Paths to Wellness

1. Delusions: irrational or false beliefs which are not validated by others. Although delusions are irrational to others, the experience of them may be backed by logical patterns in the person's mind and tend to be culture-specific. Two common kinds are:

Paranoid Delusions - characterized by a belief that one is being persecuted followed, watched, controlled or attacked (if scary enough, these delusions can result in an attack in self defense).

Delusions of Grandeur - centered on a belief that one is an exalted figure like Jesus Christ, for example, or that one has huge responsibilities in the world or on a very special mission to save the world.

2. Hallucinations: anything a person hears, feels, tastes or smells something that others can't. Hearing voices is a common hallucination for those with schizophrenia. NB: a clairaudient hears voices considered to be angelic or of one's spirit guides. Someone with schizophrenia may hear angelic voices, negative or scary voices, or a bunch of voices. Usually, however, a clairaudient is someone who has consciously chosen to develop psychic gifts, and someone with schizophrenia is not in control of what comes into their consciousness and the voices are usually disturbing.

3. Sensory over-acuteness: sometimes schizophrenia involves a bombardment of disturbing thoughts or sensory experiences that can really "drive one crazy". The person feels overwhelmed by thoughts, mental distortions, and hallucinations that can come at a very high speed. Also the schizophrenia experience could involve heightened states of awareness or the opposite extreme where one shuts down and cannot feel anything, probably from experiencing a sensory overload prior to this. All of these experiences can lead to behaviors that are unusual and difficult to understand for the outside observer. They can result in disorganized speech or disorganized or catatonic behavior.

4. Disorganized Speech: The individual has difficulty synthesizing visual and auditory stimuli resulting in communication/ responses that are difficult to understand by others. Thought patterns are characterized by impaired logic, loose associations, difficulty maintaining a line of thought, and "neologisms," or "word salad."

5. Disorganized or Catatonic Behavior: Doing things in response to hallucinations or thoughts that appear totally illogical to the average observer. For example, pulling down things in a room, dismantling objects, responding to things that aren't there, or doing ritualistic behavior such as covering objects, posturing, or parroting.

6. Negative or secondary symptoms. These include:

-  Lack of motivation and direction
-  Social withdrawal
-  Emotional flatness or seeming sense of indifference
-  Emotional inappropriateness like laughing at a tragedy
-  Neglect of personal hygiene
-  Distorted or limited sense of self