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ToggleWhile less than 1% of the U.S. population has schizophrenia, about 4.9% of people with this condition are at risk of taking their own lives. For many patients, a reliable treatment plan can provide symptom relief and help them regain control of their lives. If you need schizophrenia disorder treatment, FHE Health in Deerfield Beach, South Florida, offers a care plan built around each patient’s symptoms.
What Is Schizophrenia?
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental illness that impacts a person’s ability to control their behavior and communicate with those around them. Categorized as a type of psychosis, schizophrenia features erratic behavior, delusions and intense paranoid behavior. People with the disease can be a danger to themselves and others, especially if the condition goes untreated.
What Are the Symptoms of Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia manifests itself through different sets of symptoms in patients, which can make it difficult to diagnose. There’s no single behavior that provides bystanders a clue that a person might be developing the illness.
Here are the most common schizophrenia symptoms:
- Hallucinations and delusions. Schizophrenic patients might have an alternate perception of reality and exhibit extreme paranoia. They might also hear, see or smell things that aren’t there. This can cause them to behave erratically and unpredictably.
- Negative symptoms. This is an umbrella term for behavior that describes a decrease in a person’s physical and mental abilities. This group of symptoms is common among schizophrenic patients, who can have difficulty communicating or performing basic daily tasks.
- Cognitive impairment. When individuals develop schizophrenia, they tend to exhibit worsened memory and cognitive function. As a result, many schizophrenic people lack the awareness needed to realize that their condition has changed.
These symptoms are fairly broad, which makes schizophrenia notoriously difficult to diagnose. Cognitive impairment and negative symptoms can be misdiagnosed as simpler, more common conditions like anxiety, depression or a variety of other disorders.
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How Common Is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is one of the rarer mental health disorders in existence, which is part of the reason why the treatment community is continually making new discoveries about it.
According to the World Health Organization, 23 million adults worldwide suffer from the disease. In the US, schizophrenia has only a 1.2 percent rate of prevalence, with about 3.2 million adults experiencing it.
For the sake of comparison, schizophrenia prevalence in the United States is less than that of many other mental health conditions, including general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.
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What Are Some Predictors of Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia often develops when a patient is in their mid to late 20s. This is a time when change is common in a person’s lifestyle and habits, making it more difficult to notice when a person’s behavior starts to alter because of mental illness and not development or evolving external factors.
According to NAMI, it’s most common for diagnoses to occur when people are between age 12 and 40.

Prodromal Schizophrenia
In schizophrenics, the years before the diagnosis of the disease are labeled the prodromal years. For teens, prodromal schizophrenia causes social withdrawal, a change in grades and behavior and other symptoms. The problem with early diagnosis is that adults can dismiss these symptoms as common teenage behaviors.
With this in mind, if a person exhibits these behaviors in conjunction with a family history of psychosis, doctors may recommend additional evaluation to catch the signs of schizophrenia before it gets too advanced.
What Are the Causes of Schizophrenia?
As mentioned, the causes of complex mental health disorders like schizophrenia are relatively unknown. Factors that cause disorders like this one may include:
- Genetics and brain chemistry. Family histories and pre-existing factors within a person’s brain makeup, such as faulty neurotransmitters, could make them more likely to develop schizophrenia.
- Environmental exposure. Pre-birth exposure to viruses, malnutrition and toxic chemicals are a few of the factors that may contribute to this disorder.
- Substance abuse. Using certain substances, such as marijuana, may trigger psychotic episodes.
Co-Occurring Disorders
The use of psychoactive and hallucinogenic drugs (LSD, for example) may raise the risk level a person has for developing schizophrenia in the future. In addition, people suffering from conditions like schizophrenia are naturally more likely to receive a dual diagnosis with other conditions, such as addiction. This can cause the underlying issue to be more severe and harder to treat successfully.
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What Are the Treatments for Schizophrenia?

People with schizophrenia often take antipsychotic medications to help control symptoms that can lead to unpredictable or risky behavior. At FHE Health, treatment begins with a psychiatric evaluation, which allows our team to design a tailored plan addressing each person’s symptoms and any co-occurring mental health or substance use challenges.
From this assessment, the care journey may progress through residential treatment, medication management and both individual and group therapy. As clients improve, support extends to family counseling and a step-down to outpatient care. This coordinated progression helps individuals build daily coping skills and continue forward with increased support.
Why Choose FHE Health for Schizophrenia Rehabilitation
At FHE Health, we focus on coordinated care for schizophrenia rehabilitation rather than offering a single service. On our Deerfield Beach campus in South Florida, each patient gets a personalized treatment plan from a team of specialists.
Psychiatric care and medication management help manage symptoms and track progress. Individual and group therapy sessions teach coping skills, improve communication and support daily routines. We also support families, since loved ones often need information and guidance as treatment continues.
For those who need extra support, our residential treatment offers a safe place with 24/7 care and a steady routine. As symptoms improve, patients can transition to outpatient mental health treatment while remaining connected to the same team. We also treat other conditions that may occur with schizophrenia, like depression, anxiety, trauma or substance use, creating a comprehensive treatment plan that covers the full spectrum of care.
If you are in Deerfield Beach, anywhere in South Florida or coming from out of town, FHE Health is here to guide you through your next steps with care and confidentiality. Get in touch today to learn how we can support you or your loved one.
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