Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder that affects approximately 2.2 million people (Lumpur, 2005). As a child, this author did not understand the term “schizophrenic.” All that was known was that a sick person did not appear to be sick but had a mental disorder inside him. The author's previous thoughts on schizophrenia were unclear, this report will describe schizophrenia and its causal factors, as well as descriptions of how schizophrenia is diagnosed and treated. Schizophrenia is a mixture of signs and symptoms that can be both positive and negative (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Signs and symptoms of the disorder may be indicators of social or occupational dysfunction (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). A person who has previously been diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder may be diagnosed as schizophrenic only if signs of delusions or hallucinations are present (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The symptoms of schizophrenia are noted to lack a range of "cognitive and emotional dysfunctions, inferential thinking, language and communication, behavioral monitoring, fluency and productivity of thought and speech, hedonic capacity, volition and drive, and attention" (American Psychiatric Association , 2000). ).Whereas commonly used terminology classifies schizophrenia as a set of symptoms that include “hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, withdrawal, blunted emotional responses, and memory impairment” (Ledgerwood, Ewald, & Cochran, 2003). The onset of schizophrenia among males occurs in late adolescence, while females are in their mid-twenties (Ledgerwood et al., 2003). Schizophrenia was formally known as "brain damage", but is now commonly... the focus of an article... in Biology and Medicine, 46(3), 317-48. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230489658?accountid=34899Lumpur, K. (2005). What is schizophrenia? Retrieved from Sunday Mail: Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/325080490?accountid=34899Mortensen, P.B., Pedersen, M.G., & Pedersen, C.B. (2010). Psychiatric family history and risk of schizophrenia in Denmark: which mental disorders are relevant? Psychological Medicine, 40(2), 201-10. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291709990419Palmer, B. W., Dawes, S. E., & Heaton, R. K. (2009). What do we know about the neuropsychological aspects of schizophrenia? Neuropsychology Review, 19(3), 365-84. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11065-009-9109-yWhat is schizophrenia? (2013). Retrieved from the National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/index.shtml