This week is Schizophrenia Awareness Week. Do you know exactly what Schizophrenia is? Did you know that it affects 1 in 100 Australians a year? So that probably means that you know someone living with schizophrenia – you may just not know it. Did you know that the common onset age is 15 – 34 years? Did you know that like many medical conditions Schizophrenia is treatable, and many people live full and active lives?For those who live with Schizophrenia, the stigma attached can be a hard area to cope with. And like most stigma’s they are based on incorrect information and assumptions.
For those who live with Schizophrenia, when they are experiencing symptoms it is often then that they need family and friends to help and understand, in fact those with Schizophrenia do much better when they have family/ friends support. Those family/friends who do not have the correct information about schizophrenia may use word such as crazy and avoid spending time with them, leaving their friend or family member not only coping with a bewildering illness but the loss of family and friends too. Getting the correct information can prevent this from occurring, and in turn your new found knowledge can help your friend or family member cope with the illness better.
So take a moment this week to visit our topics page with videos and factsheets to find our more about the symptoms, possible causes, treatments and ways to help to ensure you are correctly informed and we dispel the myths about Schizophrenia.
Thank you to Gillian from ARAFMI for reviewing this blog prior to publish.
