Schizophrenia still continues to be one of the most complex, puzzling and disabling of the major mental illnesses. Most symptoms develop in men around the age of sixteen and twenty-five years old, and around twenty-five to thirty years old in women. Schizophrenia rarely develops in children and most schizophrenics appear to have a normal childhood. A delusion, which is a false belief that defies logic and common sense, is a common symptom of schizophrenia. The person thinks someone is watching them constantly or they think people can read their mind. Hallucinations, hearing, seeing or sensing something that isn't there, are another common symptom of schizophrenia. Some people experience heightened senses, which is hypersensitivity of sense that leads to visual distortions. Others experience auditory hallucinations. They sometimes carry on conversations or are told to do things by one or may voices that are not there. Very rarely, but still as devastating, some experience visual hallucinatio

Environmental factors can affect the person too. If the person is constantly treated as a nuisance, is abused about how the act or is not shown love and understanding, he or she may be lonely and turn to other things to help them deal with it. In turn, some talk to the voices in their heads and actually think that the situation is really that bad and may listen to what they are being told. It can

A dismal outlook for schizophrenia was dramatically changed in the 1950's with the development of the first antipsychotic drug, Chlorpromazine (Thorazine). Since then, more that a dozen other similar-acting antipsychotic medications have been developed. These drugs work by blocking binding sites of dopamine, which is a main factor in schizophrenia. Chlorpromazine was first used as an antihistamine. Then, it was found to calm hyperactive schizophrenic patients out of withdrawal and reduced major symptoms of the disease. A lot of false medication was used before the discovery of chlorpromazine. An insulin coma, as one example, was used to relieve most symptoms by overloading the patient's body with insulin. This helped some patients, because it calmed them down, but killed most of them. Electroconvulsive therapy, where brief pulses of electronegativity are passed through the brain, was also used. It was thought that using this type of treatment, symptoms could be reduced or eliminated, but it did neither. This only

Some common words found in the essay are:
Chlorpromazine Thorazine, , Dorothea Dix, front brain, common symptom schizophrenia, people schizophrenia, common symptom, symptom schizophrenia, frontal lobotomy, carry conversations, mentally ill,
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