Just as we now have the concept of autism spectrum disorder, psychosis (typically characterised by distressing hallucinations, delusions, and confused thoughts) is also argued to exist along a continuum and in degrees.
Another problem is that schizophrenia is portrayed as a "hopeless chronic brain disease". As a result, some people given this diagnosis, and some parents, have been told cancer would have been preferable, as it would be easier to cure.
Yet this view of schizophrenia is only possible by excluding people who do have positive outcomes. For example, some who recover are effectively told that "it mustn't have been schizophrenia after all"...
Many medical conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, can be reached by multiple routes that nevertheless impact the same biological pathways and respond to the same treatment.
Schizophrenia could be like this. Indeed, it has been argued that the many different causes of schizophrenia discussed above may all have a common final effect: increased levels of dopamine."
Not a super well-written article but interesting.
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