La esquizofrenia

Schizophrenia: Understanding the Inner Voices

“The worst thing about having schizophrenia is the isolation and the loneliness”, said Dr. Phillip Long, a well known psychiatrist who has dedicated his life to study schizophrenia (Long). Schizophrenia is one of the worst mental illnesses, and due to the myths and misconceptions, people with schizophrenia suffer a lot. First, because theyhave an incurable brain disease; next, because of that, they are discriminated. The ignorance of people is one of the biggest problems people with schizophrenia have to deal with. Society does not accept them, sometimes even their own families reject them because they are uncomfortable in their presence. Besides that, they have to deal with difficulties at school or work and learn how to managetheir symptoms. That’s why most people with schizophrenia feel different, like they don’t belong; they feel neither respected nor valued (Long). It is extremely important to know about this mental illness, to learn which statements are myths and which are realities. But most importantly to know that schizophrenia is a real disease and people who suffer from it have a real disease rather than justpsychological problems.
According to the British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (Long), there are four main reasons why people find mental illnesses so unacceptable: fear of violence, fear of criminal intentions, fear of the unknown and aversion to illness. People think that those who suffer from mental illnesses are violent, when in fact, they tend to be passive and anxious. People withschizophrenia are more likely to harm themselves than to harm others (Schizophrenia and Violence). This myth comes from the inaccurate and old misconception that showed them as aggressive (Frith et. Johnstone 11). News and entertainment media tend to link schizophrenia to violence (Schizophrenia and Violence). The truth is another; some studies have shown that schizophrenics are less violent thanthe rest of the population, and that they are the ones who are victims of violence (Long). Another myth is that people suffering from a psychiatric disorder are more likely to commit a crime. That confusion has a lot to do with the fact that those who are very mentally ill are often involuntarily hospitalized and have safeguards. The truth is that people suffering from disorders are equally likelyto commit a crime than the rest of the population. According to the Human Rights Watch (Schizophrenia and Jail), one in five of the 2.1 million Americans in jail are seriously mentally ill. People tend to fear what they don’t understand. Some cultures actually believe that mental illnesses are caused by evil spirits, bad blood or poisons. The good thing is that as technology advances and thebrain is studied more, these beliefs are fading (Long).
The last myth is that schizophrenia has finally been categorized as an illness just like any other. But still, people are opposed to doctors, hospitals and diseases. Even though it has been categorized as a disease, there are still a lot of doctors and psychiatrists that question the existence of schizophrenia (Is schizophrenia real?).It is often misdiagnosed and confused with bipolar disorder and multiple personality disorder. Although there has been an extensive research, a clear definition of the causes of schizophrenia can not be determined. Establishing a concrete definition causes confusion and debate. Some people claim that schizophrenia belongs to the category of socially and culturally unacceptable behavior orthinking. Others say it belongs in the category of biology or disease (Stevens).
There are many unanswered questions about this illness, but what is for sure is that those people didn’t choose to be schizophrenic and it is truly important to understand them and support them.
As said before, there is no clear or concrete definition of schizophrenia, but it can be defined this way:...