The onset of the first episode of the illness known as schizophrenia usually occurs when the person is a teenager or a young adult. It can start late in life but this is uncommon, and the onset can happen suddenly, but usually, before full blown schizophrenia occurs, there will be changes noticed in the personality of the person.

There has been no single cause of the illness positively identified, but there seems to be a number of factors which either make a teen more prone to schizophrenia, or to trigger off an episode of the illness.

Some Causes of Teen Schizophrenia.

Biochemistry Factors. A change in brain chemistry can bring on schizophrenia, specifically, a change in the balance of Dopamine which is used to transmit information between the brain cells can be a cause, but it is thought that such changes are due to other genetic differences.

Genetic Factors. A person who has parents or a family history of the illness is more at risk. On average the risk of getting schizophrenia is about 1%, but this risk increases to 10% for a teen who has parents who suffer the illness.

Environmental Causes. Stressful incidents can trigger the illness on vulnerable teens, possibly trouble with parents, trouble at school or work, or the loss of someone close, causing a change in behavior of the teen.

Drug Use. The use of some drugs such as Methamphetamine, LSD, or Ecstasy may also have causal effects in triggering off the illness, teens with a family history of schizophrenia are advised to steer clear of such substances. Sometimes the schizophrenia may be masked by the unusual behavior caused by the taking of these drugs

Quite often when medication is used in the treatment, the changing behavioral patterns such as anxiety, fear and irritability can settle down within a few days, however sometimes the main symptoms of the illness may take many weeks for the teen to settle down, and they just have to patient and wait for the treatment to take effect.

People who suffer from schizophrenia are often referred to as having a ‘split personality’ or have no intellectual ability, neither of these statements are true! The thoughts of the sufferer become disordered for sure, but this is not a split personality, there is no such thing, and schizophrenia is not a lack of intellectual capability but is a mental disease.

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