The Effects of Schizophrenia on the Identity

Everyone’s minds think differently and work in various ways. For some, it is more extensive than others. Healthy adults, children, and teenagers, all think in different ways, but to understand how someone thinks with a disease such as Schizophrenia is extremely different. The daily life and struggles of a schizophrenic are difficult, and hard to overcome. They are difficult for not only the patient, but the family and the community as well. While not every case is extremely severe, every schizophrenic must learn how to cope with their mental disorder, and take the proper medication and care needed to protect them from their disorder. Every year, approximately 40% of adults with Schizophrenia are not diagnosed or treated. Scientists are creating new treatments, and opening more facilities to treat mental disorders like schizophrenia. Luckily, this disease has become even more knowledgeable over the last centuries, and we continue to gain knowledge about it everyday. Emile Kraepelin was the first person to discover the disease formerly known as dementia praecox, and now known as Schizophrenia. Some of the focused aspects that Schizophrenia affects is the brain, the body, life, and families.

So what is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects how a person thinks feels and behaves. It often occurs after puberty, between late teens to early 30’s. Males tend to develop the disease earlier than females. There are both positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms for schizophrenia. “People with positive effects may lose touch of reality.” (NIH, 2017) Some positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking, and agitated body movements. “People with negative symptoms have disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors.” (NIH, 2017) Some negative symptoms include reduced expression of emotions, reduced feelings of pleasure in everyday life, difficulty beginning and sustaining activities, and reduced speaking. “Cognitive symptoms are more severe and patients may notice changes in their memory or other aspects of thinking.” (NIH, 2017) Some cognitive symptoms include poor ability to understand information and use it to make decisions, trouble focusing or paying attention, and problems with the ability to use information immediately after learning it. These are all symptoms that are affecting the patient's ability to live a normal life.

Schizophrenia affects more than the ability to think correctly. It affects the body a tremendous amount. While the primary part of the body affected is the brain, a person with Schizophrenia has changes in hormone levels, inflammation, glucose, and cholesterol levels. What happens to the brain of a schizophrenic? A study run by Nancy Andreasen at the University of Iowa say, “subjects with Schizophrenia demonstrated a high amount of brain tissue loss in the first 2 years.” (Whiteman, 2013) This is very traumatic and damaging for the brain to go through, and they discovered that the “anti-psychotic medication led to an even higher loss of brain tissue.” (Whiteman, 2013) Schizophrenia also affects a person's thoughts. One may feel as though, “their mind is jumping from one unrelated thought to another.” (Goldberg, 2018) They may also feel as though their thoughts are being withdrawn from their own head, or when someone feels as though they are being interrupted from their own thoughts.

The brain is not the only thing affected by this mental illness, someone's quality of life is tremendously affected as well. Schizophrenia can cause a, “significant change in friends or social isolation, difficulty in school, sleep problems, irritability, difficult telling reality from fantasy, paranoia, and an odd manner of thinking or speaking.” (Tracyn, 2012) All of these can cause a tremendous imbalance of what was once a normal daily routine. Unfortunately, many patients with Schizophrenia are, “unable to hold a job and must live with friends or relatives that can care for them.” (Treatment, 2017) A patient may hear voices in their head on a day to day basis; these voices may order them to do things that they obey, which can lead to self harm. A schizophrenic can also face severe trouble when they are in public by themselves. They may, “face ridicule for their actions, or they could unwillingly start fights with people who are unaware of their disease.” (Treatment, 2017) As a schizophrenic, you are unable to achieve life goals, and participate in normal day to day activities such as getting coffee on your way to work. How someone chooses to deal with these problems is entirely up to them and their support system.

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Schizophrenia can cause a family heartbreak and can change their life entirely. Due to the fact that most patients are living with a family member, this can take a toll on their life and change their daily life. This can also increase family members stress. Living with a Schizophrenic can be scary at times, and, “ In many instances, patients come to believe that they are in some kind of danger or that certain people they know are plotting to harm them.” (Treatment, 2017) This can lead to depression, stress, and extreme anger or frustration. Family members must cope with, “their caregiving responsibilities, their own emotional distress, the symptoms of schizophrenia, increased stress and disruption, the mental health system, and social stigma.” (Advanced Solutions International, Inc, 2018) Every family is different and will have different concerns, needs, and responsibilities. There are also communities with excellent amounts of services for families with schizophrenia, and communities with fewer services. This can impact the care given to a schizophrenic and the way a family is able to cope with the new reality of life.

So what’s it like to live with a mental illness, specifically Schizophrenia? Paula Derrow tells us her story about living with Schizophrenia. She talks about how she used to be an extremely bubbly and happy individual. She was a calm and peaceful person up until 2011 when she was sent to jail for yelling at a neighbor over a parking spot. Both her and her family were shocked after the incident, because it was very unusual behavior from her. She tells us about her transition from a “normal” college student to a Schizophrenic. She was, “23 and attending college, while also working in a restaurant. I was one of the best servers; I didn’t even need a notepad to take down people’s orders.” (Tanara, 2018) About a year later she started experiencing strange emotions and attitudes that were unlike her. She was, “paranoid, started seeing things, and hearing voices. I didn’t want to get dressed or even get out of bed. I didn’t understand what was going on.” (Tanara, 2018) A year after this she was put into a hospital for a mood disorder and put on various medications. She was not enrolled in classes during this time and eventually stopped taking medication because her symptoms were gone. She hit a point where she felt good enough to go back to doing work. In April of 2010 the symptoms returned and she felt paranoid again, her, “family convinced her to check herself into a psychiatric hospital.” (Tanara, 2018) She failed to tell her doctors about all of her symptoms, including paranoia and hallucinations, which caused a misdiagnosis. Shortly after her discharge she quit taking medications again, which caused her to hit a breaking point. This was the same year that she was sent to jail after the screaming match with her neighbor over a parking spot. The judge ordered her to a psychiatric hospital, where she first, “opened up about about what I was experiencing—the voices, the paranoia. She said, “You are battling schizophrenia.” I didn’t even know what that meant.” (Tanara, 2018) At the hospital she gained friends, knowledge on Schizophrenia, coping mechanisms, and learned about some of her triggers. Once she was released, and able to control her mental illness, she began to go back to living a more normal life. She is now able to help others battling the same struggles as her. While diagnosis for Schizophrenia can sometimes be tricky, there is always a way to deal with it. It may not be the normal she was once used to, but it is normal enough.

Myles is another college student, trying to live his out his normal college experience. He was taken to the hospital at the age of 20. He was driven from the campus from which he was suspended at, by campus police. He burst into his professors room and accused him of taking money and would not leave when asked to. During his high school career, Myles was very successful in academics. During the past year his behavior had began to become abrupt, and family members began to notice. His sister said that, “she had often seen him mumbling quietly to himself and at times he seemed to be talking to people who were not there. He would emerge from his room and ask his family to be quiet even when they were not making any noise.” (Myles, 2019) He grew fascinated with crime, and was constantly paranoid that there were drugs hidden in the hospitals food. He eventually agreed to sign himself into a psychiatric hospital. This is a direct example of how a young male with schizophrenia can fastly decline in daily skills. This disease caused embarrassment, outbreaks, arrests, and consistent paranoia that the world was out to get him. Myles was a young adult who grew into a mental illness that will affect the rest of his life, and his daily routine.

When you begin to experience your first symptoms of Schizophrenia, you quickly become disconnected from the person you used to be. Alex tells us about the paranoia she lived with for months. At first, she didn’t even realize what was happening and was constantly confused. She was unable to keep a social life and was irritated and unable to function correctly. She was overwhelmed with sitting in a room with her friends and listening to two conversations; the one between her friends and the one in her head. The voices were friendly at first and quickly grew to a negative tone. At one point she thought her friends, “were watching me through a camera and had needed me to do things to prove my loyalty to my boyfriend. It was a horrendous, gruelling experience, and I remember falling asleep and waking up still terrified about what the next day might possibly bring.” (Alex, 2017) This was a gruelling and embarrassing experience for her, especially when she knocked on a neighbor's door at 2am because she was confused why her friends were up there, even though they were not. She tells us how, “My sense of reality had become deeply distorted, and I couldn’t relate to or understand anything they said or did.” (Alex, 2017) This demonstrates how the effects of schizophrenia can completely alter someone's life. She was eventually sedated and hospitalized, and got the help and treatments she needed. Schizophrenia really affects the lives of not only the individual, but the community around them. The family, friends, and community surrounding a schizophrenic can all notice frantic changes in behavior. This can cause loss in friends, and social life, before and after rehabilitation. Schizophrenia is a disturbing disease that clouds one's judgement and way of life.

In conclusion, in order to understand how someone thinks with a disease such as Schizophrenia is extremely different than a healthy human. The daily life and struggles that someone with Schizophrenia has is difficult, but not only for the patient but for the family and the community as well. Some of the focused aspects that Schizophrenia affects is the brain, the body, life, and families. To learn about the disease and the facts behind it, backed up with personal stories is heartbreaking. People can lose a lot in their life from this disease. While not every case is extremely severe, every schizophrenic must learn how to cope with their mental disorder, and take the proper medication and care needed to protect them from their disorder. Every year, approximately 40% of adults with Schizophrenia are not diagnosed or treated. If someone notices changes, similar to the ones discussed, in someone's behavior they are recommended to get them the help and support they need. Due to schizophrenia becoming a more “popular” mental disorder, scientists are able to create new treatments, and open more facilities to treat mental disorders like schizophrenia. Luckly, schizophrenia has become even more knowledgeable over the last centuries, and we continue to gain knowledge about it everyday.