How To Recognize Important Warning Signs Of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms

Negative symptoms are behaviors that may lose some functionality with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. This may include loss of emotion, lowered amounts of energy, low motivation, difficulty speaking, poor social skills or a lack of interest to socialize, and affective flattening – a blank facial expression, less lively facial movement and a flat voice. The negative symptoms account for many discrepancies in the social lives of those who are diagnosed with schizophrenia. It has been reported that patients who have schizophrenia are more prone to struggle with common daily activities such as showering or brushing their teeth.
Cognitive Symptoms

In recent years cognitive symptoms have become recognized as the third category of symptoms that contribute to schizophrenia. Cognitive symptoms are the changes to the patient’s short-term working memory and thinking, how well they can pay attention and retain information. Other forms of cognitive symptoms may include dementia and attention deficit disorder. Recognizing the cognitive signs may be difficult as they may be gradual and subtle, such as slowly losing interest in hobbies or activities that one used to enjoy or no longer being able to carry out simple instructions without supervision.