I became intrigued. Are there really that many people meeting the criteria and receptive enough to respond to an advertisement like that? I learned more about the illness in my Psychopathology class and began watching for the symptoms I learned about in class while on the train during my commute to and from school. The people on the train with visible signs and symptoms of psychosis started feeling less foreign to me. Instead of having feelings of discomfort and fear upon seeing them, I began feeling compassion and understanding.
My heart truly breaks for individuals with schizophrenia. Can you imagine having experienced a normal childhood, having hopes and dreams for your future, and then having your entire plan shattered after having your first psychotic break during young adulthood? Granted, it does not have to be debilitating. There are plenty of people that can function in the world with schizophrenia thanks to a lot of great medications. But for many of the people I work with everyday at the hospital, those with chronic acute mental illness, it is debilitating. They often don't stay on their medications or their illness is so severe that the medications can't quite do enough.
Working with my patients has taught me a great deal about Schizophrenia. I have learned that the illness can manifest in many different forms. It is as different from one person to the next as we are individuals and all different presenting with our own personalities. It is an interesting and complicated illness involving our brain, our defense mechanisms, our self-esteem....
My hope is that by writing this now, others can have as much compassion and empathy for those with the illness as I do now. I want to humanize and educate about the symptoms they experience. The following are some of the possible symptoms an individual with schizophrenia might have. However, not every person with schizophrenia experiences the same symptoms to the same degree.
- Hallucinations - these can be visual, auditory, tactile, or olfactory in nature. The individual sees, hears, feels, or smells things that are not really there. Can you imagine the negative thoughts about ourselves that we all have manifesting into voices constantly reminding us of our short fallings? Voices telling you that your worthless, good for nothing, that you should commit suicide...
- Delusions - these are false beliefs that an individual has. For instance a woman might think she is the daughter of a famous person. A man might think he is pregnant. An individual might believe he or she came to the earth from another planet. Many times I have come across individuals with delusions of grandeur and wondered if those false beliefs are their brain's way of protecting them from reality. As an outsider, this would be the best of the symptoms to have, to really truly believe that you are an important and famous person who has accomplished much in their lifetime.
- Disorganized Thoughts - have you ever woken up from a dream in a stupor, not able to figure out what was reality and what was part of the dream? Have you ever tried to figure out the answer to a problem in the space between conscious thought and dreamland? Imagine being in that space in your waking life as well.
What are your thoughts? Has this been helpful? What are your experiences with Schizophrenia?
Please check out A Burden to be Well, a NPR piece I heard a few months ago about the siblings of those with Schizophrenia.
