4 ms·

You can't "already have" schizophrenia without having the symptoms of schizophrenia (assuming you aren't on medication that completely controls the symptoms).

You can't "already have" schizophrenia without having the symptoms of schizophrenia (assuming you aren't on medication that completely controls the symptoms). The reason is that schizophrenia and almost all other mental illnesses are diagnosed on the basis of behavior. The current thinking is that there's a genetic predisposition, and then certain environmental factors like child abuse (linked to mental illness in general) and exposure to hallucinogens will increase the chance of the condition developing.

vacri 13y ago
Psychosis is not required for a definition of Schizophrenia, or at least, it wasn't in the late 90s when we looked at it in the DSM. The most frequent symptom of Schizophrenia at the time was 'hearing voices', and that struck 69% of diagnoses. Have a look at the DSM-IV criteria. And certainly, it's possible to have a lighter form of schizophrenia that is worsened by whatever factor.
- foobarbazqux 13y ago
  Auditory hallucinations indicate psychosis; psychosis itself is not a symptom but a catch-all state of mind that refers to many different symptoms, including auditory hallucinations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Criteria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Criteria Agreed that schizophrenia could be aggravated by pot; I was just disputing that you could "have" schizophrenia without having ever presented any of the symptoms. I may have incorrectly inferred this claim from the original post.
duaneb 13y ago
> You can't "already have" schizophrenia without having the symptoms of schizophrenia (assuming you aren't on medication that completely controls the symptoms). Yes you can, you can be genetically predisposed before the symptoms appear.
- foobarbazqux 13y ago
  a) I used the words "genetic predisposition" in my reply; b) just because you are genetically predisposed to having breast cancer doesn't mean you have or will have breast cancer.

vacri 13y ago

Psychosis is not required for a definition of Schizophrenia, or at least, it wasn't in the late 90s when we looked at it in the DSM. The most frequent symptom of Schizophrenia at the time was 'hearing voices', and that struck 69% of diagnoses. Have a look at the DSM-IV criteria. And certainly, it's possible to have a lighter form of schizophrenia that is worsened by whatever factor.

foobarbazqux 13y ago
Auditory hallucinations indicate psychosis; psychosis itself is not a symptom but a catch-all state of mind that refers to many different symptoms, including auditory hallucinations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Criteria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Criteria Agreed that schizophrenia could be aggravated by pot; I was just disputing that you could "have" schizophrenia without having ever presented any of the symptoms. I may have incorrectly inferred this claim from the original post.

duaneb 13y ago

> You can't "already have" schizophrenia without having the symptoms of schizophrenia (assuming you aren't on medication that completely controls the symptoms). Yes you can, you can be genetically predisposed before the symptoms appear.

foobarbazqux 13y ago
a) I used the words "genetic predisposition" in my reply; b) just because you are genetically predisposed to having breast cancer doesn't mean you have or will have breast cancer.