World Schizophrenia Week

Every Year from May 20-27, Schizophrenia Week is celebrated worldwide with May 24, dedicated as World Schizophrenia Day. Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that hinders the function of the brain, making a person incapable to think, react, and feel. The whole week is dedicated to raise awareness about schizophrenia and to fight the stigma associated with it. According to the statistics of World Health Organization (WHO), about 21 million people are affected by this psychiatric disorder all over the world.

There are many myths associated with schizophrenia and are often misdiagnosed as other mental conditions such as bipolar disorder. Hence, it is very important to raise awareness about this condition. One of the most popular myths is that the people suffering from schizophrenia have Split personality disorder.  Psychosis, which includes hallucinations and delusions, is a hallmark symptom of schizophrenia which makes others to think that they might have Split personality disorder. Because of the periods of psychosis, the condition is also misdiagnosed as Bipolar Disorder sometimes. People with bipolar I disorder can have psychotic symptoms during mania and/or depression, and those with bipolar II can have them during an episode of depression.

Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder and the average age of its occurrence is late adolescence or early adulthood i.e., 16 to 30 of age.  Researches shows that it affects both men and women equally but there might be an earlier onset of the condition in males. The people suffering from Schizophrenia are also more likely to die younger than rest of the population as it co-associated with or people are at high risk of other medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiac diseases. It is not always that people with schizophrenia are dangerous or violent, or they live in hospital or homeless. Most people with schizophrenia live with family, in group homes or on their own.

The cause of schizophrenia is not well known but both hereditary and genetic factors contribute to it. Some other factors include brain chemistry and substance abuse.  The condition is totally treatable and proper medication and treatment helps to live a normal and harmonious life. Psychiatrists evaluate symptoms, tests, and medical history, and prescribe medications and psychotherapy for treatment.

The genetic association of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder or the manic depressive illness is a mental disorder that causes depression episodes and manic episodes (abnormally elevated mood). Earlier it was thought as only a psychiatric illness with behavioural and mental patterns that causes distress and impairment of personal functioning. Later with the advancement in the field of Neuropsychiatry and Neuroimaging techniques and Molecular studies, it has been revealed that Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a multifactorial brain disorder with radical shifts of mood.

Although it was long known that both environmental and genetic factors play an important role, the cause was not clearly understood. For instance, it has been known that exposure to high levels of stress for a longer period, especially during childhood, is responsible for the development of BD. But now, it has been revealed that which genes need to be blamed. In most cases, no single gene is responsible for bipolar disorder.

A class of genes known as Immediate Early genes (IEGs) respond quickly to environmental stimuli, such as in stressful condition. It activates other genes that lead to neural plasticity and thus the brain responses as per the changes in the environment, adapting new experiences. One type of IEG gene known as EGR3, which normally responds to environment and stressful stimuli is found to be repressed in the brain of BD patients which suggest that during stressful condition, the EGR3 in BD patients does not respond to the stimulus appropriately, making them vulnerable to higher levels of stress and have more difficulties dealing with stress or adapting to it if compared to healthy individuals.

Some of the other candidate genes responsible for bipolar disorder include G72/DAOA, DISC1, NRG1, TPH2, BDNF, 5-HTT, DAT1 and many more. With the changing lifestyle and increase in the stressful environment, Bipolar Disorder (BD), along with depression and schizophrenia has become one of the most serious mental illnesses and one of the top 20 causes of severe impairment in everyday life. With the current findings of genes, the exploration has started the role of several of these mutations in BD pathophysiology using in vitro and animal models and is serving as a very promising area in molecular and neuroscience research.