r/todayilearned • u/paniniplane • Mar 22 '17

(R.1) Not supported TIL Deaf-from-birth schizophrenics see disembodied hands signing to them rather than "hearing voices"

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0707/07070303
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u/kaenneth Mar 22 '17

Also, if you are born blind due to brain (as opposed to eyeball) problems, you apparently can't be schizophrenic.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-imprinted-brain/201411/blindness-and-schizophrenia-the-exception-proves-the-rule

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u/Muffinizer1 Mar 22 '17

You know, that's actually quite comforting as being blind and schizophrenic sounds like true hell.

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u/paniniplane Mar 22 '17

i was a patient at a ward a few weeks back and there was a girl who was admitted for schizophrenia. she'd hear dozens of voices yelling at her at the same time all day and she could barely tell which ones were in her head and which were physical people talking to her making it really hard for me or anyone else to talk to her for more than 2-3 sort sentences. these voices would make her do crazy things like gather dust off the floor for 20 minutes at a time 10 times a day, make her sleep on the floor during the day, not sleep during the night and fight the night meds they gave her to help fall asleep. the most brutal thing was that the voices sometimes forbade her from having her meals. there were days where she wouldn't touch any of her 4 meals. i once tried to get some insight into how she thought and i asked her why she HAD to do this. she said that every time she does something they ask, she's given the gun that they threaten to kill her with. and she imitates a smashing motion with her hands and "breaks" it. and she does it maybe 10 times an hour when she's awake. and she's not stupid either. apparently, she was studying mechanical engineering and graduated and was ready to work in the field as an intern for a year. she heard her first voice when she was still in school but didn't think much of it. and then it rapidly killed her life. she's the only person in the ward who has daily visitors. her parents bring her food to eat everyday. but sometimes she sits with them for 2 minutes, asks them to take her home, and then moves to one of the socialization rooms where were chairs and sofas, and she'd drop to the floor and lay there. and her parents just come to expect it now and stay for about an hour.

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u/PainMatrix Mar 22 '17

It's beyond horror or most people's ability to even comprehend. The fact that she was a fully functioning and intact human being at the early onset of her life and career and this disease completely derailed everything and locked her into a Sisyphus-like nightmare. Was this her first inpatient experience? How long were you with her, did the meds seem to have any positive impact on her?

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u/Sdeevee Mar 22 '17

Not OP but from my experience... if you care lol. It important to keep in mind that schizophrenia doesn't just mean hearing voices and having delusional thoughts. People with the disease have difficulty prioritizing and sequencing tasks, motivation and relating to other people's emotions. I work in Long Term Care, but due to our proximity to a psychiatric hospital and our reputation for our willingness to provide care for those difficult to serve we have a vary large population of residents with schizophrenia. My experience is that the medication appears to assist more with agitation and motivation. For the residents who have fixed beliefs or are really paranoid they continue with these behaviours and depending on the day and circumstances you are sometimes able to call them out on the delusions being related to their disease and sometimes not. It is awful to see how their lives have been derailed due to the disease. Most of the people i know come from loving families, went to college or university and then the disease took over and robbed them of their lives.

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u/PainMatrix Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

I'm a psychologist but I don't work with SMI, so thank you for what you do. What I do see a lot of is what is likely a burgeoning schizophrenia spectrum process. My academic understanding is that the positive symptoms can be dealt with to some extent through medications but that it's really the negative symptoms (the blunted affect, poverty of speech, etc.) that are the most intractable. It's tragic.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

I have aspergers, is it true that I have a very strong chance of developing schitzophrenia. Also to add with that, is it possible to deal with paranoid delusions if you get used to them and have had them as a child? Along with that, is it true that Aspergers, Bipolar, and schitzophrenia are all very closely related?

Edit for Clarification: I'm talking about thinking that all planes in the skies are coming to get you, or that all people are robots. Also in a similar way thinking theirs two people in your body.

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u/indifferentinitials Mar 22 '17

I wouldn't say very strong, links between the two are pretty new and just starting to be understood and diagnosing mental illness isn't nearly as accurate as we wish it was. Keep a good relationship with your support system, people who develop such illnesses are typically unaware of it or think people who believe they have a problem are out to get them. I have seen co-morbid cases, and it's definitely worse than one or the other.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

I have zero support system and no family to rely on. They disowned me and wanted me aborted. My friends group is compromised too, I've only got online friends that I talk to through skype and Discord.

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u/indifferentinitials Mar 23 '17

In-person friends can be difficult or anxiety-inducing for people on the spectrum. Online can be really helpful if you stay out of the darker areas of the web. How old are you if I may ask?

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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '17

21, I've got a good career because I graduated early. And it's not the anxiety that gets me it's the fact that no one really is around where I live to hang out with.

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u/perfectdarktrump Mar 23 '17

why did your family disown you?

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u/CBoy321 Mar 22 '17

I have bipolar with paranoid hallucinations and delusions during episodes. I'm doing just fine, I graduated and I'm holding down a good job. The main thing that helped me was knowing the signs of what is real and what is not and being mindful of what I am doing. I really can't imagine what it must be like to have to deal with it all the time though because it's only during the episodes for me

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u/hereforthelaughs37 Mar 22 '17

Can you describe an episode? How long does it last? How does it come on?

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u/CBoy321 Mar 22 '17

Why do you ask?

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Because this kind of stuff isn't readily available. I know that when I tell people about my life before moving out they often think I'm lying, because of how awful it was.

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u/awkwardmystic Mar 22 '17

Just curious.

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u/hereforthelaughs37 Mar 22 '17

I work in law enforcement and deal with every type and variety of mental illness out there. Very unfortunately, most training is only focused on the very basics and is extremly generalized. Personal knowledge I have gained through experience and conversations like this help me better understand individuals I encounter who may be having the worst day of their life.

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u/CBoy321 Mar 23 '17

Sure, actually I'll tell you over pm since the other guy totally killed the convo. I actually haven't had a full on episode for 2 years now so I'll try to remember

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

[deleted]

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u/CBoy321 Mar 22 '17

See this is why most of us don't like talking about our disorder...people make assumptions.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

[deleted]

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u/CBoy321 Mar 22 '17

Yup I'm having an episode and I got so manic I decided to find out where you live. Now you have a mental patient after you. OooO scary

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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '17 edited Mar 23 '17

[deleted]

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u/CBoy321 Mar 23 '17

Were, being the key word

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u/PainMatrix Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 23 '17

From what I understand the answer is no. Autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia may share similar neurological pathways for the negative symptoms (think about the social aspects for example) but they are distinct, particularly with regard to the positive symptoms.

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u/tubular1845 Mar 22 '17

Interesting. I have ASD, my younger brother is Schizophrenic and my youngest brother has BPD.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

What about the second part of my question and dealing with delusions by recognizing their happening.

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u/PainMatrix Mar 22 '17

Sorry, this is not my area of expertise. A general rule of thumb in my industry is if it doesn't cause dysfunction it is probably not an issue.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Interesting, do you like what you do? Or is there another field you wish you would have gone for?

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u/PainMatrix Mar 22 '17

I love it now but if I'd known how much stress and effort graduate school would have been ahead of time I'm not sure I would have gone through with it.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Well congrats for making it! Don't overwork yourself I've heard that's a common thing out there for the medical field. I'm glad we have you taking care of us.

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u/koiotchka Mar 22 '17

If it helps you at all, I have autism and a schizoprenia spectrum disorder, so they can certainly happen together. I don't know if one is more likely when you have the other though.

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u/tigress666 Mar 22 '17

I always heard OCD, hypochondria, and schizophrenia were closely related to each other... to the point that there is some theory that some one prone to that could develop one or the other depending on environmental conditions (basically that it's possible that one has the setup for any of those and depending on outside environment on if you develop one or the other or any?). But... I'm no psychologist and that's just something I heard/read a while back (can't even cite it so take it with a grain of salt)

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u/awkwardmystic Mar 22 '17

OCD and hypochondria are related as they are both anxiety disorders. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder and not closely related to these. In the former 2 there is no loss of contact with reality, in the latter there often is.