• Disordered or jumbled thinking which makes it hard to concentrate and to remember things.
• Hearing voices. One or several voices are heard definitely and regularly. The voices are so real that the person may often talk back to them.
• False beliefs that can't be shaken.
• Some people are convinced that they are living a completely different life from the life they are actually living - they may think they are very rich, very powerful, very intelligent, or that they are somebody else. Some people believe that others are trying to harm them.
• A person's emotions may change. They may show inappropriate emotions - laughing at something sad, or appear not to have any emotions at all.
• The loss of a sense of bodily boundaries.
• Inability to experience pleasure.
• Lack of motivation.
• High anxiety.

FACT 1: SCHIZOPHRENIA is a biochemical brain disease which results in disordered thinking, delusions, hallucinations, and a lack of energy and motivation. Because the disease disorders their thoughts, many persons who are seriously ill with schizophrenia do not accept that they need treatment.

FACT 2: SCHIZOPHRENIA exists in all societies, all cultures and all races at the same rate. It is not caused by bad parenting. It strikes one in every 100 people. Based on the present population in Canada, this means that up to 280,000 people will develop schizophrenia, and 27,000 people in Alberta.

FACT 3: SCHIZOPHRENIA is the most disabling single disease of young people. It typically strikes people in their late teens or twenties and usually continues for the rest of their lives. It is commonly referred to as Youth's Greatest Disabler.

FACT 4: SCHIZOPHRENIA treatments are only partially effective and often have very unpleasant side effects. The development of new anti-psychotic medications has given hope to many for whom older medications were ineffective.

FACT 5: SCHIZOPHRENIA drastically affects people's quality of life. Many people in prison have the disease, as do many of the homeless. Forty percent (40%) of people with schizophrenia try to commit suicide; ten percent (10%) succeed.

FACT 6: SCHIZOPHRENIA is a major burden for families as care is off-loaded onto them by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. All governments deny people with schizophrenia proper care when they close hospital psychiatric beds and fail to provide safe affordable housing and appropriate community supports. Families often break up as a result of the stress of trying to cope.

FACT 7: SCHIZOPHRENIA is the most misunderstood disease. It is not 'split' personality or multiple personality. Most people with schizophrenia are not aggressive, dangerous or homicidal. Studies show that with proper treatment these individuals are no more likely to be violent than anyone else.

FACT 8: SCHIZOPHRENIA suffers from very low public awareness. People with schizophrenia and their families suffer as a consequence because of too little care, too little research, too little understanding.

FACT 9: SCHIZOPHRENIA research in Canada is funded at about one-tenth the rate of other major diseases.

FACT 10: SCHIZOPHRENIA is a treatable disease of the brain. Early diagnosis and intervention is crucial. People with schizophrenia are PEOPLE (with schizophrenia).