Approximately 20% of North Americans will experience a mental illness in their lifetime (Saha, Welham, Chant, & McGrath, 2008). Schizophrenia continues to develop new challenges today and continues to be a complex mental illness. It is a brain disorder that can affect anyone and occurs in any culture, affecting men and women equally and all areas of functioning, including thought, emotion, perception and behavior. Most commonly, schizophrenia affects a person in their late teens and early 20s. However, it can affect children as young as 12 years old or remain dormant in a person until their late 20s (Saha, et al., 2008; Ueland & Rund, 2005). The cause of schizophrenia is not completely known. However, it shows that schizophrenia can be caused by the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Biological interpretations have dominated in previous studies. However, neither biological nor environmental categories are completely determinant, and there is no guarantee that one can confirm whether or not schizophrenia will develop. Symptoms of Schizophrenia Symptoms of schizophrenia vary in severity and consistency. The most common symptom that people with schizophrenia experience is the inability to distinguish between real events, hallucinations, and dreams. Some other common signs and symptoms are anger, tendency to argue, intensity in interacting with others, and violent behavior. They may appear suddenly or gradually over a prolonged period (Saha, et al., 2008). Symptoms vary between individuals, and for periods of time a person with schizophrenia may have no symptoms before experiencing a psychotic episode...... middle of paper...... Resources, 70, 147—174 .Pilling S., Bebbington P., Kuipers E., Garety P., Geddes JR, Martindale B., Orbach G. and Morgan C., (2002). Psychological treatments in schizophrenia, II: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of social skills training and cognitive recovery. Psychology Medicine, 32, 783—791Roder V., Mueller DR, Mueser KT, and Brenner, HD, (2006). Integrated psychological therapy (IPT) for schizophrenia: is it effective? Schizophrenia Bulletin, 32(1), S81—S93.Saha S., Welham J., Chant D., and McGrath J., (2008). Modeling measures of illness frequency in the epidemiology of schizophrenia. Journal of the Schizophrenia International Research Society, 104(1), 246-254.Ueland T, & Rund, BR, (2005). Cognitive remediation for adolescents with early-onset psychosis: A 1-year follow-up study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 111,193—201.