Anxiety and Schizophrenia Symptoms In Women

What is the disease schizophrenia? What are the symptoms of schizophrenia in women? Do they differ from men? I’ll talk about anxiety and shizophrenia symptoms in women further in the post. Basically, schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental health disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. Altogether, it is defined by symptoms such as delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there), disorganized thinking, speech, or behavior, and negative symptoms (reduced emotions, social withdrawal, etc.).

Is schizophrenia real? Yes! Consequently, the hallucinations almost feel like reality. Once you have one, you’ll understand why. As a result, I have had large chunks of time missing because of the hallucinations. Besides my memory being poor from Parkinson’s, I just assume that I was having a hallucination that I don’t remember. Accordingly, I have to say, it kind of makes for a shitty life. But I’m making the best of it. Sorry, that’s the depression working on me.

The anxiety part of shizophrenia symptoms in women stems from having an episode (hallucination) in public. That would be the ultimate, most embarassing part of it. One of the reasons why I don’t go out much.

“Fake it until you make it! Act as if you had all the confidence you require until it becomes your reality.” – Brian Tracy

Schizophrenia Symptoms in Women

Another key point, there is no difference in the incident and extent of schizophrenia between men and women, though schizophrenia is more closely associated with younger men. At length, this may be due to the fact that women are more likely to experience the onset of schizophrenia later than men. Therefore, women tend to develop symptoms in their late 20s whereas the onset in men is typically in their early 20s.

Consequently, women with schizophrenia may be more physically active and more hostile than men with the illness. They may also experience more auditory hallucinations as well as paranoid and harassing delusions. Henceforth, paranoid delusions consist of thoughts like, “my spouse is cheating on me,” when he isn’t. Harassing delusions consist of thoughts like, “I’m being mistreated,” when there is no actual mistreatment.

“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.”– George Addair

Psychological Causes of Schizophrenia

In any event, the exact causes of schizophrenia are unknown. Research suggests a combination of physical, genetic, psychological and environmental factors can make a person more likely to develop the condition.

Overall, some people may be prone to schizophrenia, and a stressful or emotional life event might trigger a psychotic episode. However, it’s not known why some people develop symptoms while others do not.

The anxiety from having schizophrenia is dreadful. You don’t know when the episodes of schizophrenia is going to strike.

Therefore, the main psychological triggers of schizophrenia are stressful life events, such as:

bereavement.
losing your job or home.
divorce.
the end of a relationship.
physical, sexual or emotional abuse.

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”– Brian Tracy

Schizophrenia Brain

In any case, there are differences in brain development. Studies of people with schizophrenia have shown there are subtle differences in the structure of their brains.

In addition, these changes are not seen in everyone with schizophrenia and can occur in people who do not have a mental illness. But they suggest schizophrenia may partly be a disorder of the brain.

Moreover, neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry messages between brain cells. It is thought people with schizophrenia may have different amounts of certain neurotransmitters in their brains. Given that, medicines that help lower the amounts of certain neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, can help with the symptoms of schizophrenia in some people. Nonetheless, this suggests neurotransmitters play a role in the development of schizophrenia.

Epinephrine is just one chemical involved in your body’s response to anxiety. Other chemicals may also play a role. For example, a serotonin imbalance¹ may contribute to anxiety, as can high cortisol levels. However, epinephrine is the primary chemical because it is directly involved in your anxiety symptoms.

“You learn more from failure than from success. Don’t let it stop you. Failure builds character.” — Unknown

Schizophrenia Diagnostic Criteria

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5), to meet the criteria for diagnosis of schizophrenia, the patient must have experienced at least 2 of the following symptoms :

Delusions

Hallucinations

Disorganized speech

Disorganized or catatonic behavior

Negative symptoms

Regardless, at least 1 of the symptoms must be the presence of delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech.

In particular, continuous signs of the disturbance must persist for at least 6 months, during which the patient must experience at least 1 month of active symptoms (or less if successfully treated), with social or occupational deterioration problems occurring over a significant amount of time. Subsequently, these problems must not be referable to another condition.

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle

Schizophrenia Research

Therefore, typically, women with schizophrenia function better socially than men, often because a later age of onset indicates a less severe form of mental illness. In sum, women with schizophrenia are likely to experience fewer hospitalizations and shorter visits while in the hospital compared to men. Some researchers believe that this later onset is because hormones like estrogen have a protective effect.

In similar fashion, women with schizophrenia are more likely to be married and have children. They’re also more likely to have unplanned pregnancies than women without the condition. Specificly, in developed countries, women with schizophrenia experience higher rates of homelessness.

In reality, older women experience severe tardive dyskinesia (TD), an involuntary movement disorder usually seen in the jaw, lips and tongue caused by antipsychotic medications, more often than older men.⁶ Finally, being female and having schizophrenia is also more closely associated with a higher incidence of migraines and thyroid problems.

Between men and women, schizophrenia seems to occur slightly less in women than in men. In short, research from 2022 suggests for every 1 woman living with schizophrenia, an estimated 1.4 men are living with this condition.

Therefore, how many people have schizophrenia? Schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people or 1 in 300 people (0.32%) worldwide. This rate is 1 in 222 people (0.45%) among adults.

“You do not find the happy life. You make it.” — Camilla Eyring Kimball

Course of Schizophrenia

On the whole, schizophrenia often starts so gradually that people experiencing symptoms and their families may not be aware of the illness for a long time. For some, however, the symptoms come on rapidly and are more easily recognized. Schizophrenia has three phases: prodromal (or beginning), active and residual. Not to mention, these phases tend to occur in sequence and to repeat in cycles throughout the illness. The length of each phase varies from person to person.

In the meantime, people with schizophrenia may become actively ill just once or twice in their life, or may have many episodes. Unfortunately, after each active phase, remaining symptoms may increase and a person’s ability to function normally may decrease. That is to say, this is one reason it is important to try to avoid relapses (the return of active symptoms) by participating in the recommended treatment and recovery plan.

“The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Conclusion

To conclude, the core diagnostic features of schizophrenia are universal. This means that the criteria for diagnosing schizophrenia are the same between the sexes. While there may be gender-related differences in the development, course, and prominent symptoms, schizophrenia in women is the same diagnosis as schizophrenia in men.

I’m so anxious when I leave the house because of the symptoms of schizophrenia, so I hardly leave. I haven’t had an episode for a while now, but that doesn’t mean anything. I can have one as sure as I’m typing this.

Up to the present time, I can’t remember when I had my first hallucination, but I can remember some of them. With this in mind, I remember one when I was living alone after my first divorce. I believed that there was a gang trying to kill me. As a result, a certain protection group (don’t ask me) came to keep me alive. I’d say that it went on for at least a month or more. Anyway, I’m still here, so they didn’t kill me. On that note, I’m out of here. Until next time…

Articles

-What causes schizophrenia?

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/schizophrenia/causes/

-Schizophrenia: An Overview

https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/mental-health-schizophrenia

-Does schizophrenia get worse with age if untreated?

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/complications-of-untreated-schizophrenia#faq

Have a Good One,

Cindee Murphy, One Voice – Unstoppable

“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you’re willing to do. And, your attitude determines how well you do it.” —Lou Holtz

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References

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/schizophrenia/causes/