Short answers, pulled from the story.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thinking or behavior, and flat or inappropriate affect. Clinicians organize its symptoms into three categories: positive symptoms such as hearing voices and delusions, negative symptoms such as loss of motivation and inability to feel pleasure, and cognitive symptoms affecting verbal memory and attention.
In 2022, the World Health Organization reported a total of 24 million cases of schizophrenia globally. In 2017, there were an estimated 1.1 million new cases. The lifetime prevalence is between 0.3% and 0.7% of the general population, rising to between 4.0% and 6.5% in areas of armed conflict.
Onset typically occurs between the late teens and early thirties. In males, the peak incidence is in the early to mid-twenties; in females, in the late twenties. Onset before age 17 is classified as early-onset, and onset between ages 40 and 60 is called late-onset schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is understood as a neurodevelopmental disorder arising from gene-environment interactions. Heritability estimates run between 70% and 80%. Environmental risk factors include living in an urban environment, childhood adversity, cannabis use during adolescence, maternal infections during pregnancy, and poor prenatal nutrition. No single gene or environmental factor is sufficient on its own.
The primary treatment is antipsychotic medication, with clozapine showing the largest overall effect for treatment-resistant cases. Psychosocial interventions including cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, and cognitive remediation therapy are used alongside medication. In September 2024, the FDA approved xanomeline/trospium chloride (Cobenfy), the first cholinergic agonist approved to treat schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia decreases life expectancy by between 10 and 28 years compared to the general population. The leading cause is cardiovascular disease, which accounts for almost 40% of deaths among people with schizophrenia. A higher suicide rate, estimated at 5% to 6% overall, also contributes.