Detailed information about psychotic episodes, hallucinations, delusions, and early intervention.
Anhedonia is more nuanced than 'losing the ability to feel good.' Recent research distinguishes between anticipating pleasure and experiencing it in the moment — and the distinction shapes treatment.
Thought disorderFormal thought disorder is a clinical term for changes in the structure of thought — how ideas connect — rather than their content. It is one of the core symptom domains in schizophrenia.
Rare presentationsCatatonia is a treatable neuropsychiatric emergency marked by abnormal movement and behaviour. Recognised early, it often responds within hours to benzodiazepines or ECT.
SymptomsCognitive symptoms aren't dramatic, but they're often the strongest predictor of how someone with schizophrenia functions in daily life.
PsychosisMost people associate hallucinations with hearing voices, but they can affect any of the five senses. Each type carries different clinical meaning.
Thought disorderWord salad — clinically called schizophasia — is the most severe end of disorganised speech, where sentences become strings of unrelated words. Modern care has made it less common but no less important to understand.
Negative symptomsAvolition is the reduced ability to initiate and persist in goal-directed activity. It is one of the most misunderstood negative symptoms — and one of the most disabling.
PsychosisDelusions are not simply 'wrong beliefs.' They are organised, often elaborate experiences that follow recognisable patterns. Understanding those patterns is the first step to better care.
Rare presentationsParaphrenia is a historical name for late-life psychosis. The condition it describes — delusions emerging after age 60 with relatively preserved personality — is still very much real.
SymptomsNegative symptoms — apathy, flat emotion, social withdrawal — drive much of the long-term disability in schizophrenia. They also respond poorly to most antipsychotics.
PsychosisA first episode of psychosis is one of the most consequential moments in mental health care. What happens in the first weeks shapes outcomes for years.
Thought disorderClang associations are sentences linked by rhyme, alliteration, or pun rather than meaning. They are most associated with mania but appear in schizophrenia too.
Negative symptomsAlogia is the clinical term for reduced quantity or content of speech in schizophrenia. It is often mistaken for shyness, depression, or rudeness — and it is none of these.
HallucinationsHearing music that isn't playing is a less common but well-described hallucination. It can occur in schizophrenia, in hearing loss, and in several neurological conditions.
Rare presentationsDelusional disorder is a distinct condition: persistent non-bizarre delusions in someone whose life otherwise looks remarkably ordinary. Here's how it differs from schizophrenia.
HallucinationsAround 70% of people with schizophrenia hear voices. Here's a clear, non-stigmatising guide to what auditory hallucinations are, why they happen, and how to cope.
DelusionsPersecutory delusions — the unshakeable sense of being watched, followed, or harmed — are the most common delusion in schizophrenia and often the most distressing.
SymptomsDisorganised thinking is the symptom that makes conversation hard to follow during a psychotic episode. It reflects a disruption in how thoughts are sequenced, not a loss of intelligence.
PsychosisLong before a first episode of psychosis, there is usually a quieter phase of subtle changes. Catching it can change the entire course of the illness.
Thought disorderTangentiality is when a question gets a related but off-target answer that never circles back. It is one of the more common and easily missed forms of thought disorder.
Negative symptomsAsociality is a reduction in the drive to seek social contact. It is not shyness, not anxiety, not preference for solitude — and the difference matters for treatment.
Rare presentationsFolie à deux describes the rare but real phenomenon of one person's delusion being adopted by someone they live closely with. Treatment usually involves separation and care for both.
HallucinationsVisual hallucinations occur in roughly a quarter of people with schizophrenia, but they are also a hallmark of several neurological conditions. The cause matters.
DelusionsGrandiose delusions can feel exhilarating from the inside and devastating in their consequences. Here's a careful look at why they form and what helps.
SymptomsCatatonia is an under-recognised but highly treatable syndrome that can appear in schizophrenia. Most cases respond rapidly to lorazepam.
PsychosisSubstances can trigger psychosis acutely, or in vulnerable people contribute to long-term psychotic disorders. The evidence varies considerably by drug class.
HallucinationsVisual hallucinations occur in roughly a quarter of people with schizophrenia. The texture of those experiences differs in subtle but useful ways from visual hallucinations of other causes.
Thought disorderCircumstantial speech eventually arrives at the point but only after a long, detail-heavy detour. It is the gentlest of the disorganised speech patterns and easily mistaken for ordinary verbosity.
HallucinationsTactile hallucinations are touch sensations with no external source — from feather-light brushes to the unforgettable sensation of insects crawling under the skin.
DelusionsReligious delusions sit on the most sensitive boundary in psychiatry — the line between sincere faith and a belief that has become symptomatic. Both deserve respect.