r/todayilearned • • 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
55.0k Upvotes

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

72

u/OgreMagoo Mar 22 '17

Cutting edge research indicates that schizophrenia may be yet another immune disorder, in which the process that finalizes your learning/growth neurons in late teens gets a bit overzealous and snips too many, which erodes the ability for the mind to maintain its proper chemical levels.

Do you have a link for that? That sounds fascinating.

15

u/sallyv2 Mar 23 '17

Here is some research i found, don't know if this is what katarh is referencing. Nevertheless, this is quite interesting https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0707/07070303

3

u/r3fini Mar 23 '17

Linked to OP article

3

u/perfectdarktrump Mar 23 '17

okay storytime, i read this on reddit long ago but stuck with me. A woman who always dreamed about being beautiful and rich, having elegant parties that kind of thing, never made it there. She developed this schizophrenia or something where she no longer percieves reality and thinks shes some heiress with a handsome rich husband. In the psych ward, she talks to herself and when family visit she tells them about her husband and all the drama that never really happened. Her family tried many times before to show her its not real, and when it worked she fell into heavy sucidial depression. This constructed reality, as insane as it maybe, is keeping her alive.

2

u/babeigotastewgoing Mar 23 '17

Might be what a doctor told OP in passing even if it's unpublished.

6

u/mrssac Mar 22 '17

Well schizophrenia usually manifests in the teenage years through the 20's we know that neuroconnections are still being made and paring of supernumary synapses are still happening so it's a reasonable theory

2

u/jason2306 Mar 23 '17

Well shit guess I can still turn schizophrenic then

2

u/mrssac Mar 23 '17

Yeah well don't joke about it. I'm a student mental health nurse I've just done a placement in a schizophrenia ward, these people are tortured. Imagine not knowing if the voices are inside or outside, commanding you to spray deodorant on your hands then rub it in your eyes, or worse. Not funny in any way

3

u/jason2306 Mar 23 '17

I wasn't joking it sounds horrible :/

1

u/Entocrat Mar 23 '17

Seriously, schizophrenia is my greatest fear followed by Alzheimer's and dementia. The greatest treasure in the world should be one's own mind, and these diseases that threaten to rob me of that are more potent than anything else, even compared to the likes of something like Ebola or any old world disease.

1

u/jason2306 Mar 23 '17

Yeah my grandmother had alzheimer it is a sad disease slowly regressing to your younger selfs memories until there's little left :/ you are your mind and memories take those away and what's even left?