National Schizophrenia Foundation declared May 24 as World Schizophrenia Day to honor Dr. Philippe Pinel, from France, a major figure in the early efforts to provide humane care and treatment for the mentally ill.
People are in general frightened when hearing about this diagnosis. Those who are diagnosed are often perceived as a threat mostly because of their behaviours and actions related to social inappropriateness. But, in truth, this happens due to lack of awareness about Schizophrenia as mental illnesses. What is that we do not know, or that we we were misinformed about Schizophrenia.
To begin with we recommend that you learn about schizophrenia from a website such as World Fellowship for Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders. Or use #schizophrenia or #WorldSchizophreniaDay to follow on social media.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness affecting more than 21 million people worldwide according to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020). There are numerous myths and believes around, not just schizophrenia, but other mental illness in general. Spreading awareness and true facts about it is enormously important to break taboos, create inclusive society and provide support to those affected.
Schizophrenia is a psychiatric condition where certain chemicals in certain areas of the brain are out of balance. If that happens there can be a lack of co-ordination between thoughts, actions, and emotions. Common symptoms of schizophrenia include confused thinking, delusions and hallucinations. “The word ‘schizophrenia’ literally translated means ‘split mind,’ which has caused a lot of confusion and, and was coined in 1910 by Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Paul Eugen Bleuler. Schizophrenia starts in early adulthood or late adolescence, typically between the ages of 15 to 28. Men also have a higher risk of suffering from the illness than women. Men have an earlier onset age than women. They also tend to suffer from a more severe form of the disease with more negative symptoms, less chance of a full recovery and a worse outcome (psychiatry.org).
“People afflicted with Schizophrenia exhibit aggression mostly secondary to hallucinations (hearing voices speaking about them, threatening them or commanding them), delusions (persecutory in nature) and distorted ego boundaries which impairs their judgment about reality. Thus, people with schizophrenia are not dangerous to society but they could potentially harm themself or others — both known and unknown as a consequence of their abnormal psychic experiences”, Dr Venkatesh Babu GM, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru. One of the most common myths surrounding schizophrenia is “that people suffering from it have a split personality. However, this is completely untrue. Schizophrenia patients have just one personality, just like everyone else. Since people with schizophrenia sometimes experience delusions and hallucinations that does not mean that they have two separate personalities (Crompton, E., 2017).
What is schizophrenia and how to identify it?
In interviews provided to The Indian Express, professionals from Fortis Hospital in Bengaluru described the following:
“Schizophrenia is a clinical condition, just like diabetes and hypertension where the target is symptom management, the need to maintain regular medication, proper sleep cycle and a stress-free atmosphere is a necessity”, Akanksha Pandey, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru.
The most common symptoms are:
* Remaining aloof, loss of interest, aimlessness and social withdrawal.
* Muttering and smiling to self.
* Disturbance in thinking and perception in the form of delusions, hallucinations and unusual bodily sensations.
* They may also have persistent delusions that are culturally inappropriate and implausible, such as religious or political identity or superhuman powers and abilities, or that they are being talked about, stalked and followed, spied by some agencies.
* They may hear voices or see images, which in reality may not exist.
* Irrelevant or incoherent speech.
* They may feel that their thoughts are being broadcasted on television and internet, their thoughts being withdrawn by some external power, or they may not recognise their thoughts as their own, as if being inserted from outside
* Inappropriate and blunted effect, disinhibited and disorganised behaviour and speech
* Inability to maintain activities of daily living, poor self-care and poor hygiene decreased sleep and disturbed appetite abusive and assaultive behaviour (mostly in response to commanding voices and suspiciousness)
Not every individual with schizophrenia may exhibit all the above-mentioned symptoms.
How to manage the condition?
Schizophrenia is purely a psychiatric illness which requires immediate management and consulting a psychiatrist is advisable. There are standardised interview techniques and screening measures for such patients and mental health professionals are exclusively trained in that.
“Family members and other significant people can help by first taking the individual with these symptoms to a mental health professional, for psychiatric consultation, as early as possible rather than taking them to faith healers. These changes occur due to various factors in which the prime cause is an imbalance in neurotransmitters which can only be managed through proper and timely medications. Moreover, these behavioural changes are due to neurochemical imbalance and should not be seen as a character flaw or assigns of being possessed. Additionally, they should not try to correct the individual’s behaviour or should not get into arguments with them as they are not in the state to comprehend right and wrong. This might make them even more agitated. Apart from that, family members should try to maintain a stress-free environment around them as stress can aggravate the symptoms”, says Dr Venkatesh Babu GM, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru.
“People afflicted with schizophrenia being on regular treatment and adhering to medication can live a normal life. They can pursue their studies, make friends, maintain relationships and have a successful working life. These individuals can choose to marry and fulfil the roles and obligations of a marital life provided they are on regular medication to remain symptom-free. As marriage is a significant life event which brings about a lot of changes in one’s life, with a good family support system and one’s own preparedness about the possible stressful impact, they can have fulfilling marital life” says Dr Venkatesh Babu GM, Consultant Psychiatrist, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru .
For us, at the end, is left to stop threats and stigma that people with schizophrenia are experiencing on a daily basis. We can to this by spreading awareness about mental iso that we stop aggression towards these people,name calling and openly criticism. As they did not chose this condition in their lives, they need our help and support to lead meaningful lives. We can chose to have and model empathetic approach and continue to include every member of our society.
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