Is There a Way to Know My Chances of Having Schizophrenia?
Question by Stephen Colbert for President: Is there a way to know my chances of having schizophrenia?
My dad has it, one of his sisters has it, and one of his brothers has it. It comes from my dads side of the family, on his mothers side(my grandma).
Also, I don’t totally understand some things about it. I know that it can be triggered by stress, but can it be checked for before symptoms are caused? What is the exact meaning/deffinition of Schizophrenia? What is the defining differences between Schizophrenia, Bi-polar, and paranoia? I’m just wandering, because to me they all seem like they could cause very similar observable affects to personality and mannerisms.
Thanks.
I can’t really talk to my Dad about it, because he doesn’t believe he’s schizophrenic, and it would just make him unbearable to be around to let him know that I thought/knew he was.
I Definitely have anxiety and get/stay depressed, but don’t have the unreasonable up’s of Bi-polar. I don’t take medication, because I can’t see how it could help long term, and it would end my plans for a career in the military. As far as a simple life, I wish that I could, but as a result of my father I have a high anxiety life. I’m a high anxiety person, but not a spaz, very quiet/shy.
sorry, I’m just trying to add details.
Best answer:
Answer by pumpkincat210
check out webmd and wikipedia for the definitions of them.
Answer by A.V
You’re right, all three are very similar and are often misdiagnosed as one of the other two. A normal person’s chance of schizophrenia is 1%, with a parent with schizophrenia your chances are from 4-10%. Yours might even be 15% because of your aunts and uncles. And no, there is no way of diagnosing or predicting schizophrenia before the symptoms present themselves.
Schizophrenia often (but not always) includes hallucinations and delusions. So does bipolar disorder, but to a different extent. Schizophrenics lives can be totally consumed by their hallucinations and/or delusions whereas usually bipolar people don’t reach that extent. Also schizophrenics can become completely disorganized in life, speech, thought, motion, etc… (catatonia is also possible, though extremely rare.)
Bipolar disorder usually has more to do with mood (and mood swings). Paranoia (as I see it) is like paranoid schizophrenia without the hallucinations and with less delusion. You think someone is following you, or out to get you or something bad is going to happen, but you don’t know what. (Where a schizophrenic might think that the government is plotting against them and secretly using them for clandestine experiments, etc…) Paranoia without schizophrenia is more like anxiety.
If you aren’t showing signs of it, try not to worry about it. Because if you do have it, you’ll have enough to worry about when it shows itself but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it now. E-mail me if you need more detail.