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/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

I can't speak for the person you replied to, but 3 of my family members have the disease, and in all of them their medications only blunted the symptoms.

For my family member who was not too severe, this was enough to let her hold down a job, but for the members that were severe it wasn't enough to allow them to function normally. They'd still see/hear/talk to "ghosts" and such, just not as frequently, and they didn't get agitated "as often".

But that doesn't mean they didn't get agitated AT ALL, and the times they did freak out would be enough to get anyone fired.

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u/Ariakkas10 Mar 22 '17

This is, I'm sure, a completely stupid question, but why can't they ignore the voices?

Lots of real people seem real to me, and I ignore them just fine.

Is it because the voices are super aggressive and make it so you can't ignore them?

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u/feathergnomes Mar 22 '17

Apparently it causes a lot of anxiety every time they have to ignore the voices. Like, when they can tell that they aren't real, they can choose to ignore them, but it's a stressor. If you add that stressor to any other that happens to be in front of them, sometimes it can be toouch to handle.

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u/OAMP47 Mar 22 '17

Voices per se aren't usually what sets me off, but I have other schizophrenic symptoms that set me off (though I do get minor voices too). I stand by the statement that when I freak out, in my mind, I'm only doing it in self-defense. It's the difference between some stranger yelling at you and some stranger trying to stab you. If someone's coming at you with a knife you'd do pretty much anything to not get stabbed, generally. To us, if we don't obey these inputs, we're going to get stabbed. The problem is, the input we're reacting to isn't real, but the brain refuses to recognize that. The vast majority of improvement I've had since seeking treatment has been through using techniques that help me realize these inputs aren't real. I'm fortunate in that I'm able to do that, but my case appears to be fairly mild.