What is Schizophrenia:
It is a chronic mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, perceives and behaves. While the disorder is active the person can suffer from delusions, hallucinations, problems with working memory, lack of motivation and trouble with focusing. Schizophrenia should not be confused with split personality disorder. Another misconception is that people with schizophrenia are violent people. In most cases this is not true. In fact it is far more likely that they would be a danger to themselves. Schizophrenia typically presents itself in the late teens to late 20’s. There is currently no cure for schizophrenia, however it can be managed with medication and other forms of treatment.
What Happened To Me:
I do not suffer from schizophrenia, my brother on the other hand does. It began in his early 20’s. I have no idea what was going on at the time. It first started with hearing voices. Then he began having delusions of himself being asked to go on a TV game show. As time progressed he started skipping meals, showering infrequently and his sleep cycle was all over the place. Rock bottom was when the paranoia kicked in. He stopped trusting us and started wandering away from the home. None of us knew what was going on and looking back on it we handled it pretty terribly.
Point Of View Of A Person with Schizophrenia:
Talking with my brother and doing my own research I have an idea of how tough were his struggles. Let’s start with hallucinations. When a person has schizophrenia what they perceive is different than what is actually happening. Think those augmented reality games like Pokemon Go. When you look at the ground using your phone you see pikachu. When you look at the ground without the phone you see just the ground. Now pretend the phone is stuck to your face and your can never take it off. This is how halliculations feel for someone with schizophrenia, seeing and hearing things that are not there without anyway of being able to turn it off.
Delusions are slightly different than hallucinations. Going back to the Pokemon Go example. Imagine 2 people, one with a phone attached to their face with the Pokemon Go app turned on and the other without. The first person sees the pokemon but know they aren’t really there, this describes a hallucination. The second person doesn’t see any pokemon but is sure pokemon are real and are walking around somewhere. That is a delusion.
Another really common issue with people with schizophrenia is that they have trouble focusing. Honestly this makes so much sense. Imagine you are you are talking to your friend in the living room and then all of a sudden your mom starts having totally different conversion with you from the kitchen. Both conversations are happening simultaneously. Even the best multi-tasker is going to find it hard to concentrate.
How to help:
First thing to remember is that people who suffer from schizophrenia almost never know that they are suffering from the disorder. Imagine you are writing up a report and the spell check feature breaks. You would never know you were misspelling words since the spell check feature is notifying you. Typically it is up to family and friends to pick up on initial symptoms. If a loved one is having an episode make sure that both you and the loved one are safe. If not call 911 immediately.
It is also important to encourage loved ones with schizophrenia to go seek help. Having regular visits with a medically professional can be a big help on the road to managing the disability. A lot of times doctors will prescribe medication. Ensure that your loved one is taking their medication on time and in the recommended dosage. Also avoid all alcohol and other drugs. Help your loved one maintain their social circles and daily activities. It might be worthwhile to encourage the person to go to peer groups. Finally, be patient, they have a lot on their mind, and some days are going to be worse than others.