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Schizophrenia is at times mistakenly referred to by some as split-personality or even multiple personality, which is incorrect. Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder characterized by impairments in perception of reality, disorganized thinking, delusions and hallucinations. People with schizophrenia may hear voices that other people don't hear, may believe that people are plotting to harm them, or may be reading their mind. These types of frightening thoughts can cause withdrawal, fearfulness and severe agitation.

The symptoms of schizophrenia are divided into three categories, which are;

Positive symptoms: Unusual perceptions and thoughts such as hallucinations, disordered thoughts and delusions.

Negative symptoms: Loss or decrease in the ability to speak, to make plans, express emotion or to find enjoyment in everyday life. These symptoms are harder to recognize and can sometimes be mistaken for depression.

Cognitive symptoms: Problems with attention,certain types of memory and the ability to function and make plans.

The most common treatments for schizophrenia include anti-psychotic medication, vocational training, cognitive behavioral therapy and support groups. With good and consistent treatment, people with schizophrenia can lead a productive and quality life.

As I mentioned earlier, schizophrenia is sometimes mistakenly referred to as split-personality and this incorrect reference is also mistakenly applied to those with multiple personalities. Multiple Personality Disorder is now called Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID. DID is a type of psychogenic amnesia and through this amnesia the person is able to repress traumatic memories or events over a period of time. This is considered a fragmentation of one's self and experiences from the past
and by developing "alters" (who are other personalities) the person with DID has these alters hold various traumatic memories that the host or core personality finds too painful to live with. DID nearly always develops during early childhood years when a child is experiencing some type of severe abuse, but it's also been known to develop in adults who have gone through a severe trauma. To put it simply, it's a very elaborate coping mechanism. People with DID do not have personalities that are split nor are they possessed in any way, as has been the dangerous perception by some people.

Two characteristics of DID are depersonalization and derealization. Depersonalization is a distortion of the perception of one's reality

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