The "Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia"... The facts

Good Tuesday to all... Today's discussion is about the "positive symptoms" of schizophrenia.  The term positive does not mean that they are "good" symptoms, it is just the term that is used to decifer between the positive (most dramatic, easiest to see, and the ones thjat usually get the most attention), and the negative (cognitive issues, lack of motivation, etc) symptoms. 
The positive symptoms are the ones most close to psychosis or actual psychotic symptoms.  Meaning, symptoms that make a person out of touch with reality.  Generally speaking, this is a somewhat temporary state, as there usually some type of intervention when this occurs (such as hospitalization, medication treatment, etc).  Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, distorted thinking, extreme paranoia in some cases, distorted perception and the like. 
Medications, specifically, anti-psychotic medications, such as Geodon, Seroquel, Risperidone, and many others, are used to control the positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia. 
Symptoms may appear slowly over time, or may show up suddenly and intensely, depending on the person and their particular situation. 
Hallucinations: false sensory perceptions.  These can be frightening, dramatic, and may affect all of the senses. 
Auditory hallucinations, which are hallucinations regarding sound. Common auditory hallucinations are hearing voices, and other sounds.  I have had many tell me of hearing different sounds, such as car doors slamming, doors slamming, music, train sounds, animal sounds, among many others.
Visual hallucinations are hallucinations of sight.  Seeing something that is not actually there.  In my own experience, I have had these (as well as auditory) hallucinations, and they included "seeing" ghosts, the "devil", robed individuals, among other things.  Sometimes the visions that are seen by those who are afflicted with schizophrenia are of some special meaning to them (this can go for auditory hallucinations as well). 
Olfactory hallucinations are hallucinations that affect the sense of smell.  A person afflicted with schizophrenia may experience this type of hallucination, smelling odors that do not exist, ranging from foods, to foul odors, and many others. If others are present, they do not smell these odors, as this is specific to the hallucination of the person afflicted.
Tactile Hallucinations are hallucinations in which the person experiences the presence of or touch of others or some thing, when there is actually no one there.  ( Commonly, those who have co-existing disorders of schizophrenia and drug abuse feel things such as bugs crawling upon them). 
The most common type of hallucination is the AUDITORY hallucination.  Many begin as whispers, then become more clear, and become more understandable to the person experiencing the hallucination.  By far, the auditory hallucinations can be the most frightening, in my opinion, as with my experience, hearing voices "telling you" what to do, how to act, etc., is very frightening.  They can be paralyzing, and one with severe hallucinations of this kind, can easily surround their existence around what the "voices" are telling them to do or how to be.  Often times, the voices are threatening, demanding, and accusatory.  Known as "command hallucinations", these voices seem very real to the person experiencing them, as if the "person(voice)" is really there, telling them whatever it is they say to them.  Often times, when a person is experiencing this type of hallucination, they will seem to be "in their own world" because they are caught up in the contant badgering of the voices.  For some, these voices are persistent, for others, they may come and go intermittenly, depending on the person.
Stress and stressful situations may cause a worsening of auditory hallucinations, or they can become more intense for no apparent reason at all. Anti-psychotic medications tends to decrease or eliminate these voices entirely, or at the very least, reduces the concern and fear of them in the individual. 
Delusions:  Delusions are beliefs that are false, however, the person with schizophrenia, believes this to be true.  Regardless of the evidence or explanation, the schizophrenic will not change their belief, and will continue to inssist that this delusion is real. Often, the schizophrenic experiencing a delusion  believes that someone or a group of people are "after" them, or want to hurt or even control them.  Paranoid delusions are delusions that are coupled with feelings of suspiciousness (paranoia).  Often, this suspiciousness is most prevalent when the person with schizophrenia is around others, for instance, at a grocery store, and the schizophrenic with paranoia believes others are looking at them and talking about them, maybe even "plotting" against them.
Other delusions may involve a sense of unlimited power that the individual feels. They may believe that they have abilities that other human beings do not possess....these are "delusions of grandeur", and they are often associated with religious beliefs (such as believing he/she is Jesus Christ or some other religious figure).
Often times, all of these, the hallucinations (auditory, visual, etc) and delusions seemingly work together to "prove" to the person afflicted that what he/she believes is true.
It is recommended not to confront the person who is in this state.  It often times will worsen the situation.  It may prove wise to just not confirm these beliefs.  Psychotic thinking, the result of a brain disorder and neurologial issue, is not something to try to make sense of, as there is no point in doing so.  The best thing to do if you or someone you love or know is experiencing this disturbed type of thinking, is to get them psychological/psychiatric help. 
Disorganized Thinking: Affects speech and or writing.  A schizophrenic may not be able to carry on an organized conversation.  Typically, the person afflicted will jump from one topic to another, often with the topics being unrelated to one another; say words/make up words that do not exist (called NEOLOGISMS); Continuously repeat words and/or thoughts; bounce around from one word to another that sound similar but have no relation to one another.  (On a personal note, this positive symptom can be very frustrating, not only for the person(s) involved in the conversation, but for the schizophrenic themselves, especially when he/she is at the point in their treatment where they recognize that they do this.  I understand this very well). 
These are the basic "Positive Symptoms" associated with schizophrenia.  Further discussion on how to cope with these symptoms and issues will be discussed in later blogs.  I hope this brings an understanding to the symptomology of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.