Building Bridges: breaking down the stigma that surrounds schizophrenia

Hi folks, another more serious post here (I promise there'll be a fun one very soon), as it's just come to my attention that it's mental health awareness week and that's a topic that deserves to be covered. This post might a little off-the-cuff as I've not planned or really thought it out, but here we go. Are you ready? 

Schizophrenia. Most people hear that word and shudder. They might think of serial killers (admittedly, some do have the illness), violent outbursts, mental asylums, or just utterly unmanageable people. You might even be thinking (if you have no awareness of what schizophrenia is) that a person with the illness might have multiple personalities. This is not the case and I am living proof. 

Without a doubt, the media's portrayal of schizophrenia, and indeed any psychotic illness, has highlighted the parts of the illness that the public most fear. Yes, sometimes unwell individuals might lash out, hurting medical specialists, family, friends and others, but that is a very small minority. The vast majority of those with schizophrenia are a risk to themselves, not others. As for the multiple personality myth, well I gave it away there (well done, Louise), it's a myth. Those with multiple personalities, or alters as they are known, are most likely suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, which is an entirely different ball game. 

So what is schizophrenia? 

In layman's terms, schizophrenia has two aspects: negative and positive symptoms. The 'positive' (and by this term, I do not mean positive as in good) ones are the most well-known: delusions, hallucinations, confused thinking. The negative ones include: social withdrawal, apathy and difficulty showing emotion. To be diagnosed with schizophrenia you must exhibit both positive and negative symptoms. 

Now, time to tell a little bit about why I'm so interested in de-stigmatizing schizophrenia, it's because I have a related illness, which I'll explain a bit here: schizoaffective disorder. 

Schizoaffective disorder is the co-morbidity of bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia. They run in parallel and function primarily independently. The mood issues and psychosis are separate entities. 

I've been diagnosed with this particular illness since I was seventeen. I'm twenty-two now and the past eight years have been littered with hospital admissions, in both the UK and in Guernsey, delusions, a barrage of persistent hallucinations and depression, anxiety, thought salads and mania. Sounds like a fun cocktail, eh? (NOT).

But, whinging and being all oh-woe-is-me is not the point of this post. I wanted to just tell you a little bit about why kindness, community, acceptance and understanding is so important in the de-stigmatisaton of schizophrenia, schizoaffective and other psychotic illnesses. 

The first step is to recognise that no matter how hard it is to watch a friend, family member or even acquaintance go through a psychotic episode, it is ten times harder for them. They are most likely terrified of their experiences, I know I was, and it's very hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you can see/hear a bunch of things that just aren't there. 

Sufferers are human and they need your support. Offer reassurance, encouragement and practical help if you can. It can be very overwhelming, but try to step into their shoes. No one would choose this. It's a living Hell, and not of our own making, but by that of stupid dopamine. Medication can help and thanks to just that, I am now stable. It's taken a long while to come to terms with the fact that medication does help and I can't do without it. It's currently the only way to successfully manage the symptoms of psychosis. 

But for anyone reading this who is suffering from the illness, it does get better. Take your meds and eat your greens and all that malarkey. You're not alone. 

Right folks, that's enough spontaneous writing for now, sorry if it's been a bit rubbishy and short

. I hope this post has been helpful in some small, abstract way. You're all fab and I'll write a fun one next time, promise. 

over and out <3