Medical Microvision Official Website - Jia Zhenxiao Chief Physician "Preducation Period of Schizophrenia"