4 Key Schizophrenia Facts and 3 Popular Myths
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4 Real Schizophrenia Facts and 3 Popular Myths

Learn some surprising truths about this often misunderstood mental illness.
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Updated on November 22, 2024
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4 Real Schizophrenia Facts and 3 Popular Myths

Uncover the truths and debunk the myths about schizophrenia, a commonly misunderstood mental health condition.
4 Real Schizophrenia Facts and 3 Popular Myths

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Even as public understanding of mental health conditions continues to evolve, some are still commonly misunderstood and misrepresented. That is often the case when it comes to schizophrenia, a mental health condition that can cause symptoms of psychosis like hallucinations and delusions, as well as disruptions in thought processes.

Fears and assumptions about conditions like schizophrenia can lead to oversimplifications, stereotypes, and sometimes the spreading of outright incorrect information. Here, we explore three popular myths around schizophrenia and four important schizophrenia facts.

1. Fact: A Person’s Genes Can Increase the Risk of Developing Schizophrenia

“We know there is an underlying genetic component to schizophrenia,” says Jacob S. Ballon, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and the co-director of the INSPIRE Clinic at Stanford University in California, which provides interdisciplinary care for people experiencing psychosis.

A polygenic risk score can help determine what a person’s risk for different conditions may be, taking into account multiple genetic variants. “It’s not just one gene that causes the illness — it’s many, many genes that together are complicated and beyond our level of understanding,” Dr. Ballon says.

Research suggests that genetics may account for up to 80 percent of the risk.

 However, having a family member with schizophrenia doesn’t guarantee anyone else in the family will be diagnosed with it. This is because experts don’t believe one single gene causes it. Rather, it’s a complex combination of genes that may raise your risk of developing schizophrenia.

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Genetics play a role in schizophrenia risk, research shows.Yaroslav Danylchenko/Stocksy

2. Myth: People With Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities

This myth certainly is persistent, but it’s hard to say where it started, says Ballon. “One of the best explanations I’ve heard comes from breaking down the word schizophrenia. Etymologically it comes from ‘schizo’ meaning split and ‘phrenia’ meaning mind,” he says.

Putting those two meanings together might lead people to draw the wrong conclusion and think that someone with schizophrenia has two or more personalities.

“When a person displays multiple personalities, it’s called dissociative identity disorder (DID). It’s a different disorder and has different risk factors,” says Ballon, adding that DID is more closely related to the experience of trauma.

3. Fact: Cannabis Use Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Schizophrenia

Cannabis use is associated with an increased risk of psychosis — meaning loss of contact with reality — as well as an increased risk of developing schizophrenia in the first place, says Ballon. Research suggests this risk appears to be strongest in boys and men ages 16 to 20.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — the component of cannabis that’s most responsible for the psychoactive effects of marijuana — is likely at the root of these risks, according to some studies.

As more potent strains of marijuana enter a community, so too does the rate of psychosis increase, says Ballon.

 “Take the state of California, where marijuana use is legal. Marijuana is more potent, people use it more often, and they use it more deeply,” he says.
In the next several years, we may see an unintended consequence of legalization in certain parts of the United States — a rise in the number of people with certain mental health conditions. “Time will have to tell, but I would be worried about it,” says Ballon

4. Myth: Having Schizophrenia Means You Will Be Violent

While people with schizophrenia do have a higher risk of violence than the general population, it’s still relatively rare. The risk of committing violence is less than 1 in 4 among men with schizophrenia and less than 1 in 20 among women with the condition, according to a systematic review.

What’s more, most acts of violence often have nothing to do with schizophrenia itself. Rather, a number of other risk factors affect the odds of violence among people with the condition — for instance, substance abuse appears to be strongly linked with violence among people with schizophrenia, according to research.

Perspectives
Portrait of a person
Bethany
Schizophrenia Advocate
“I told a few people in school, “Hey, you know, I have schizophrenia.” And, I mean, they look at me and they don't know how to respond to that. You know, am I dangerous? Erratic?”
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5. Fact: People With Schizophrenia Have a Higher Risk of Suicide

Having schizophrenia is a risk factor for suicide, says Ballon. It’s estimated that about 10 percent of people with the schizophrenia die by suicide.

The rate of suicide attempts among people with schizophrenia are even higher, with 39.2 percent of them attempting suicide at some point in their lifetime, compared with 2.8 percent in the general population.

These attempts can be at any number of points in the course of the illness, says Ballon. “It can be when a person may be having symptoms and hearing voices telling them to kill themselves. It could be shortly after a person is recovering from many symptoms — they may look at what happened in a different way and be worried about their future and more likely to want to harm themselves at that point,” says Ballon.

That can be especially true when people are taking on certain internalized stigmas about what they’re likely to achieve when they have a mental health condition, says Ballon. “They may feel like they’re not going to be able to have the life they were expecting; they may be at great risk at that point,” he says.

“There’s an overlap between schizophrenia and depression as it is, and that in and of itself may also increase the risk of people wanting to harm themselves,” he adds. Depression is another known risk factor for suicide.

6. Fact: It’s Common for People With Schizophrenia to Have Delusions

Delusions are unshakeable false beliefs that don’t align with reality, and are a common symptom in people with schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders.

A person with schizophrenia might experience various types of delusions. “There are persecutory delusions, where a person feels watched or followed,” says Ballon. “They might feel like the government is after them or that they have special information that somebody else might need to obtain from them. That can make a person feel very worried or scared.”

Another type is somatic delusions, where a person might feel contaminated, says Ballon. “The person might feel like something is wrong with their internal organs or maybe they think they have an illness that there isn’t any reason to believe they have,” he says.

Someone with schizophrenia may also experience delusions of grandeur, where they believe they have special abilities or powers, says Ballon. For instance, he adds, they might believe that they are the president of the United States or Jesus Christ, or that they control the weather.

“The hard part is that you can’t really talk somebody out of a delusion, so it can be very challenging to work with,” Ballon adds.

7. Myth: There Isn’t an Effective Way to Treat Schizophrenia

Although there’s no cure for schizophrenia, several evidence-based treatments can help people manage their symptoms and live well with the condition.

The most common treatments for schizophrenia are medication — most often antipsychotic medications — and interventions such as individual therapy, family therapy, social skills training, and supported employment.

Your doctor will help you find a treatment that works best for you. Ballon says he tries to include the person with schizophrenia and the family in the decision-making process when it comes to treatment.

How well people respond to treatment may vary. “There are a number of people who are treated for schizophrenia and are doing quite well,” says Ballon. He adds that he has treated people who work for large technology companies and other successful businesses, people who have graduated from college, and some who are getting married.

He cites Elyn Saks, PhD, a MacArthur Fellowship grant recipient and the associate dean at the University of Southern California Gould Law School in Los Angeles, as an exceptional example of someone thriving with schizophrenia. Dr. Saks has written a book and given a TED Talk about her life with schizophrenia.

But these kinds of examples aren’t representative of everyone’s experiences with schizophrenia, says Ballon. “There’s going to be some definite variety there,” he says.

The Takeaway

  • Like many mental health conditions, schizophrenia is often misunderstood, leading to several myths around the disorder.
  • Common myths include that people with schizophrenia are violent, there is no treatment, and multiple personalities are a common symptom. In reality, violence is rare, schizophrenia can be treated, and having multiple personalities relates to a completely different disorder called dissociative personality disorder.
  • Some important schizophrenia facts include that genetics are a key component in developing the condition, marijuana use may increase risk, suicide is higher in people with schizophrenia than in the general population, and delusions are common.

Resources We Trust

Additional reporting by Christina Vogt.

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Angela D. Harper, MD

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Angela D. Harper, MD, is in private practice at Columbia Psychiatric Associates in South Carolina, where she provides evaluations, medication management, and psychotherapy for adults.  

A distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Harper has worked as a psychiatrist throughout her career, serving a large number of patients in various settings, including a psychiatric hospital on the inpatient psychiatric and addiction units, a community mental health center, and a 350-bed nursing home and rehab facility. She has provided legal case consultation for a number of attorneys.

Harper graduated magna cum laude from Furman University with a bachelor's degree and cum laude from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, where she also completed her residency in adult psychiatry. During residency, she won numerous awards, including the Laughlin Fellowship from the American College of Psychiatrists, the Ginsberg Fellowship from the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training, and resident of the year and resident medical student teacher of the year. She was also the member-in-training trustee to the American Psychiatric Association board of trustees during her last two years of residency training.

Harper volunteered for a five-year term on her medical school's admission committee, has given numerous presentations, and has taught medical students and residents. She currently supervises a nurse practitioner. She is passionate about volunteering for the state medical board's medical disciplinary commission, on which she has served since 2015.

She and her husband are avid travelers and have been to over 55 countries and territories.

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Becky Upham

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Becky Upham has worked throughout the health and wellness world for over 25 years. She's been a race director, a team recruiter for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a salesperson for a major pharmaceutical company, a blogger for Moogfest, a communications manager for Mission Health, a fitness instructor, and a health coach.

Upham majored in English at the University of North Carolina and has a master's in English writing from Hollins University.

Upham enjoys teaching cycling classes, running, reading fiction, and making playlists.

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