Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness, and is probably the most distressing and disabling of the severe mental disorders. The first signs of schizophrenia typically emerge in adolescence or young adulthood. The effects of the illness are confusing and often shocking to families and friends. People with schizophrenia suffer from difficulties in their thought processes, which lead to hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, and unusual speech or behavior. All these symptoms mean that people affected with the illness become limited in their ability to interact with other people…
