Very much like depression, schizophrenia is also one of the first mental disorders that gave rise to the overall awareness about mental health as a serious concern. Schizophrenia is a very unique and rare mental disorder that disturbs the reality of the person affected by it. Schizophrenia is a very serious disease that greatly affects the patient’s behavior, which makes it a very versatile disease.
Unlike other mental disorders, like depression or anxiety, schizophrenia tends to directly affect the mind and hinders a person’s reality. This means that a person suffering from this disease can see people who otherwise do not exist or feel warmth in cold weather. These are only two of many examples that show how severe the disease is.
However, one of the greatest concerns that experts around the world share about schizophrenia is the possible damage that depression can cause with schizophrenia. Throughout the years, as awareness grew for mental illnesses around the world, both scientists and psychologists have found that depressive symptoms are not uncommon in people who have other mental illnesses.
Since it is very common for people with other mental illnesses to have depression, it is safe to say that people with schizophrenia will also experience it at some point; the real question is when.
One of the greatest difficulties that a psychologist faces is telling a patient with schizophrenia that whatever they believe is false. It is not only hard to explain to them how their beliefs are fake, rather the aftermath of this can be quite catastrophic. For a patient who has this grave disease, the time when they most likely become prone to depression is when they have to come to grips with reality.
Patients often show symptoms of extreme depression in the form of suicidal tendencies, insomnia, fatigue, and loss of appetite. All of the aforementioned symptoms reflect into depression and how it can greatly affect schizophrenia and exacerbate the original disease.
Another factor that can possibly influence depression in a person with schizophrenia is their inability to relieve themselves of their reality. Not only it is hard for a person with schizophrenia to accept that what they believe in isn’t real, but it is also very hard for them to let go or relieve themselves of their thoughts.
