1064 SCHIZOPHRENIA: UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERIES

Dr Sumaya Mall, senior lecturer, School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand and Dr Shareefa Dalvie, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town

Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder syndrome afflicting about one per cent of the world’s population. Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations and cognitive and functional impairment. The aetiology of schizophrenia is complex and can be attributed to gene environment interactions, with research suggesting cannabis use, childhood trauma, adult stressors and prenatal stress as potential environmental risk factors for predicting the onset of schizophrenia. 

LECTURE TITLES

1. The history and epidemiology of schizophrenia   Dr Mall

2. The neuroscience of schizophrenia Dr Mall

3. Interventions for improving quality of life  Dr Mall  

4. Aetiology of schizophrenia including genetics of schizophrenia Dr Dalvie

5. Environmental risk factors Dr Dalvie     

Recommended reading

Saks, E. 2007. The Center Cannot Hold. New York: Hyperion.

Nasar, S. 1998. A Beautiful Mind. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Torrey, E.F. 2014. Surviving Schizophrenia: A Family Manual. New York: Harper Perennial.