Schizophrenia a long-term mental disorder involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behaviour, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships and moving into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation. Roughly 1.1 percent of adults in the United States live with schizophrenia, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

A survey conducted by Rethink Mental Illness showed that the condition is widely misunderstood. One in 100 people is affected by schizophrenia during their life, but 45% of those surveyed thought the illness was much more common. Half mistakenly thought the illness was defined by a split personality and a quarter believed it definitely led to violent behaviour. Myths related to this illness are really dangerous. The new campaign conducted by the same organization has different results.

Along with delusions and hallucinations, though, individuals with schizophrenia may experience blunted emotions, low motivation, disorganized speech, and a lack of desire to form social relationships. They also can have difficulty maintaining attention and performing certain cognitive tasks.

Royal College of Psychiatrists says on its website that it isn't true that someone with schizophrenia can appear perfectly normal at one moment, and change into a different person the next. There's a list of myths that need to be busted.

People's attitude towards this needs to be changed. The Rethink Schizophrenia campaign said the illness can affect other aspects of life too - for example, people with schizophrenia die 15 to 20 years earlier than the rest of the population on average.

People suffering from this illness are not given employment even if they are willing to work. The reason being physical health problems are often missed or attributed to mental illness, and the side-effects of medication can cause complications. Such myths have stopped people from getting jobs, forming relationships and getting access to the healthcare they needed.

It is thought that people with schizophrenia have split personalities. This is not true. It's only because this myth likely originated because the word “schizo” means split. People with schizophrenia are far more likely to be harmed by other people than other people are to be harmed by them, the psychiatrists say.

Brian Dow, director of external affairs at Rethink Mental Illness, said: "It's about time we all got to grips with what schizophrenia is and what it isn't. Schizophrenia can be treated and managed, just like many other illnesses. It's not a dirty word or, worse, a term of abuse. The symptoms of schizophrenia don't fit neatly into a box, everyone will experience it differently," he said.

Prof Wendy Burn, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said “it was astounding that schizophrenia was still so widely misunderstood. To tackle the stigma that so many living with schizophrenia face, we have a huge task ahead of us in informing and educating the public".

Although it's true that schizophrenia cannot be cured, it can be successfully treated. Medication, rehabilitation practices, and psychosocial therapies can help individuals with schizophrenia lead independent and productive lives. In fact, with proper treatment, many people with schizophrenia appear to be completely healthy.