Home > Encyclopedia of Science > Schizophrenia

• Its victims
• Delusions and hallucinations
• Words to Know
• Historical evidence
• Types of schizophrenia
• Causes
• Treatment

Schizophrenia (pronounced skiht-zo-FREH-nee-uh) is a severe mental condition that interferes with normal thought processes, causing delusions, hallucinations, and mental disorganization. As the most common of the extremely serious mental disorders known as psychosis (pronounced sy-KO-sis), it affects men and women equally, is found all over the world, and is usually a long-term illness with no definite cure.

Its victims

Schizophrenia is described by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as a "chronic,...