as small as a world and as large as alone

7:29pm November 19, 2013

currentsinbiology:

Schizophrenia is more common than you might think

The traditional view has been that schizophrenia occurs in approximately 1% of people. But it’s now clear that the sort of experiences captured under the label are common in the general population – frequently far less distressing and disruptive, for sure, but essentially the same thing. Take paranoia, for instance. Almost 20% of UK adults report feeling as though others were against them in the previous 12 months,

Schizophrenia isn’t a specific, rare or rigorously defined illness. Instead, it covers a wide range of often unrelated conditions, all of which are also seen in people who are not mentally ill.

Read more at the guardian

“Almost 20% of UK adults report feeling as though others were against them in the previous 12 months”?  I mean interesting, kind of, but isn’t that one of those things that depends on whether people are actually against you as to whether it’s paranoia or not?  It reminds me of some mental health questionnaires that ask you questions about your health and then use those as evidence of hypochondria or psychosomatic complaints because nobody could be legitimately sick and taking a mental health questionnaire.

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