The Schizophrenia Prognosis

In summary, fewer than 20 percent of patients with a first episode of schizophrenia have a good prognosis. That means that fewer than 20 out of every 100 schizophrenia patients are likely to marry, have children, and keep a job - behaviors that most consider central to having a normal, productive life.

Unfortunately, the majority of people with schizophrenia experience multiple episodes of the illness.

For these individuals, keeping a job and interacting with other people is often overwhelming. Approximately one-half of schizophrenia patients become so impaired that their social and occupational functioning is severely limited. These patients usually never marry, and they are unable to work or go to school. They may spend a lot of time in a psychiatric hospital or under the care of a mental health professional. All schizophrenia patients benefit from a supportive family network and an attentive treatment team.

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Pain Insensitivity and Schizophrenia

Physical pain serves a very useful purpose. When our bodies
are in pain, it signals to us that we may be sick or in danger.
Perhaps you've run the shower too hot and entered it only to
have to step back from the scorching spray. In this case, the
minor pain you feel from the hot water tells you to stand back
and turn the temperature down in order to avoid being burned.

Although many patients with schizophrenia experience
physical pain just as you do, some patients appear to have an
especially high tolerance for painful stimuli. Emil Krapelin,
the Austrian physician who was one of the first to identify what
is now known as schizophrenia, observed that "the patients
often become less sensitive to bodily discomfort; they endure
uncomfortable positions, pricks of a needle, injuries, with-
out thinking much about it." Indeed, recent observations
from physicians include case reports describing patients with
schizophrenia who experienced serious physical problems
but reported little accompanying pain. Such reports include
a patient who suffered a perforated bowel and reported
little pain and tenderness during examination, a patient who
experienced a ruptured appendix, and a patient who broke
his ankle.