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Mental health issues have become a global issue. Fennoscandia is no exception. Here I compare the prevalence of Schizophrenia in Finland and Sweden.
According to APA, Schizophrenia is defined as
a psychotic disorder characterized by disturbances in thinking (cognition), emotional responsiveness, and behavior, with an age of onset typically between the late teens and mid-30s. Schizophrenia was first formally described in the late 19th century by Emil Kraepelin, who named it dementia praecox; in 1908, Eugen Bleuler renamed the disorder schizophrenia (Greek, “splitting of the mind”) to characterize the disintegration of mental functions associated with what he regarded as its fundamental symptoms of abnormal thinking and affect. According to DSM–IV–TR, the characteristic disturbances must last for at least 6 months and include at least 1 month of active-phase symptoms comprising two or more of the following: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, or negative symptoms (e.g., lack of emotional responsiveness, extreme apathy). These signs and symptoms are associated with marked social or occupational dysfunction. Some have argued (beginning with Bleuler) that disorganized thinking (see formal thought disorder; schizophrenic thinking) is the single most important feature of schizophrenia, but DSM–IV–TR and its predecessors have not emphasized this feature, at least in their formal criteria. DSM–5 and DSM-5-TR retain essentially the same criteria but emphasizes that delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech must be among the symptoms required for diagnosis. It also eliminates the five distinct subtypes of schizophrenia previously described in DSM–IV–TR: catatonic schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia, residual schizophrenia, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. —schizophrenic adj.And typically, it's considered a neuropsychiatric disease. That is, it has to be treated with medication.
In 2025, a case-study suggested that Schizophrenia could be put into remission with a mix of carnivore and ketogenic diets.
Link to source
Remission is not a cure, it's analogous to switching off your television. It's ready when you are.
I'm a research psychologist by training, investigating various aspects of something called the executive functions – a plethora of 15-18 mental capacities which are unique to our species, unpacks at an early age, and which seem to be dependent on a matrix of micro– and macro nutrients, tryptophan, choline, as well as DHA- and EPA-fats (Ardila, 2008; Baumrind, 1966; Balehegn et al. 2019; Ede, 2019; Lezak, 1982; Österberg, 2020; Ylilauri et al. 2019).
In my quest to answer questions within nutrition psychology – how we think about food and how food influences how we think – I have sometimes used Finland and Sweden as a model.
The rationale for doing that is that what since 1917 has been the republic of Finland, was between ~800 – 1809 the eastern part of Svitjod/the Swedish kingdom. Consequently, the countries share genetics, history, and language. That makes the model similar to a RCT, which is the gold standard in testing.
Previous finding have shown differences in Alzheimer's:
Finland: 20%
Sweden: 10%.
See the whole list of the Finnish challenges (n=37), reported by Finnish government and organizations (Österberg, 2025).
A recent study suggest that eating meat protects you from Alzheimer's (Norgren et al. 2016).
That led to the question: what is the prevalence of schizophrenia in Finland and Sweden respectively?
Response (Google/Gemini):
Finland (prevalence):
Finland Lifetime Prevalence: Approximately 1% of the population. Regional Variation: Studies have found a 3-fold higher prevalence of schizophrenia in Eastern and Northern Finland compared to southwestern Finland.Treatment: Finland has a high usage rate of second-generation antipsychotics, particularly clozapine
Sweden (prevalence):
Lifetime Prevalence: Studies suggest 30,000–40,000 individuals live with schizophrenia, often estimated around 0.2-0.5% for specific diagnoses, but up to 1% for broader spectrum disorders.Treatment: There is a higher reliance on long-acting injectable antipsychotics compared to Finland.
Link to source.
If the numbers are correct, it implies that ~56,000 Finns have contracted Schizophrenia, compared to ~35,000 in Sweden.
But based on the prevalence/population in Sweden, the expected prevalence of Schizophrenia in Finland is ~17,500. That means that 56,000 is >3 times more compared to the expected.
Also noteworthy. The prevalence is higher in regions where people typically speak uralic-finnish.
Ergo. It's reasoble to conclude that like Alzheimer's, the prevalence of Schizophrenia in Finland can be explained by malnutrition.
Read more about food and health:
Österberg (2024). Nutrition psychology. A list of nine popular science articles about food for physical and mental health (2019 – 2024).
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More about my expertise.
Executive coaching for CEOs/managers and workshops to facilitate Organizational Performance, Learning, and Creativity for Problem Solving | Lectures: Nutrition for physical and mental health | Course/lecture: children's emotional and social adjustment and cognitive development | Language training - Swedish | Academy Competency | CV | Teaching skills and experience | Summary of research project | Instagram | Linkedin | YouTube-channel | TikTok | X
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