The DSM-5 lists schizophrenia alongside a number of other conditions called schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders.

These include the following:

• Schizotypal personality disorder: This involves discomfort in close relationships, disturbances in cognition or perceptions, and eccentric behavior.

• Delusional disorder: This involves the person having delusions for 1 month but no other psychotic symptoms.

• Brief psychotic disorder: This occurs when symptoms of psychosis last for longer than a day but less than a month.

• Schizophreniform disorder: This occurs when symptoms of schizophrenia last for less than 6 months.

• Schizoaffective disorder: This mainly involves symptoms of schizophrenia, but it also involves significant mood symptoms, such as mania or depression.

• Substance- or medication-induced psychotic disorder: Psychotic symptoms can arise due to alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogen, or sedative use or from taking medications such as anesthetics, anticonvulsants, heart medications, chemotherapy drugs, or antidepressants.

• Psychotic disorder due to another medical condition: This is most often due to untreated endocrine, metabolic, or autoimmune conditions or temporal lobe epilepsy.

The symptoms of schizophrenia may overlap with those of bipolar disorder, which is a condition that causes changes in mood, energy, activity, and behavior.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, and can be disabling. People with schizophrenia require lifelong treatment. Early treatment may help get symptoms under control before serious complications develop and may help improve the long-term outlook.

It is important to understand that movies and television shows do not accurately depict schizophrenia

What Does It Look Like?

Schizophrenia involves a range of problems with thinking (cognition), behavior, and emotions. Signs and symptoms may vary, but usually involve delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech, and reflect an impaired ability to function. Symptoms may include:

• Delusions. These are false beliefs that are not based in reality. For example, you think that you're being harmed or harassed; you have exceptional ability or fame; another person is in love with you; or a major catastrophe is about to occur.

• Hallucinations. These usually involve seeing or hearing things that don't exist. Yet for the person with schizophrenia, they have the full force and impact of a normal experience.

• Disorganized thinking (speech). Disorganized thinking is inferred from disorganized speech. Effective communication can be impaired, and answers to questions may be partially or completely unrelated.

• Extremely disorganized or abnormal motor behavior. This may show in a number of ways, from childlike silliness to unpredictable agitation. Behavior isn't focused on a goal, so it's hard to do tasks. Behavior can include resistance to instructions, inappropriate or bizarre posture, a complete lack of response, or useless and excessive movement.

• Negative symptoms. This refers to reduced or lack of ability to function normally. For example, the person may neglect personal hygiene or appear to lack emotion (doesn't make eye contact, doesn't change facial expressions, or speaks in a monotone). Also, the person may lose interest in everyday activities, socially withdraw or lack the ability to experience a pleasure.

Symptoms can vary in type and severity over time, with periods of worsening and remission of symptoms. Some symptoms may always be present.