FACTS:

• Schizophrenia is a disease that strikes young people in their prime.

• The disease distorts the senses, making it very difficult for the individual to tell what is real from what is not real

• Usual age of onset is between 16 and 25.

• Schizophrenia is a medical illness. Period.

• Treatment works!

• Early diagnosis and stabilization on modern treatment can greatly improve prognosis for the illness.

SCHIZOPHRENIA IS NOT RARE: NO ONE IS IMMUNE

• Schizophrenia is found all over the world -- in all races, in all cultures and in all social classes

• It affects 1 in 100 people worldwide. That's approximately 40,000 of our B.C. neighbours -- or 290,000 fellow Canadians

MEN AND WOMEN ARE AFFECTED WITH EQUAL FREQUENCY

• For men, the age of onset for schizophrenia is often ages 16 to 20

• For women, the age of onset is sometimes later -- ages 20 to 30

WE ARE ALL AFFECTED

• More hospital beds in Canada (8%) are occupied by people with schizophrenia than by sufferers of any other medical condition

• The cost to Canadian society due to hospitalization, disability payments, welfare payments, and lost wages ranks in the billions of dollars annually

• Other costs -- such as loss of individual potential, personal anguish, and family hardships -- are impossible to measure.