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"   Question My father&amp;#039;s showing a lot of signs of schizophrenia at the moment. He&amp;#039;s 61, and he had a fall at work four years ago that&amp;#039;s resulted in his retirement.  He won&amp;#039;t go for a drink in his local village because he&amp;#039;s sure everyone is talking about him, and he also thinks people have been taking photos of him.  I don&amp;#039;t know how to raise the subject with him because I feel this will just provoke the problem further.  What&amp;#039;s the best way to tackle this issue?    Answer While these symptoms certainly are of suspicion \u2013 they may or may not be paranoia.  I don&amp;#039;t hear other symptoms that would make me think of schizophrenia.  While paranoia certainly is a feature, there are usually other symptoms too \u2013 such as hearing or seeing unusual things, and other intrusive and troubling bizarre thoughts, which he doesn&amp;#039;t appear to have.  Also, it would be unusual for someone to develop schizophrenia at your father&amp;#039;s age. The usual time that it shows itself is either when someone is in their 20s, or very late in life.  A more likely diagnosis is depression \u2013 especially given the circumstances.  But the symptoms are worrying, and they warrant a full psychiatric assessment.  He has obviously had quite a blow to his self-esteem \u2013 this could be the basis of it.  The best way to deal with it is to express your concern to him, and say you&amp;#039;re worried that he&amp;#039;s becoming depressed.  See if he&amp;#039;ll talk about it at all.  I&amp;#039;d try to reassure him that his current experience of life could be better, and he should see his GP \u2013 who can then assess the situation and make a referral if it&amp;#039;s felt appropriate.  Yours sincerely  The NetDoctor Medical Team Last updated 04.01.2012 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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