Imagine that you have shortsightedness (if you do, never mind, keep reading) and you wear contact lens.
You need contact lens or spectacles to rectify your vision on long-term basis.
You will have to wash the pair of contact lens with disinfectant.
Now that you have schizophrenia (if you don’t, never mind, keep reading) and you take medicine.
You need medicine or anti-psychotics to rectify the chemical imbalance inside of your brain on long-term basis (most probably).
(I take shortsightedness as side-by-side comparison because I don’t know much about other illnesses)
Compare these two and you will probably find out people with schizophrenia are vulnerable than people with shortsightedness.
They are different impairments and I am not going to change the belief of the general public. This new topic is for the purpose to remind you and me that with schizophrenia, we tend to exaggerate our failures at the present and in the past. If we take it easy like we do with shortsightedness (or any other physical impairment), we can still go on our life. Make sense?
It’s a little hard to decipher your reasoning. If your main point is that as schizophrenics we exaggerate our shortcomings than I agree. But I don’t get the relationship between schizophrenia and shortsightedness that you are attempting to make…But yeah I put myself down more than anyone around me is putting me down.
Please don’t feel that way, this is support group and nobody will put you down. It is my pleasure to have your prompt and accurate reply. Yes, there are 2 points in this topic, and you found the 2nd valid point. Sorry, looks like I failed to convey the 1st point. I will find out more about this soon.
Hi Wave, thanks for your willingness to respond.
It has two sided meaning: (1) “As schizophrenics, we exaggerate our shortcomings”–77nick77; (2) People overlook those who are shortsighted(or the blind, or the deaf), but not with those who have mental illness(or “crazy”, or “insane” people)
I tend to use the analogy of menopause with my son My body needs help regulating hormones. My son’s brain needs help regulating dopamin. Is this the type of comparison you were going for?
Yes, BarbieBF, you’re right, and the point is menopause (or in my example, shortsightedness) carries less stigma than schizophrenia. Maybe because schizophrenia does not exhibit itself physically, people tend to misunderstand it.
Schizophrenia is often a collection of conditions so I always feel it is a mistake to lump everyone with SZ in the same boat. It’s a very dynamic and even random disease. Personally, I generally underestimate my issues probably due to ego and paranoia to a degree.
The general public’s opinion on SZ doesn’t mean a lot to me honestly if you are saying they underestimate the disease (which they so). SZ simply isn’t a money maker of a disease like cancer, AIDs etc. It’s a lot like diabetes. I saw a British doctor recently came under attack saying he’d rather have AIDs than diabetes but I’d agree with him. SZ simply isn’t a “feel good” cause every day idiots out in the world care about.
I think it’s harder for people to relate to SZ, compared to other illnesses like depression or anxiety. Why? I think it comes down to being able to relate. Most people, not matter how ‘normal’, have had some experience with depression, anxiety or panic, even if short lived. When it comes to delusions, hallucinations etc, it’s harder to relate to. So, when my ex told me he believed Satan lived within him (behind his rib cage), it was a lot harder for me to process that…compared to someone telling me they were depressed and felt sad and low all the time - easy, I can relate to that on some level.
People tend to fear the unknown and it’s surprising that so many people think SZ is similar to borderline personality disorder, sociopathy or psychopathy.
I’ve worked with people who were recovered and they sort of said…it’s like having your diabetes under control; if you eat right and exercise, you will see a significant reduction in symptoms…but the disease is still there. I get your analogy but when it comes to vision impairment (which I have), all you need to do is pop in some contact lenses and you’re ‘fixed’, it takes little effort. I think mental illness is more akin to a chronic illness - you have to consciously stay on top of things.
No. People put themselves down, because that is how they see themselves. I’ve known plenty of people who belly ache and/or belittle themselves more than me. Even with schizophrenia I’ve had a pretty can-do attitude. Someone having low self-esteem might be closer to what you’re looking for.
My body needs help regulating hormones. My son’s brain needs help regulating dopamin. Is this the type of comparison you were going for?