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| Managing schizophrenia in the community
| Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterised, in the acute phase, by delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, and grossly disorganised or catatonic behaviour.
| | | People with schizophrenia may hear voices inside their head or feel that someone else is controlling their thoughts. They undergo personality changes and lose their motivation and ability to interact emotionally with other people.
| | | Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the population. Many schizophrenics have repeated psychotic episodes with constant or increasingly severe residual symptoms, others have minimal impairment between episodes, and some have a single episode with no lasting impairment.
| | Prudent use of antipsychotic drugs, a practical approach to psychosocial treatments and assertive case management can enhance the schizophrenic's quality of life.
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