Schizophrenia doesn't exist

I think Sociopath has an equally unwarranted negative connotation. People think if you're a sociopath you take pleasure in killing people or even desire to go & do it.

/facepalm

Conditioned preconceived notions for the win?

Where I come from, it's the opposite. No one seems to take it that serious at all. They push you to find employment and continue your education. I personally find work to be really hard. I haven't worked for four years, since my first psychotic break. Not everyone "recovers" although I know there are plenty of people who do and go on to lead productive lives.

The whole problem with schizophrenia is from the crap society, their severe misunderstanding of the term, media's portrayal of it, and idiotic refusal to actually listen to professionals or research.

First things first to OP...where is my DSM does it say Schizophrenia isn't an objective disorder? I didn't see it when I opened it just now. Schizophrenia has been included in the DSM and diagnosed many times.

Anyway to my points

1. Schizophrenia is NOT DID. People have to get that. DID is a severe split of the personality that includes a lack of memory between the alters and is almost always a reactionary method of coping to complex trauma. Schizophrenia is trouble or a disconnect in reality testing.

2. Schizophrenia is NOT dangerous almost all of the time. People here the word schizophrenia and immediately clutch their children thinking this person is going to fly off the handle and tear through a crowd with a gun. This is such a horrific and dangerous false belief. It paints people in a terrible light. Of the many lovely folks I've worked with who endure schizophrenia, I have yet to have someone turn to violence. In fact, with appropriate medication and coping strategies, it's entirely realistic for many people to live a completely functional and "normal" life. I hate when people use that...hence my quotes. I think what would truly surprise people is to know how many times they've passed someone with diagnosed schizophrenia on the street and didn't even notice.

3. Media has got to stop and people have got to stop being so easily swayed. But neither of these are likely to happen.

I wish everyone the best and the best wellness

But let's all work even in a small manner on stopping the lies towards those who endure mental illness. Fortunately, where I do therapy (though I am exclusively PTSD and substance use), there is boatloads of optimism spread for anyone who crosses our door.

People can have psychotic breaks and then go back to normal and never have a problem again. However, schizophrenia is very real.

i believe the hallucinations, as some call them, are because a nitrogen deprivation.

a reply to: KyoZero Well said I have schizophrenia and people have no idea I have it. I've recovered to the point I can hide it very well. So much so I've met people that have family members with schizophrenia. When I told them I have it their jaw hit the ground they had no clue.

Theres a lot of negative stereotypes and stigmas attached to the word schizophrenia. To this day my grandmother thinks that all people with schizophrenia are psychotic killers. I was actually fired from a job once because they found out I have schizophrenia. I worked there for 3 years before management found out and never had a problem until I told a co worker.

Most people have no idea what the illness is or how it works.

originally posted by: WaterBottle
People can have psychotic breaks and then go back to normal and never have a problem again. However, schizophrenia is very real.

There is definitely organic predisposition, but there are coping mechanisms that can help. I remember back in the 70's on a cross country trip to California we started having engine problems, car went down two cylinders and the motor started shaking really bad. Worn out valve guides had fouled the spark plugs in the back two cylinders. Its easy to block yourself and make the problem bigger than it is, the guy I was traveling with was considering giving up the journey and junking the car in Chicago for a ticket home. We were both upset it could have been a fatal mechanical problem and just didn't want to deal with it then. To buy some time to sort things we put the car on a ferry directly across lake Michigan to Wisconsin. It was a cold gray May day on the lake and the captain of the Badger was piping music down to the passenger area. Gordon Lightfoots "the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was playing on the top 10 hit list at the time. Middle of lake Michigan is a really strange place to hear that song for the first time..

When we docked in Manitowoc some guy in a white lab coat unloaded our car for us said he had trouble starting the car. He gave me the address of an auto parts store where I could buy some screw on adapters to keep the plugs from getting oil fouled. Couple hours later we were sailing off through the green fields of Wisconsin like nothing had happened.

Just needed a little time out with no pressure to sort the problem.

a reply to: johnnyjoe1979

Lol.. they just figured out what causes it.
This site is ignorant. It's very real.