Psychology

» Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen - Beyond awareness101

In response to Beyond awareness101 posted by pink101:

Without a doubt, living with schizophrenia is potentially dangerous. Suicides, assaults from others, unrealistic expectations of consequences can all harm people with this illness. I know a fellow who dodges traffic on a bridge. He thinks he's a superhero, and thus invincible. It's terribly painful for his family.
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Pink's comments on what the media does to our reality reminds me of my Watching the Evening News article --- it can mess you up, man.

» redback - Beyond awareness101

In response to Beyond awareness101 posted by LauriePK:

"...I know a fellow who dodges traffic on a bridge. He thinks he's a superhero, and thus invincible..."

I'm not excited about anecdotal 'horror stories' out of context. Some of it scares people away from seeking help...some feeds stigma. Some of us probably know the difference some of the time but I'm not aware of any empirical evidence of that.

My niece during one psychotic phase, believed every time she looked directly at something, it burst into flames ie she was responsible. We can't imagine how terrifying that must have been for her nor would anyone scared off by her behaviour know why she exhibited such terror. Mental Health First Aid in the hands of a caring passerby may have helped tremendously. But it was during a psychotic period and untreated phase of her life.

Today, she has a well-cared for baby and a fulltime job. And if you talked to her as a stranger you may chance to meet, I doubt very much you would recognise schizophrenia. The conversation would be coherent and meaningful. Let's not assume all people with schizophrenia are in a constant state of psychosis.

There are many things that can mess you up or blow your mind. Living in the USA and developing an unhealthy fixation on whatever media you expose yourself to over there, seems particularly risky.

What blows my mind is the fact 20% of us are likely to suffer mental illness in our lifetimes. The ol' "there but for the grace of God..." Who knows who in one's circle of family and friends will be next...and what our attitude will be when it happens.

My reference to "beyond awareness" comes from the MH first aid course I did where the aim is to develop mental health literacy. The full title I coined was 'Mental Health - Beyond Awareness101' and aimed to take the focus to health and the PREVENTION of mental illhealth.

Some believe God directs their actions. "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things."
Isaiah 45:7.

Methinks there is far more to the global context of schizophrenia than meets the eye. But I'm not sure, Pink, of your definition.

-- posted by redback

» pink101 - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Beyond awareness101 posted by redback:
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Over the years the working definitions of Mental illness and schizophrenia.may have changed.
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In particular, schizophrenia means--to me--that a person has no solid anchoring to a specific reality and they are free floating from one personal identity to another. Is that the working definition we should be using here?
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I had close contact with schizophrenics in the past who have since died. Is the malady of bipolarism closely related or, perhaps, an expression of schizophrenia?
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-- posted by pink101

» redback - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by pink101:
"...they are free floating from one personal identity to another. Is that the working definition we should be using here?" Is this the split personality type of mythful thinking??

It's not the definition I work to.

I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. One of which is difference of opinion. On the one hand, schizophrenia is measured against a diagnostic standard and can be a matter of difficulty getting to a correct diagnosis. On the other, it is used colloquially eg to describe bad or 'unacceptable' behaviour, explain criminal violence etc. I get the sense the colloquial version is far easier to apply to the extent mental illness per se has deeply entrenched stigma.

My understanding of the literature is that the earlier signs of schizophrenia have been frequently confused with bipolar. People with schizophrenia certainly have lots to get very anxious and depressed about. The young lady I described above was devastated to learn she had schizophrenia in such a small town and re the example above, desperately did not want to start fires. This is a hallucination at the other end of the spectrum to the delusion of invincibility per Laurie's example.

I'm not sure what was meant by the unanswered catchy question: "Can schizophrenia blow your mind?"

Is mental illness an 'evil' or a lack of 'peace'? Should we avoid talking to people with schizophrenia and routinely be scared of them? Or should the issue of all people with mental ill-health regardless of specific diagnosis get far better attention if for no other reason than to save tax dollars and have better intervention and recovery strategies in place by the time the next person needs help?

I know this is soapbox sounding. Please bear with me.

-- posted by redback

» pink101 - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by redback:
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And ...

-- posted by pink101

» redback - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by pink101:

"And..." ????

AND...I'm sensing my posts sound impatient or argumentative or lost in me defining myself as what I used to do...not who I am. There ARE some things I miss about working in the "corridors of power". These were not just the corridors on the ground floor with a power point every 10 or so steps.

But then, you typing "And" could simply mean you forgot to continue your post.

-- posted by redback

» pink101 - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by redback:
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"..., you typing "And" could simply mean you forgot to continue your post."
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One of those senior moments we hear about.
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Naw, I just wanted you to continue along those lines and I couldn't think of a better way of expressing that.
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I know a person who was diagnosed as schizophrenic paranoids--God rest his soul. His mother was diagnosed as schizophreniogenic--God rest her soul. Both were shirt tail relatives and I knew them both quite well. They were both loving people who were both what I would consider damaged goods. I got along well with both of them and I like both of them very much; but, they did put awful demands on others. I would say both of their minds were blown in a certain sense.

-- posted by pink101

» Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by pink101:

My boss's brother suffers from schizophrenia http://psychology.suite101.com/article.c...

Definitely we shouldn't ignore them - or anyone - but boy can it be hard to find common ground for discussions and connections.

» redback - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by pink101:

I think I've told you before...my late wife developed paranoid schizophrenia before she suicided. My own extended 'family' is not untouched by schizophrenia and other mental illness so has countless testimonies to tell. Conversation is generally OK but one needs to be MH literate and comfortable with the fact why people with mental health problems (at any level) may have difficulties. Where mental illness is their diagnosed reason, what is our excuse for our behaviour. Should the behaviour of the person with mental illhealth, be above reproach in comparison?

But in a raft of career experiences and as a mental health policy advocate, I've also developed a pretty objective view over the years.

The March newsletter I just received from the Schizophrenia Research Institute tells of current research where it is claimed Australia is leading the world in psychosis research:

People with schizophrenia misinterpret facial expressions because they have an abnormally restricted scan path and context processing deficits "most apparent when identifying negative or threat-related expressions". Facial expressions and body language help us to decipher the (anger, fear, sadness, surprise) emotions of the person we're conversing with or seeing but extra tools are needed to help the person with schizophrenia. There have been improvements in social functioning using related METTS training. Call me old fashioned or naive but the very detailed description given at a recent forum gives me some hope for the future.

The thinking, feeling and other areas of the brain have disrupted communication and there is now a functional MRI (fMRI) available to measure this. With genetic research, more advances are likely.

They're looking at the possibility of neutralising the psychosis-causing effects of drug abuse (marihuana etc) which seems an interesting way of looking at the problem. But that part of the brain that responds to marihuana is the same part where anti-psychotic drugs have to do opposing work.

People with schizophrenia use drugs to escape the pain so tis a real problematic area. Theory and reality collide. The police and ambulance services will be telling us their versions at the upcoming conference.

-- posted by redback

» pink101 - Mental illness and schizophrenia.

In response to Mental illness and schizophrenia. posted by redback:
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It is obvious that you have a much more complete understanding of schizoprenia that I have gained; but, there are some similarities I can speak to.
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I know the point you bring up about how easy it is to get on the wrong side of any afflicted persons. That comes with their paranoia--if we don't agree with them, we must be with the enemy? I learned to walk on egg shells around both of my S/P friends.
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I think I can feel your pain. So sorry.
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-- posted by pink101