Title: Understanding Schizophrenia in Women: Prevalence, Symptoms, and More
Schizophrenia affects females in unique ways, influencing age of onset, symptoms, and response to treatment. As a mental health condition, schizophrenia impacts behavior, thoughts, and feelings, hindering daily activities.
The disorder manifests in various ways with symptoms split into psychotic, negative, and cognitive categories. Symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, difficulty making plans, and processing information.
While prevalence of schizophrenia is hard to pinpoint, estimates suggest around 0.25-0.64%. Males seem more susceptible to schizophrenia, yet in a study, every female had 1 schizophrenia diagnosis for every 1.4 male diagnoses.
Unfortunately, determining an exact age of onset can be challenging, but studies suggest it to be later in females compared to males – late 20s to early 30s for females and teens to early 20s for males. The onset can appear in those younger than 12 or older than 40 but is less frequent.
Females may experience affective symptoms such as depression, sexual misconduct, sexual delusions, impulsivity, and emotional instability. A review indicates that while females attempt suicide more often, suicides are completed less frequently than males.
Schizophrenia diagnosis is based on DSM-5-TR criteria, requiring a significant period of disruptive symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and negative symptoms such as loss of motivation and social withdrawal.
Risk factors include genetics, environment, and brain structure, although no guaranteed cause exists. Estrogen, particularly the decrease during menopause, may increase females' vulnerability to schizophrenia.
Researchers suggest that the lower prevalence of certain symptoms in females has led to under-representation in treatment development, which should change going forward to improve care for them.
Effective treatment can improve overall functional abilities and help individuals achieve personal life goals, including education, career, and relationships.
Psychology and psychiatry play crucial roles in understanding and managing schizophrenia, as they are mental health disciplines that focus on mental processes and behaviors.
Schizophrenia's unique impact on women in the realm of mental health might necessitate tailored approaches in psychology and psychiatry to account for variations in symptomatology and response to treatment.
In terms of psychology, studying the effects of estrogen on schizophrenia in women could lead to discoveries and potential interventions in both pharmacological and non-pharmacological dimensions.
