Imagine walking down the road and noticing a group of people talking amongst themselves, and you know for sure that they are planning to kill you, or imagine someone commenting on every move you make, you can hear the fine details of your own actions distinctly, or what if the others could somehow get to know exactly what you are thinking at every moment while you are awake. How does it make you feel? Scary right?!
This is just a small glimpse of what a person suffering with schizophrenia has to put up with because of the illness. Add to this the rejection, discrimination and feelings of helplessness arising from not being understood by your own loved ones. They seem to have a world of their own which is different from the real life but it forms the person’s “Reality” and so he/she responds accordingly. More often than not a person with schizophrenia cannot understand that his “Reality” is not for real and thus lives in complete denial of having an illness.

According to the ICD-10 classificatory system, schizophrenia is characterised in general by fundamental and characteristic distortions of thinking (Delusions) and perception (Hallucinations), and by inappropriate or blunted affect. The prevalence rate of schizophrenia is almost equal in males and females, and begins in the age range of 16-35 years.
Like any other psychological disorder, the aetiology of schizophrenia can also be understood in terms of biopsychosocial aspects. Though the findings are not conclusive, studies suggest an increased level of the neurotransmitter dopamine in people with schizophrenia. It also has strong heritability with a prevalence of upto 50% in identical twins as compared to 1% in the general population. Psychological factors like faulty thinking processes and low stress tolerance have been seen in people with schizophrenia. Studies also suggest that a home environment that is highly critical, hostile or emotional can be a contributing factor in a person who is already vulnerable for developing schizophrenia. In some cases, extreme levels of stress also can trigger the illness in people who are predisposed for schizophrenia.

The process of breathing symbolises the philosophy of a happy life itself; taking in from the surrounding, staying in the here and now, and eventually letting go off it to live on. It’s a smooth, rhythmic, simple, almost effortless process that happens on its own mostly. Although we can get some control over it, it tends to be involuntary for most part of our lives. However, there are many of us who wish to experience such a feeling more often.

Respiratory problems are on the rise, mainly due to increasing pollution levels, erratic weather conditions, and poor air quality all over the world. No one seems immune to these drastic changes as people of all ages, belonging to different socio-economic backgrounds are suffering with various respiratory problems. Even though there are physical reasons for such problems, psychological and emotional factors like – personality traits, temperament, early childhood experiences, coping abilities, and stress management mechanisms can exacerbate or even trigger problems like asthma. Studies suggest a high comorbidity of anxiety disorders, panic attack and even depression in patients suffering from respiratory problems that mostly go unnoticed and eventually affect the overall Quality of Life (QOL) of the individual. The role of psychological factors like misinterpretation of bodily symptoms can be explained through the “Breathlessness-Anxiety-Breathlessness Cycle”. Feeling or an anticipation of breathlessness can make you feel anxious, which in turn would affect the rate of breathing and can be misinterpreted as a sign of some serious respiratory problem which further makes you feel scared and can lead to a faulty coping of avoiding such situations in the future. Thus, the person gets caught in this vicious cycle that hampers his/her QOL significantly.