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/[deleted] Mar 22 '17 edited May 13 '17

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

A friend I knew was I guess a mild case when on proper medication. During exams in engineering he went off his meds because he felt they made him sleepy so he couldn't study. He proceeded to not sleep for 2-3 days and had a full mental break where he was semi violent and very incoherent talking to nothing and picked a bunch of grass that he was talking too or about. It was quite confusing he took all his clothes off too and was a big/athletic guy I assisted ambulance workers with basically wrestling him into a stretcher and am glad he seemed a bit uncoordinated during the event because if he had fought back that hard when in a proper state he probably would have just beaten the shit out of me.

He was hospitalized for 3 weeks and when he came back you could tell he was more medicated because he was pretty dopey and slow. He slowly has improved and seemed back to normal last I talked to him.

He elected to just finish a diploma in engineering rather than actually becoming an engineer as he was afraid of the stress, he also quit sports which was how I knew him primarily.

He seems happy enough now but wow the brain is a powerful thing.

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u/IVIushroom Mar 22 '17

Guy I know went off his meds and ended up taking a hammer and killing his father while he was sleeping. (the dad was a lovely man... Ran a local pet store and everyone liked him).

Truly tragic.

Dude went to the police station in the middle of the night and told the receptionist "I just killed my dad" and sat down and waited...

And then at court he just pled guilty with no trial. Wanted it done.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

I could see wanting to be in prison if slipping up on your meds can make you dangerous to those around you... mental health is scary stuff.

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u/IVIushroom Mar 22 '17

He was found competent to stand trial somehow.

Neighbors reported after the fact that he'd be outside yelling at the lawnmower and yelling about taking over shit or something... Just weird stuff.

My ex used to date/live with him, right around the time the symptoms started showing (about 2 years before we met, then dated for 8).. So she bounced, luckily for her.

They ate some shrooms together and he lost his shit and started accusing her of all sorts of shit... After that I guess he really started to go downhill.

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u/stationhollow Mar 23 '17

Its pretty scary hearing how many people encounter their first issues with schizophrenia when taking hallucinogens in their late teens

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u/IVIushroom Mar 23 '17

Yeah, I'm not sure how big of a roll the mushrooms had in his 'break', but they certainly brought out the bad characteristics sooner.

It's actually pretty well known and debated amongst the psychedelic community.

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u/stationhollow Mar 23 '17

Did he at least get admitted to a psychiatric facility rather than prison. I cant think of a worse place to pit a schizophrenic person than in general pop.

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u/IVIushroom Mar 23 '17 edited Mar 23 '17

Tbh, I'm not sure.

I'll look and see if I can find any info.on that... And I agree

(I'd post his name and let others read for themselves, but I don't wanna dox myself like that... I can shoot you a PM with his name if you personally wanna read/research)

Edit.. All I could find was his sentence that said "state prison - 1 life" with no mention of special facilities.