Elimination of the word schizophrenia as a label

I hate the word schizophrenia. It doesn’t signify the actual disorder, it makes the psychiatry behind it look fake. It literally means ‘split mind’ and that’s not even what it’s like. Schizophrenia is to me, an issue of how one thinks and corresponds to their environment due to a chemical or biological difference, and i wouldn’t even go as far as to say it is an “imbalance” of brain chemistry like what does that mean anyways? Show me what the correct brain chemicals are supposed to look like. Like wtf is this a joke?

I can get behind that. The word has so much big voodoo and if the symptoms were looked at individually it’s not that insurmountable. Alzheimer’s disease looks just as bad if not worse due to raping the mind with a few years never to heal or stabilize. People are sad about that one, but more understanding.

The whole big word schizophrenia doesn’t make me cringe nearly as much as the word schizo. I really hate it when I read or hear “that was so Schizo.” I don’t take it personally, it just leaves an odd feeling in my head. It’s taste like bad mustard.

2 Likes

I hate that word–schizo. Even when it’s not used intentionally as a pegoritive. It just sounds disrespectful.

1 Like

It sort of makes me sad when I see people use that word to refer even unto themselves. I just want to say… “Stop! Your not a schizo. Why would you say that?”

1 Like

Elyn Saks, who wrote maybe the best autobiography/memoir of having severe schizophrenia and being a Rhodes or Marshall scholar or something like that, said that the schizophrenic mind is not split, it is shattered. I agree, the term is inaccurate and needs to be updated as some sort of syndrome. It used to be called “dementia praecox” or early dementia.

It should be given a name gives off a neurological vibe, not a personality vibe like “schizophrenia” does. It sounds like a raving lunatic word, not a “brain disease” word…it sounds like it describes a “broken” mind, and that is stigmatizing, as schizophrenics can take meds and function very normally if not very highly.

It’s a thought disorder with psychotic features, primarily, and it needs to be labelled with a modern name that explains more than “broken psyche” which is roughly what “schizophrenia” means in German, I read somewhere.

We may have broken minds, but they are not completely broken. You can tell by the stuff people say in these forums…with a few exceptions…

3 Likes

Broken minds? What if we have super minds that we don’t know how to control…

I think we are similar to the mutants from xmen or the wizards from Harry potter living in a world were rather than picking us up and training us, they label us crazy and give us pills that drain our power…

Just my thoughts!

I think I read somewhere that they were looking into changing the name. I know that the name is misleading but I think education is the key. Hypothetically the name is changed and 50 years down the road people are using the new name in the same manner because they are still not educated… Don’t get me wrong as I am all for a name change.

2 Likes

I’ll stop using that abbreviation. But to end the word schizophrenia their needs to be a replacement. Names are necessary in at least the mental health field. Makes things go quicker such as when writing and reading about a client. I think a great discovery is that scientist found the schizophrenic DNA. So many people I talk to think I hear voices because I like to talk to them or don’t try to ignore them. Since lots of people get voices from being over stressed but all they needed was a good nights sleep.

the pdocs and their society have twin delusions of human dignity and power;
what they obviously mean when they say schizophrenia is that’s the bucket of stuff we don’t know what to do about; but because they went to college they need a fancy way of saying that that makes them seem confident, powerful, and dignified, which is difficult to do in the face of sz, so they try, they throw that label on and try to stand firm.

sure is a useless and meaningless and distracting set of syllables, the one before that they used for the exact same class of people was dementia praecox, we’d all be typing forums.dementiapraecox.com,

one day another sz site suggested the dsm iv was getting rid of the name sz altogether, i saw a list of five or six terms all many more syllables than sz, but i guess they took it all back, that’s where they are headed though, not one new fancy term but five new super fancy terms, farther and farther off the track.

1 Like

I totally agree. I’m not dismissing that the illness itself exists, but the word is degrading and doesn’t help people. Plus, I don’t completely understand “schizophrenia”…for me it’s becoming hard to wrap my mind around how people are getting better by taking pills. I mean it’s called behavioral medicine isn’t it? Is it not more about outward appearances and behaviors than actual biological imbalances? IDK. Do medications work better than placebos? I know that Abilify helps me because it elevates dopamine, so I’m not as fatigued and …perhaps I wasn’t sure what was the problem in the first place. That’s what confuses me. I’m on stimulants, uppers, technically. Stratter eleveates neurepinephrine I think and Abilify elevates dopamine and saratonin but…like…is it even worth it if I don’t actually know the sole reason I need to take it. I suffer extreme withdrawal when I try to go off either Abilify or Strattera…headaches, depression, irritability. The withdrawal from anti-psychotics is so overwhelming I just don’t “feel right” when I stop taking them. Does this signify an illness itself or is taking mediation even making a substantial helpful difference ? It kind of matters doesn’t it?
Also, I have parents who are split on the issue. Mom thought I didn’t need meds, and dad thought i did. This tore them into opposing factions almost like two separate political schemes.

Mom protests, dad is “conventional” I lean more towards ■■■■ convention I want truth, and while dad likes convention he has taught me not to take the eccentricities too far, so I feel despite all the bs in life, I’ve been raised well enough to handle life. I just can’t stand the disparities and I’m living at home now…so I’ve been dwelling on the illness. I’ve had time to think about it.

I want to dwell. I want to be me. I want to think and question life.

The other issue with the label is that it reinforces the beliefs that those with this label are experiences similar experiences. There is no “normal mode” that everyone has to fit into.
It makes me feel like this is just a social experiment. I know the illness must exist, I just don’t know how to apply it to myself or my experience. I am having trouble rationalizing or realizing what exactly about me is so different that I have to have this diagnosis of schizoaffective…

I’m not that special, but I don’t want to be a loser and fit into the herd. I’m so depressed about it all,. The reason I don’t want a job is because I hate capitalism. And I can’t tell people that but that’s why it’s not because I’m lazy, I don’t think I should be forced to get a job when the options are so limited, and everyone should be treated fairly. I dont want to work for a system or nation that I disagree with. I’m not going to continue to support this "American BS " if I am disgusted with what the government has done in MY NAME as a CITIZEN. They don’t ■■■■■■■ OWN ME!

i say schizo. but mainly it’s because it’s easier to type. LOL But i don’t mean to offend and i actually never thought of it in a derogatory way. Will be more mindful though. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Well I can tell you that withdrawal in normal. That’s one of the major problems with antipsychotics. I am a psych major and I have also tried to quit my medication, so I know all about withdrawal. Here’s the thing…Abilify is a dopamine agonist. All other antipsychotics are dopamine antagonists. Abilify, for unknown reasons (docs have no clue, im serious lol) either works OR can make psychosis worse and cause irritability.

I have a friend who took abilify for depression and he said it made him “feel insane”, it was making him behave rather insanely, he started doing all sorts of drugs and having lots of casual sex and cutting class. He had to withdraw for the semester.

And yes, part of the process of drugs getting approved by the FDA is a placebo efficacy trial. There are some drugs that are only proven in european studies and the same for the US. Cannabidiol, a highly controversial antipsychotic compound, has been tested in Europe but not in the US…because it is derived from ■■■■■■■ weed. Yeah, weed. It will probably not be here in the US for a long time because our nation still has states that will send you to prison for life for posessing a joint…but in colorado all the kids smoke weed like tobacco, go figure.

Sigh, weed is just silly in my opinion. My evaluator told me that smoking pot didn’t account for my schizophrenia. If it did, everyone who has smoked pot for a few months would be schizophrenic. The same goes for all drugs, really. Schizophrenia runs in my family, I found out, and I had signs of it as a child. But to hear that a compound derived from weed is never going to be used to treat schizophrenia despite its proven efficacy is just dumb. It doesn’t produce a high, it’s simply not THC. THC is horrible for schizophrenics, it’s a one-way ticket to an episode for me.

my friends brother has aspergers and he was sent a badge that said ‘i have aspergers’ or something and he was horrified and he said he would never wear it.

i wonder when i will get my badge :scream_cat: haha

:name_badge:

Yeah I do say it also, because that’s the word i know for it. But I try not to as much anymore just because…well it’s an abusive label. It’s not that the condition itself isn’t muddy enough, that the word just adds to the potential for harm. if the DSM and doctors truly want to help their patients, at least minimully because I think therapy and medication can benefit some depending on how much care you put into the individual’s safety and menta wellbeing.

After all, mental asylums have a huge impact on society. Despite how much I wished my mother could have been forced treatment, she has been getting progressively better. For her, it’s either risk a medication that makes her suicidal because that’s what Prozac and other meds did, made her sicker. So it’s a good thing, even though in her family’s best judgement she needs medication, if she was put on the wrong–in one instant it could be tragic for all of us…she was so close to death when she was put on the wrong combination of medication, and for this reason—

safeguards for the public against forced treatment shuld remain n place not only does that protect citizens, but it also prevents a person to be in distress. Forced hospitalization is a form of coercion and causes too much distress for someone even who has been previously labelled with an illness. You know, for the worst situations–after eveything is thoroughly looked through and evaluated, make hospitals places of recovery and don’t push pills on someone until you EVALUATE their conidition entirely, then choose between VARIOUS options. Such as: music therapy, CBT, art therapy, talk therapy, DBT, etc. Give them a writing class, calm them down from mania with soothing music etc.

that’s what I’d envision a mental hospital to be in the future. Sure, it will always carry a stigma because it signifies you aren’t all togther, and it should because no one wants their rights limited. But we need some more progressive places and communites for people to recover. Schizophrenia has a heredity element for sure and a non-coersive informed consent will reap the most recovery rates, reduce crime, and lead to understanding of not just the illness but we through compassion we lend healing hands to the human condition, heal individuals first–heal communities–heal each other and lend hope to this nation, world, and great potential.

Let’s not focus on conspiracies or dwell on situations, or dwell on the moment right now. Let’s just work on figuring out what’s going wrong with people, one reason is a lot of people are mentally unwell–distress and poverty lends itself to bigger problems along the way. Do we really want to be a nation divided and conquired by our own fears …we cant let this become who we are. People need to start reaching out in compassion and helping solve the world’s greatest problems. That’s what revovery is about. It’s not just the “schizophrenics” who are suffering, this whole nation and world is suffering . Human beings are suffering, times are changing space is changing people…this is a worldwide growth that is in the hands of whoever wants it, so what do u want…freedom? peace? justice? or woudl u sell ur self for some temporary luxuries, of a short-term conscious belief in security…over hope that we will even survive more than this one life we all share?

I wouldn’t trade what I have for all the wealth in the world. I don’t want luxury, I don’t need any more security I create security by my loyalty to others, I obey laws not because i have to but because I am loyal to existence–and have a personal belief that the law coincides with it.

I think whatever the name is unless attitudes change stigma and prejudice will soon follow.

1 Like

It has to be called something. But I agree that “split mind” isn’t very accurate. And the truth is that people with schizophrenia are not all the same. The disease varies widely among different people. But another thing that people say is that, “he’s psycho” meaning that he’s mean or of a different perspective. That’s insulting. People with psychosis aren’t necessarily mean, and being different isn’t a crime.

1 Like

Abilify’s never made me ill, though. It makes me more reserved, laid back, and rational thinking than without it. It’s a life saver I will give it that.

I would go ahead and say that being called a “schizo” is like being called a racial slur. It’s insulting the way you were born, and it’s just vulgar and degrading. It’s not who we are, it’s something we live with, I like to use the analogy that you don’t call people who have cancer “canceritics”. The word is used to define us, it’s like once somewhere hears “schizophrenic” they judge you based on stereotypes.

Mental illnesses are probably the last frontier for civil rights. It’s worse to be schizophrenic than just about anything else I can think of, in terms of how people immediately judge you. It’s worse than being a minority or a homosexual. Hell, I think minorities and homosexuals are considered “cool” by the kids in my generation. Everyone wants to say they have a gay friend, and everyone likes to have friends of other races, it seems.

But a paranoid schizophrenic who takes meds and functions highly? Genetic backwash, inbred, psychopath, ect. He’s crazy and gonna kill us, dont even look at him.

All I can say is that living well is the best revenge. Be like a Jewish person who makes lots of money and drives a Mercedes…rub it in their face.

1 Like

well that’s good. I had the impression you didn’t like it.

Yep, I mean I have met a lot of people with schizophrenia and often they are just sorta lost and need direction, but what helps is giving them direction and encouragement. I try to encourage as many people as I can toward feeling better and even though I can’t do some things right now, lik I haven’t found the right job yet, I am still happy that I was there to make someone smile or just listen when no one else will. I know how it feels so be bullied and I don’t want anyone else to feel that way. My bf saw that in me, and he respects me like we still have some issues sometimes, no one’s perfect. It’s a hard thing to be in a relationship with someone who also has schizophrenia, and I think it’s a miracle that it’s going so well…I dont want him to get hurt, I realize how much I love him when it upsets me if he lapses into a delusional train of thought–and yet it inspires me how much he knows about math and science and electronics. I know he’s not the kind of person to just casually say I love u, but after we dated for awhile he started saying it.

I love different people, i love unique people for being themselves. But it’s nice when someone is proud of something, that makes me happy to see other people feel joy, confidence. I don’t have low self esteem, I actually have really high self esteem. I’m eccentric and I think my bf did also help me feel happier and more secure in myself. I’ve never felt better.