{"id":55248,"date":"2025-06-17T03:04:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T03:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/?p=55248"},"modified":"2025-06-17T03:04:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T03:04:40","slug":"what-schizophrenia-takes-away-and-how-people-can-reclaim-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/what-schizophrenia-takes-away-and-how-people-can-reclaim-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What Schizophrenia Takes Away and How People Can Reclaim It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Schizophrenia<\/strong> is one of the most challenging psychiatric conditions to understand and treat. While many are aware of its more visible or \u201cpositive symptoms\u201d<\/strong> such as hallucinations<\/strong>, paranoia<\/strong>, and disorganized thinking,<\/strong> there is another, quieter side to the illness that deeply affects those living with it: the negative symptoms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These negative symptoms<\/strong> reflect what schizophrenia removes<\/strong> from a person’s emotional and social life. They include a loss of motivation<\/strong>, reduced emotional expression<\/strong>, and withdrawal from social interaction<\/strong>. This can manifest as a blank facial expression, monotone speech, or an increased preference for solitude. These symptoms are often misunderstood and can be more disabling than the more noticeable ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ray Kotwicki<\/strong>, a psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer at Hightop Health, explains that people with schizophrenia often describe feeling as if they are \u201cbehind glass<\/strong>\u201d able to observe others but unable to connect with them emotionally. He considers this sense of disconnection one of the defining features of negative symptoms<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This disconnection creates a painful paradox. While social support<\/strong> is known to be one of the strongest predictors of recovery, negative symptoms<\/strong> can make it harder for someone to connect with that support system. According to Dr. Kotwicki, this often leads to misinterpretation: \u201cIt may appear that the person isn\u2019t trying or doesn\u2019t care, but that\u2019s a misreading<\/strong> of the illness. What we\u2019re seeing is not a lack of effort, but a reflection of how the brain is functioning\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Families Need to Understand<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For families, watching a loved one become emotionally distant can be heartbreaking. But Dr. Kotwicki emphasizes that this does not mean the person has given up or no longer values their relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen someone shows negative symptoms<\/strong>, it doesn\u2019t mean they lack hope or effort\u2014it means their neurobiology<\/strong> is interfering with their ability to express it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Families must recognize that their loved one is still present<\/strong> and still capable<\/strong> of connection, even if it\u2019s harder to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paths Toward Healing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Although negative symptoms<\/strong> have long been considered resistant to treatment, there is reason for optimism with emerging interventions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS):<\/strong> This non-invasive method uses magnetic pulses to stimulate brain activity. While initially used for depression<\/strong> and OCD<\/strong>, recent studies have shown TMS to be promising in reducing negative symptoms<\/strong> in schizophrenia (Lorentzen et al., 2022).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • New Medication Classes:<\/strong> Unlike traditional antipsychotics<\/strong> that target dopamine<\/strong>, new drugs are being developed that act on muscarinic receptors<\/strong>, offering a fresh approach to treating negative symptoms<\/strong> (Kidambi et al., 2023). Some long-acting atypical antipsychotics<\/strong> have also shown benefit (Citrome et al., 2025).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Psychotherapy:<\/strong> Evidence-based therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)<\/strong> and Cognitive Remediation (CR)<\/strong> have been found to help reduce negative symptoms<\/strong>, particularly when combined with traditional care (Riehle et al., 2020).
    <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    A Message of Hope<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    As our conversation ended, Dr. Kotwicki left me with a powerful reminder: \u201cPeople with schizophrenia are doing the best they can, given how they experience the world, their emotional state, and their genetics<\/strong>. The more we understand negative symptoms<\/strong>, the more compassionate and supportive we can be\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Schizophrenia is one of the most challenging psychiatric conditions to understand and treat. While many are aware of its more visible or \u201cpositive symptoms\u201d such as hallucinations, paranoia, and disorganized thinking, there is another, quieter side to the illness that deeply affects those living with it: the negative symptoms. These negative symptoms reflect what schizophrenia […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55248"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55248\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55253,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55248\/revisions\/55253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/psychologydictionary.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}