Busting Schizophrenia Myths!
“Aren’t schizophrenic people dangerous-” No. Violence towards other people isn’t a symptom of schizophrenia, nor is it common in schizophrenic people. That’s not to say that no one with schizophrenia has ever been violent because of their psychosis, but it isn’t a symptom of or in the diagnostic criteria for the illness, and schizophrenic people in general are no more likely to be violent than anyone else.
“Isn’t that when you have multiple personalities-” No. Schizophrenia isn’t about having multiple personalities - that’s called Dissociative Identity Disorder and is a completely different mental illness. Schizophrenic people might hear one or more voices in their heads and may feel like their actions or thoughts are being controlled by other people/outside forces, but this isn’t the same as having several personalities as it’s always the schizophrenic persons own personality which reacts to these distressing experiences.
“Isn’t schizophrenia when you’re psychotic like when you hear voices and stuff-” Yes, but schizophrenia isn’t “just” about experiencing psychosis (hallucinations, disorganized thinking/speech/behavior and delusions), it also consists of what’s called negative symptoms (lack of energy, lack of motivation, social isolation, lacking or inappropriate emotional responses, lack of ability to feel pleasure) and cognitive symptoms (impaired memory, impaired concentration, learning difficulties, executive dysfunction and impaired working memory). Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness and psychosis is only 1/3 of what schizophrenic people struggle with.
“You can’t recover from schizophrenia, right-” Not true. 25% of the people diagnosed with schizophrenia are symptom free within 5-10 years of being diagnosed with the illness and up to 80% improve with ongoing treatment and support. Schizophrenia isn’t necessarily a life sentence, and while you can’t EXPECT to recover from schizophrenia and while there’s no known cure, recovery is possible for many people with the right treatment.
“Shouldn’t schizophrenic people be locked up-” No. Schizophrenic people are people just like everyone else, and we have the right to the same human rights and the same freedom as other people. We might need to be hospitalized for our own safety sometimes, but we have as much of a right to be a part of and interact with society as everyone else.
“Real schizophrenic people don’t know they’re sick, right-” Some don’t, but at least 45% of schizophrenics are aware that they’re suffering from schizophrenia, so a person being aware that they’re schizophrenic and having insight into their illness/knowing that what they’re experiencing isn’t real or normal isn’t a sign that they aren’t really sick.
“What if schizophrenic people just have special powers-” I’m not going to deny you your right to your spiritual beliefs, but I’m going to insist that you don’t force them onto me or any other schizophrenic person. Just like I’m not gonna show up at a Christians door saying that God isn’t real just because I’m an atheist, you don’t get to tell a schizophrenic person that they can see into other dimensions or talk to spirits. You risk triggering or worsening our illness by sharing your spiritual or religious speculations, so don’t bring them up. Ever.
“Aren’t schizophrenic people dangerous if they don’t take their meds-” No. Anti psychotic meds are heavy medication that impacts your life in many ways, and taking them should always be a free choice. Some people would rather live with their psychosis than take anti psychotic medication, and this doesn’t automatically make them a danger to anyone.
