"I saw myself in different bodies...The night nurse came in and sat under the shaded lamp in the quiet ward. I recognized her as me, and I watched for some time quite fascinated; I had never had an outside view of myself before. In the morning several of the patients having breakfast were me. I recognized them by the way they held their knives and forks." - Patient with Schizophrenia
It goes without saying that Schizophrenia is one of the worst diseases known to us. There isn't a single person on this earth I wish to experience this devastating disease of the mind, no matter their degree of cruel intent. The thought alone of losing control of my mind puts me in a place of absolute fear and total appreciation for my mental well being. As a person who works in mental health it is important I interact with patients consistently with some underlying knowledge of their battle; that no matter what they say or do to hurt themselves, myself or another person, they are NOT at fault. Their mind is diseased. With my accumulated experiences of studying, working and volunteering with a variety of physical and psychological ailments, I often pretend to induce myself into a patient's experience. I've practiced the idea of being paralysed and unable to hug my sister or have children. I've imagined having such low functioning autism I couldn't express to my social worker that the tone of her voice hurts my ears. I'm to the point of frustration I start hitting and scratching her face. Last but not least, I have consumed myself in a world of hallucinations and delusions with screaming, furious and menacing voices, straining to identify whether my right hand actually belongs to my body and deeply contemplating to fly down a flight of stairs (because I believe I have the ability to float momentarily). Such a practice puts me in my place. I am left humbled, ashamed at the reflection of my own melancholic youth. If I had known the degree of suffering one enters in when they cannot use their mind...I digress...
With my little experiments to "experience" the tumultuous world of a person with Schizophrenia, I become more aware of the integral need for us all to understand bizarre behaviour. Our society has shunned mental illness for eons and only recently have we come to comprehend, embrace and support mental illness, so thankfully to our medical advances of western society. We have so far identified what a brain with Schizophrenia looks like with structural and neuropathological changes and the specific electrical and neurochemical abnormalities (particularly with dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, norepinephrine and GABA). Beyond the brain we have interesting statistics that tell us people with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia are disproportionately born in the spring and winter, are born and raised disproportionately in urban areas and have had some in utero/birth complications and an inverse correlation with rheumatoid arthritis. Keep in mind the aforementioned are statistics, not confirmed facts on the disease. The causes of Schizophrenia are unclear but many theories brought forward give quite elegant explanations of this disease. The ones standing high on the theoretical pedestals are Genetics, Neurochemical and Developmental. Others that follow closely below are Infectious/Immune, Nutritional, Endocrine and further more others which are completely obsolete (such theories like masturbation, demons, bad mothers and families). Although we still have no one 'true' theory of the cause, the most reasonable explanation seems to be a marriage of 2 or even 3 theories that are best described like this: A person born with epigenetic 'mistakes' (minor variations in genes) situated in a vulnerable environment and experience a trauma makes them susceptible to the disease. (More simply put, it's that Genes + Environment argument we so often see!)
I could write for hours on what I'm learning about the etiology of Schizophrenia but I know the more I write the less people will read (this is a blog after all) so I must refocus on the point of this entry: Empathy. Regardless of how one gets Schizophrenia, lets focus on the general idea of faulty brain parts that as a whole express symptoms which are unfortunately shunned by society. Despite our awareness of the disease we somehow fail to recognize that these people are victims just like a person with Parkinson's, Epilepsy and other brain diseases and are not to be seen as lazy, stupid, 'born bad', or crazy.
If you are curious to dip into the mind of someone with Schizophrenia, I encourage you to listen to the audio simulation (link below). It is a 3.5 minute simulation of VERY COMMON auditory hallucinations (several voices in this case). Listen to it once, then listen to it again while doing a simple activity like conversing with a friend or writing out a grocery list.
Please note that the recording contains content that may be disturbing. Please also note that if you listen to it, you have the privilege of pressing stop while others do not.
Audio Hallucinations Simulation
Hopefully after listening to the recording you will think with a little more compassion towards the person on the subway or street who shouts at 'nothing', who giggles to themselves, who doesn't recognize their need for proper hygiene, who is mute, who is spitting out words in a nonsensical way or just sits numbly on the sidewalk. Next time you observe this behaviour, remind yourself the person is merely responding to their reality; what they see, feel, think, smell, taste and touch (or lack thereof) is REAL. No question.
With my little experiments to "experience" the tumultuous world of a person with Schizophrenia, I become more aware of the integral need for us all to understand bizarre behaviour. Our society has shunned mental illness for eons and only recently have we come to comprehend, embrace and support mental illness, so thankfully to our medical advances of western society. We have so far identified what a brain with Schizophrenia looks like with structural and neuropathological changes and the specific electrical and neurochemical abnormalities (particularly with dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, norepinephrine and GABA). Beyond the brain we have interesting statistics that tell us people with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia are disproportionately born in the spring and winter, are born and raised disproportionately in urban areas and have had some in utero/birth complications and an inverse correlation with rheumatoid arthritis. Keep in mind the aforementioned are statistics, not confirmed facts on the disease. The causes of Schizophrenia are unclear but many theories brought forward give quite elegant explanations of this disease. The ones standing high on the theoretical pedestals are Genetics, Neurochemical and Developmental. Others that follow closely below are Infectious/Immune, Nutritional, Endocrine and further more others which are completely obsolete (such theories like masturbation, demons, bad mothers and families). Although we still have no one 'true' theory of the cause, the most reasonable explanation seems to be a marriage of 2 or even 3 theories that are best described like this: A person born with epigenetic 'mistakes' (minor variations in genes) situated in a vulnerable environment and experience a trauma makes them susceptible to the disease. (More simply put, it's that Genes + Environment argument we so often see!)
I could write for hours on what I'm learning about the etiology of Schizophrenia but I know the more I write the less people will read (this is a blog after all) so I must refocus on the point of this entry: Empathy. Regardless of how one gets Schizophrenia, lets focus on the general idea of faulty brain parts that as a whole express symptoms which are unfortunately shunned by society. Despite our awareness of the disease we somehow fail to recognize that these people are victims just like a person with Parkinson's, Epilepsy and other brain diseases and are not to be seen as lazy, stupid, 'born bad', or crazy.
If you are curious to dip into the mind of someone with Schizophrenia, I encourage you to listen to the audio simulation (link below). It is a 3.5 minute simulation of VERY COMMON auditory hallucinations (several voices in this case). Listen to it once, then listen to it again while doing a simple activity like conversing with a friend or writing out a grocery list.
Please note that the recording contains content that may be disturbing. Please also note that if you listen to it, you have the privilege of pressing stop while others do not.
Audio Hallucinations Simulation
Hopefully after listening to the recording you will think with a little more compassion towards the person on the subway or street who shouts at 'nothing', who giggles to themselves, who doesn't recognize their need for proper hygiene, who is mute, who is spitting out words in a nonsensical way or just sits numbly on the sidewalk. Next time you observe this behaviour, remind yourself the person is merely responding to their reality; what they see, feel, think, smell, taste and touch (or lack thereof) is REAL. No question.
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