# Schizophrenia



## ExtremeE (Dec 11, 2005)

How close is schizophrenia to social anxiety? Do schizophrenia and social anxiety go hand to hand?


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## bluze (Mar 28, 2006)

I agree topher. The answer lies in the title *social anxiety*...Which is most probably a behavioural (learned) condition, where as schizophrenia though a psychiatric condition too, has a genetic component.


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## ghostgurl (Sep 20, 2004)

Not really close at all.


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## bluze (Mar 28, 2006)

To emphasise...Schizophrenia, like social anxiety is characterised by an alteration of thinking, a loss of contact with reality, changes in personality, withdrawal and lack of emotional responsiveness. Strange how two different conditions can bring about similar characteristics though the root causes are totally seperate.


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## nesteroff (Nov 14, 2003)

...


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## James of Maine (Sep 8, 2005)

bluze said:


> I agree topher. The answer lies in the title *social anxiety*...Which is most probably a behavioural (learned) condition, where as schizophrenia though a psychiatric condition too, has a genetic component.


Both social anxiety disorder and schizophrenia are considered mental disorders by the mainstream psychiatric establishment, reflected in DSM-IV, etc.. They just fall into different taxonomic classifications.


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## Ashton (Jul 10, 2004)

My grandmother has schitzophrenia. I read that if a mother has schitzophrenia there are mutiple alleles that can be passed on to the children, giving them to good of a chance of probably inheriting a psychiatric disorder in a different form, (the broad spectrum of the rainbow). And my mother inherited sa and low self esteem from her, and i inherited sa and low self esteem from my mother.


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## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

The only similarity between SA and schizophrenia is probably the paranoia (in some cases). A small handful of people with paranoia may develop hallucinations (as i did) which is again a commonality with schizophrenia. But all in all i think SA and schizophrenia are entirely different beasts. Even when i was at my worst i still able to function pretty well with everyday tasks. Schizophrenia would have been a lot more debilitating i take it. Also schizophrenia is degenerative, but SA isnt. Thats a good thing.


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## whiteclouds (Mar 18, 2004)

My great aunt has paranoid schizophrenia. One of her symtoms is that she is paranoid things will catch fire. She even got rid of her bed mattress because she was afraid it would catch fire.

I also met a girl my age with schizophrenia. She has hallucinations of God and the Devil. She said the Devil often threatens to kill her. She also has strange sensations. For example, she said sometimes she can taste death in her mouth. Despite all this, she manages her illness very well and has a positive outlook on life. She has a steady job as a nurse's assistant and is very personable and fun to talk to.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

Off the top of my head, similarities:

- Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include social isolation, withdrawal, and depression. SA can too.
- Comorbidity is high (i.e. people with schizophrenia often have another DSM-IV disorder. Same with SA.)
- Some degree of difficulty understanding reality is present in SA, such as excessive fear of people watching, judging, conspiring against you, or generally being malicious or unfriendly. A sort of mild paranoia can develop. Schizophrenia includes this too (although it can be to a much greater degree.)

Differences:

- Age of onset for schizophrenia is later (usually 20s or 30s). Age of onset for SA is usually (but not always) in childhood or adolescence.
- Hallucinations are common to schizophrenia, but not common to SA. 
- Irrational beliefs in schizophrenia are often immune to outside reasoning. Irrational beliefs in SA can usually be challenged with reason, despite a tendency to focus on the negative (although I have personally found that this is not always sufficient to detach oneself from anxiety).
- Thought disorder is common to schizophrenia, and is uncommon in SA. 
- Delusions are common to schizophrenia and can take on a florid life of their own. While to some degree SAers operate under delusions, it is generally a _lot _simpler and mundane.
- Schizophrenia is _far _more debilitating.

There are overlaps among MANY psychiatric disorders. There is a spectrum to psychosis, from outright florid psychosis, to mild sensitivity and anxiety. I recall a study in which psychiatrists were blinded to certain patients with previous diagnoses of schizophrenia, and asked to diagnose them independently. There was not a very reliable replication i.e. a lot of people were missed or misdiagnosed as anxious or depression or manic.

But they are, of course, not the same animal.


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