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NARRATOR: Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder that causes psychosis, an extended break from reality. During psychosis, a person may experience hallucinations, seeing or hearing things that aren't really there, and delusions, false or irrational beliefs.

JOHN LELTE: There are essentially two groups of symptoms. Positive symptoms, which refer to delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and motor behavior. There are also negative symptoms, which refer more to problems with motivation, impaired social interactions, a loss of emotional empathy, or expression of emotion.

NARRATOR: Schizophrenia is usually diagnosed in early adulthood and occurs at similar rates all over the world.

JOHN LELTE: Roughly one out of 100 people will be diagnosed with the illness at some point in their life, typically between 18 and 25.

MAURICE: My name's Maurice. My friends and family members know me as Mo. I'm 22 years old. I have chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

My full blown onset was at age 18. I started hearing voices at night, and then I started to think that people had bugged my room, that there were cameras in my room, that my cell phone and everything was tapped.

The most difficult part is when it flares up. That's when I have to really just kind of grit and grind, and just tough it out.

NARRATOR: The causes of schizophrenia are not fully understood, but evidence suggests that it arises out of an interplay of genes and environment. Certain environmental influences are thought to activate genes present in the DNA of people predisposed to schizophrenia.

JOHN LELTE: We don't have a single cause. We have a variety of elements that all tend to go together. There's a lot of research now on epigenetic influence. The epigenetic component determines when a particular gene may turn on or off. Famine or malnutrition in a mother, second trimester infections, these kind of things can affect how severe the symptoms become.

NARRATOR: Neuroimaging has revealed changes in brain structure associated with schizophrenia. Over-activity in the dopamine system may contribute to symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoia. Neuroimaging has also shown a thinning of tissue in the thalamus, a structure in the middle of the brain thought to filter incoming sensory information.

JOHN LELTE: Now, when someone is psychotic, the first thing that we have to do is to lessen those symptoms. At that stage, anti-psychotic medication comes in to bring a person back to contact with reality. And then the treatment plan develops from that point.

NARRATOR: In addition to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, psychotherapy is often recommended as a part of treatment for people with schizophrenia.

JOHN LELTE: Psychotherapy includes a variety of techniques. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most prominent. With earlier intervention and diagnosis, there's a good chance that people can function much, much better.

MAURICE: When I began this medication regimen I'm on and sought therapy, it was like waking up from a nightmare. I'd say 80% of my total symptoms are gone.

NARRATOR: Supportive social networks have also been shown to be especially important in aiding people with schizophrenia.

MAURICE: My friends and family have been very supportive. If I text any of them and say, hey, I need to talk, I'm not feeling well, they all respond. And for that, I'm really grateful.

NARRATOR: For some people, therapy and medical interventions may not be enough, and they continue to struggle with the disorder. It may be the job of a new generation of researchers and scientists to find the interventions that help everyone with schizophrenia.

MAURICE: I plan on going to graduate school. My ultimate goal is to become a mental health professional, like a psychologist or a counselor. I think that I could really understand what patients are going through.

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