Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Symptoms of Schizophrenia fall into major categories. There are positive, negative, and cognitive. A person with the illness may suffer from some or all of these following symptoms. These symptoms can be more observable depending on if the person is getting the proper treatment and medications. 

Positive Symptoms: are usually behaviors not seen in people without the illness. This is when schizophrenics can not distinguish between reality and what they are imagining. This includes:

• Hallucinations- things a person can sense using their five senses (hear, see, touch/feel, smell, and taste) that others can not. For example, the most common is hearing voices that usually tell them that someone is watching and wants to harm them.
• Delusions- something that the person believes but is not real or logical and in most cases has been proven not to be. For example, a schizophrenic may believe that someone can control their behavior with magnetic waves.
• Neologism- making up words without a meaning

Negative Symptoms: disruptions of normal behavior or emotion. These symptoms often get recognized as depression which makes it harder to differentiate between the two. These symptoms include:

• Flat affect- not showing facial movements when talking or talking in a dull toned voice
• Not being interested in everyday life
• Social withdrawal or very little interaction
• Difficulty taking care of themselves

Cognitive Symptoms: symptoms involving the thought process. These symptoms are difficult to recognize like negative symptoms but can be detected by a series of tests.

• Poor executive functioning-  inability to understand information and use it to make decisions.
• Trouble focusing or paying attention
• Poor working memory- inability to use information right after learning it
• Difficulty understanding the environment
• Difficulty remembering simple tasks

http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/schizophrenia-symptoms
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml#part4