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1. About 2.4 million Americans currently suffer with schizophrenia, and roughly one percent of the population will develop the disease at some point in their lifetime, according to the NIMH.

2. The number of reported cases is split between men and women, although schizophrenia tends to appear earlier for men—usually in the late teens or early 20s—compared to women, who generally begin to show signs of trouble in their 20s or early 30s. Onset of schizophrenia is rare before puberty and very uncommon after age 45.

3. People with schizophrenia tend to have psychotic symptoms, such as hearing voices when no one is speaking or insisting that other people are listening to their thoughts or attempting to control them. Many people with schizophrenia have active psychotic episodes, a state where hallucinations and/or delusions occur and they lose touch with reality. Most people with schizophrenia experience at least one relapse after their first such episode. Other early signs of the disease include increasing social withdrawal and loss of interest in normal pursuits, unusual behavior or a decrease in overall functioning, often before the delusions and hallucinations begin. These are often the first warning signs that alert friends and family to a problem.

4. Genetics appears to play a role in schizophrenia. However, genetics alone does not explain the disease. An identical twin of someone with schizophrenia has between a 40 percent and 65 percent chance of developing the illness, notes the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), while children who have a first-degree relative with the disease have about a 10 percent risk of developing it themselves. People with a second-degree relative, such as an aunt, grandparent or cousin, also have an increased risk. Genetic factors play a role in an estimated 75 to 80 percent of schizophrenia cases.

5. Researchers find that multiple genes are involved in the risk for schizophrenia, but they are not the only cause. Other factors, such as prenatal difficulties (including viral infections and complications around the time of birth), also appear to influence the development of the disease. Researchers also suspect that the disease may be the result of inappropriate connections between neurons in the brain that form during fetal development or puberty, times of significant changes in the brain.

6. The most baffling part of diagnosing schizophrenia is that many of the symptoms can be misconstrued and associated with other mental disorders, or the individual may have coexisting medical or mental conditions.

7. Psychiatrists often diagnose schizophrenia when someone has had active symptoms of the disorder, such as a psychotic episode that includes delusions and hallucinations, for at least a month, with other symptoms, such as decline in functioning and disturbed thought, lasting six months or longer.

8. Schizophrenia appears to improve and worsen in cycles. When it improves, the person suffering from the disease may appear perfectly normal. Unfortunately, this is when many people decide to stop taking their medication and relapse. However, during the acute or psychotic phase, individuals with schizophrenia think without logical reasoning and may lose perception of who they or others around them are.

9. Treatments for schizophrenia are usually linked to the clinical phases of the disorder, with different medications prescribed during an acute phase (which involves a psychotic episode), stabilizing and stable phases and recovery phase. The best treatment blends a combination of antipsychotic medications with psychosocial interventions such as supportive psychotherapy, family participation in therapy and psychosocial and vocational rehabilitation.