Yasmina Kattou, edited by Gauthier Delomez
modified to
07:47, March 21, 2022
Schizophrenia Days run until March 26 this year. This disease, often misunderstood and wrongly associated with madness, affects nearly one in 100 French people, and occurs between the ages of 12 and 25 in most cases. There are signs that should alert loved ones, as a professor of psychiatry points out on Europe 1.
Schizophrenia occurs between the ages of 12 and 25 in eight out of ten cases. Created in 2004, the days dedicated to this disease are held this year until March 26th. The opportunity to look into this psychiatric disorder which affects nearly one in 100 French people, or about 600,000 people. Did you know that there are warning signs that can be spotted? And this is important for the evolution of the disease: the earlier the patient is taken care of, the more likely he is to control his disease and have a “normal” life. Far from clichés, certain behaviors should alert people from adolescence.
Symptoms close to a teenage crisis
Symptoms may resemble a teenage crisis. We are far from the voices that reason in the head or the doubling of personality. “The symptoms that should alert is a teenager who cuts himself off from his friends, who locks himself in his room”, explains Marie-Odile Krebs, professor of psychiatry at the University of Paris-Cité. “There are also cognitive disorders, that is to say difficulties in studying to concentrate. These are relatively non-specific signs, and this is a difficulty because you have to be able to better identify them quickly. “, continues the professor on Europe 1.
Why early care is important
The earlier the disorders are taken care of, the greater the chances of controlling them, especially during adolescence when the brain is still developing. “Cerebral adolescence is a critical phase of development almost as important as in utero development. And during this period, the brain has an enormous capacity for resilience”, emphasizes Marie-Odile Krebs. “For some people, it will actually make them recover without even getting sick.”
Thanks to early psychiatric treatment, up to 70% of people with schizophrenia manage to resume a normal life.