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Basically, it's a type of mental health problem - (whoa there, it really is pretty common, lots of people
go through it, over 100,000 people a year in this country - more people than live in Chesterfield & Dronfield
put together!) It involves a variety of different weird & often frightening symptoms - things like: - hearing voices - mixed up jumbled thoughts - strange scary ideas - paranoia - loss of motivation & energy (or sometimes the opposite) About 3 people in every 100 will get it at some point. it can affect anyone though it tends to come on in early life when people are in their teens or early twenties. (as if you didn't have enough to worry about at that age already!) It's not really anybody's fault, but just an illness that seems to develop in some people & not others. |
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Unfortunately it can be hard to tell what's happening. For one thing, the person that's going through
it may not realise what's happening to them, or even that they're ill at all as it all seems so real.
There's no blood test or anything like that either to test for it, so often by the time someone has got
some help it's been going on for a while & things may have got pretty bad. (In this country, the average
time between onset of symptoms & getting some help & treatment is one to two YEARS!!!!!) As with most illnesses & anything really, the sooner people get some proper help, the quicker & easier they tend to get better. Not only that, but this sort of "early intervention" also seems to mean that people have a far better chance of STAYING BETTER too. The trick is to know what's happening, but as I said, that can be easier said than done, so if you, or someone you know might be having the sort of experiences described above, seeing a doctor (your GP first off) is a GOOOOOOD idea.to get some help & advice. They can quickly & easily refer you to a specialist if necessary. |
How Does it Happen? |
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Well, no one's quite sure of the exact cause. Stress does seem to play a part, & although it doesn't
really cause it, it can trigger off the illness or make it worse. It seems likely that a chemical imbalance of some sort, possibly involving a chemical that naturally occurs in the brain called dopamine may also be involved, making some people more vulnerable to getting ill in this way. It's clear though that it's nothing to do with family life, parenting, intelligence or personality |
Can You Cure It? |
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There isn't really a cure as yet, though people can get better with help & treatment (& sometimes even
without) Some people will just get ill once, but others will be at risk of getting ill again. THE SOONER PEOPLE GET HELP TO CONTROL & MASTER THE ILLNESS, THE QUICKER THEY GET BETTER, & THE EASIER IT IS TO STAY WELL. |
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| Goto "HELP FOR CARERS" |
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