Hyperspace Schizophrenia

Hyperspace Schizophrenia is one of the most common affliction of the modern Galaxy, one that can afflict pretty much every type of being. Sapient, sentients, animals, sufficiently advanced machines, even Dragons. Every being that possess a mind can and will contract this disease in right circumstances.
The word 'schizophrenia' is actually a term rather outdated. Normal schizophrenia was mostly defeated long ago. Its exact mechanicsm and causes were understood, and the treatment is practically guaranteed to work. HS is more troublesome. Unlike its more dangerous and deadly cousin, a Void Schizophrenia, it can be treated if one reacts to first symptoms, but it is much harder than even the most dangerous subtypes of common Schizophrenia.
It is also known under many regional names, for example Hyperinsanity, Hyperspace-induced Insanity, Hyperspace Syndrom, and so on.

Transmission & Vectors

Hyperspace Syndrom cannot transmit from a person to person (thankfully). Instead, it is contracted when a person spends too much time in the Hyperspace without spending a sufficiently long cool down period in the Realspace.

Causes

Hyperspace Schizophrenia occurs when a person spends too much time in Hyperspace. It is one of the factors contributing to the general slowness of journeys through the Galaxy, since every manned ship requires to spend at least some time in Realspace after every jump through Hyperspace. It begins normally after a single week, but can be accelerated by watching the Hyperspace not through a sophisticated computer systems that filter every visual input into an absolutely graphicless form.
Leaving the ship in Hyperspace (for example for emergency repairs) can and most likely will jumpstart the syndrom. And exact length of exposure that is enough to trigger the Schizophrenia depends on the current state of the Hyperspace. Generally speaking the bigger the spatial compression, the faster the insanity starts. Especially in hyperspace anomalies even few minutes of exposure can and probably will change a person behaviour.

Symptoms

All sapient and sentient species - be in organics, machines, or Dragons - goes through more or less similar number of symptoms, no matter how different they are.
Phase One symptoms include: anxiety and nervousness, and agression. The last one requires a sufficiently strong trigger (but much weaker than before the disease started and not in all cases). They commonly mark the period when full recovery is possible and, in fact, quite easy. Leaving Hyperspace is normally enough.
Phase Two symptoms include: Paranoia, neurosis, auditory hallucinations, and the repetitive feeling of seeing something with a corner of the eye. Increased number and severity of dreams. The people suffering from it can and will be agressive, both to healthy people and those suffering from the same disease. The Syndrome is still treatable at this point, but it requires a long treatment and in most cases it will remain around until death, with the treatment merely succeeding in suppressing the symptoms.
Phase Three symptoms include: Paranoidal Schizophrenia-like symptoms, increased agression and nightmares (reported to be 'very disturbing' and 'terrifying'). 23% of infected reports an existence of a 'stalker', a constant feeling of some malignant entity following them with nefarious purposes. Exact description of him vary. Brain autopsy done at this point indicates that the its internal structure undergoes severe changes, including the neuron structure reforming itself completely. This process is impossible to reverse at this point.

Treatment

Phase One Syndrome can be treated merely by leaving a Hyperspace for a while. One to three days, depending on the severity of the case. Phase Two requires many years long treatment with a variety of psychotropic drugs that in most cases merely suppress the symptoms. Merely 25% of infected actually makes a full recovery.
Phase Three is untreatable. Depending on local policies, mercy kill or lifelong isolation are employed.

Prognosis

Hyperspace Schizophrenia of Third Phase is directly fatal only in 19% of cases, which manifest as death by cerebral hemorhage. Another 67% commits suicide, About 14% is either killed or isolated until death. Around 1% of cases ends with full recovery, the victim's mind supposedly managing to adapt to the Hyperspace. The changes to their brains are severe, and both personality changes and memory loss are common.
The 'reward' for this 1% is increased attunement with archeotechs, a range of seemingly supernatural powers (telekinesis, telepathy and so on) and complete immunity to Hyperspace Syndrome. On the other hand, they report feeling slightly 'wrong' while in Realspace, and while in Hyperspace they often see or hear the 'Stalker' for the rest of their life.

Prevention

All of hyperspace-capable ships have necessary protocols that include spending at least a single day in Realspace per week in Hyperspace. Which works quite fine and manages to prevent the Syndrome from spreading.
Because of that, it is commonly a problem only in more extreme circumstances.

Epidemiology

Common case for mariners and passengers on ships stranded in Hyperspace, forced to escape (or pursue) other ships for long, anomaly explorers whose exploration went wrong, various castaways and so on. It cannot be inherited nor transmitted, making epidemiology of it a rather straightforward thing.

Type

Neurological

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon