Thomas, Schizophrenia - Blog 1

 

What Is Schizophrenia?

In 1911 the term Schizophrenia was first used which comes from the greek roots Schizo meaning split and phrene meaning mind (Historical and contemporary understandings of schizophrenia.) This term came about because of Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist. He used the name Schizophrenia to explain the mental confusion and fragmented thinking that comes along with this mental disorder (Historical and contemporary understandings of schizophrenia.) 

 Now, what exactly is Schizophrenia? to gain a better understanding. According to NAMI, or the National Alliance on Mental Health. It is a mental illness that affects the person's ability to think, regulate emotions, make decisions and relate to others. It is characterized by having symptoms of hallucinations, delusions, cognitive issues/disorganized thinking, and negative symptoms such as being emotionally flat. To be diagnosed with this mental illness, you would need to be suffering with at least two of the symptoms listed for at least six months. 

(“Schizophrenia.” NAMI,)

Historical and Contemporary Overview

 Since Ancient times, mental illnesses such as those like Schizophrenia was not well known or accepted. Mental illnesses were thought to be caused by Spiritual origins such as: evil spirits, demon possession, punishment for sinning, and other spiritual phenomenons (Historical and contemporary understandings of schizophrenia.) In today's world, people have been more accepting of Schizophrenia and mental illnesses in general and have accepted that schizophrenia is a real disorder and has a place in the DSM or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,which Kurt Schneider helped inspired because of his his work in 1959 that helped differentiate Schizophrenia from other Psychoses (Historical and contemporary understandings of schizophrenia.) They have also found better ways to treat this disorder by using varying therapy methods and medications instead of doing exorcisms and trepanation which was the practice of drilling holes into the skull. 

Stereotypes and Stereotypical Thinking

When it comes to mental health disorders like Schizophrenia, there is a lot of stereotypes and myths that come along with it. Those stereotypes are extremely harmful and damaging as stereotypes are made of fallacies due to people not having a full understanding and misinformation about mental illnesses. The media does not help with those stereotypes and can help create new ones, media can be from: Movies or television series, social media websites, and video sharing platforms like Youtube and TikTok of people sharing misinformation or harmful ideas. Some Stereotypes can include

- People with Schizophrenia are always dangerous 

Schizophrenia looks different for many people, it is true that they can become dangerous to themselves or others, but not everyone will be dangerous or if it is untreated without help from a professional the chances are higher of dangerous acts of happening. 

(“Myths about Schizophrenia.”)

- It does not exist

This myth was started by an American Psychoanalyst named Dr. Thomas Szaz. He proposed that Schizophrenia did not exist and was a fake disease. He also claimed that it was fabricated by the psychiatry profession.

(“Myths about Schizophrenia.”)

- Schizophrenia is just having a split personality

This popular myth is just not true despite the word Schizophrenia meaning a split mind. The condition itself is not about having split personalities as it is more so about the mind being confused and disordered. 

(“Myths about Schizophrenia.”)

Some other harmful myths that can also affect those with Schizophrenia because of stereotypes about  some people believe about mental illnesses in general are

- Mentally ill people are unreliable and unpredictable

- You cannot communicate with people with mental disorders 

- Mental illness is evidence of character flaws/ are weak

- People with mental disorders have nothing to contribute to society 

- People with mental health disorders deserve blame for their conditions

- People with mental illness have little hope for recovery 

 ("Myths and Stereotypes About Those With Mental Health Disorders")

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Stereotypical thinking about Schizophrenia has changed over time. Mental health in general has been more widely accepted and less stigmatized, more people are seeking out for help as well as many more people are speaking out about their experiences regarding mental health. There are support groups on social media for those with specific disorders like Schizophrenia to gain support from other people who struggle with the same disorders. The Covid Pandemic has also shown more people that mental health issues are real and not made up because of all the change that has come along regarding the pandemic. 

Culture and Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is viewed differently in other cultures because research is showing that hallucinations of the auditory kind gets shaped by the local culture. Tanya Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology says that people who suffer from schizophrenia may view their auditory hallucinations differently due to the cultural context they are living in. (Parker, C. 2014, July 16). Luhrmann went on to say that those in the United States rend to hear harsher voices than those in Africa and India which confirmed this in the study Luhrmann conducted which she interviewed 60 adults diagnosed with schizophrenia, 20 from San Mateo, California; Accra, Ghana; and Chennai, India. (Parker, C. 2014, July 16) The Americans in that study explained how it felt as the voices whom they did not know of are more bombarding and violent versus those in the Indian culture who heard voices of kin or family members telling them to do tasks instead of the more threatening voices the Americans heard and described it as more playful. In the Ghana culture their voices were mostly positive and more god-like (Parker, C. 2014, July 16.) 
This difference in cultures were that Europeans and Americans see themselves as individuals and self identity rather the western cultures with their mind and self defined through others. The researchers said put it in a really interesting way "...the difference seems to be that the Chennai (India) and Accra (Ghana) participants were more comfortable interpreting their voices as relationships and not as the sign of a violated mind." (Parker, C. 2014, July 16.) 

References

“Schizophrenia.” NAMI, www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Schizophrenia.

“Myths about Schizophrenia.” Living With Schizophrenia, 1 July 2021, livingwithschizophreniauk.org/myths-about-schizophrenia/.

"Myths and Stereotypes About Those With Mental Health Disorders" (n.d)

https://www.centennialmhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Myths-and-Stereotypes-about-Those-with-MH-Disorders.pdf

Parker, C. (2014, July 16). Stanford researcher: Hallucinatory 'voices' shaped by local culture. Stanford News. https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/.

Historical and contemporary understandings of schizophrenia. Mental Help Historical and Contemporary Understandings of Schizophrenia Comments. (n.d.). https://www.mentalhelp.net/schizophrenia/understanding/.