After Kay Voser’s tour: What you need to know about schizophrenia

Many people are like him. About 0.3 percent of the Swiss population (an estimated 26,000 people) suffers from schizophrenia, says Jochen Mutschler (47), head of inpatient services at Lucerne Psychiatry. He provides insight into a disease that is still rife with much prejudice and misunderstanding.

“There are genetic factors and environmental influences that trigger schizophrenia,” says Mutschler. If there is schizophrenia or similar mental illnesses in your family, you may be more sensitive. In addition, substance use is an important factor that makes the disease more likely. Mutschler mentions tobacco and marijuana, which have been proven to promote schizophrenia. In rare cases, a prenatal infection, i.e. an infection Transferring the embryo to the pregnant mother causes mental illness.

Mutschler says schizophrenia usually becomes noticeable in young adulthood. For men, it is between the ages of 15-25, and for women, it is between the ages of 25-35. The disease begins about five years in advance. “Schizophrenia is rarely diagnosed directly because symptoms at this stage are nonspecific.” Those affected will initially withdraw socially and become less active. Additionally, your energy and performance decrease, and you become restless, tense and irritable. “At some point, people around you will notice,” Mutschler says. “Grades at school or performance at work are getting worse.”

Once the disease has emerged, schizophrenia manifests itself as delusions, self-talking, or severely altered perception. According to Mutschler, these symptoms often appear suddenly. “Those affected then feel like they are being followed or controlled by others. They fear that others will read their thoughts and make them no longer feel safe.” Because such symptoms can often frighten outsiders, schizophrenia is still stigmatized. Experience shows that people with schizophrenia are no more dangerous than others, although it is often assumed. Outbreaks of violence are rare. “If it does happen, it is a result of madness and loss of control,” says Mutschler. For outsiders, this often comes out of nowhere and can frighten them. “This leads to social isolation and mistrust among patients.” They often suffer from this as much as from the actual symptoms of the disease.

According to Mutschler, it is a drug treatment and psychotherapy center. The earlier you start, the better the long-term forecasts. Mutschler: “Treatment is about giving patients a sense of safety and control again.” Which form of treatment is possible depends on the individual clinical picture. The medication is used primarily to relieve the symptoms, not to combat the cause. There are medications you use every day or injections that have a longer-lasting effect.

“The outlook for one-third of patients is very good,” says Mutschler. You can completely control the disease with just a few medications. The expert emphasizes: “With schizophrenia, you can achieve anything in life.” American mathematician John Nash (1928–2015) even received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994, despite his schizophrenia. He is best known for the award-winning Hollywood movie “A Beautiful Mind”. However, if the disease is left untreated, the prognosis worsens significantly. Then, delusional attacks occur regularly and over the long term, Mutschler says. “Each attack has a lasting impact on the brain’s performance.” Because of this cognitive decline, schizophrenia was often called “dementia praecox” or early dementia.