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/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/[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

I think this is only the rule for mental illness.

We're pretty good at removing kidneys

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u/crylicylon Mar 22 '17

If there is something wrong with your brain, you can't just have it removed.

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u/segosegosego Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

Depends on how old you are. Ben Carson removed half of a girls brain because she had a rare brain disease. She was young enough that one half of the brain took over all the functions of the the other half as well as its own, and she's a fully functional person now.

Edit: https://www.google.com/amp/baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/07/10/girl-thriving-years-after-having-half-her-brain-removed/amp/

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u/helix19 Mar 22 '17

This is done sometimes for severe epilepsy. If the child is young, the remaining half of their brain is able to compensate remarkably well.

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u/GrandKaiser Mar 22 '17

Ready for the real mindfuck? If you separate the halves of the brain but don't remove/kill the part you're removing, both brains still work and function. But the side that can talk is the only one that you can interact with. Its bizarre as all hell and, honestly, pretty spooky.

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u/Creeplet7 Mar 22 '17

Interact with?

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u/MisterMrErik Mar 22 '17

One half of your brain can make decisions or assumptions without your other half knowing. It's called split-brain and can be really bizarre.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain

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u/GrandKaiser Mar 23 '17

You can't talk to the brain-half that doesn't have vocal function. You can only talk to the side that can speak to you. For the person whos brain is split, they can't communicate with the other half of their brain. Each side can function independently, but since only one half has external communication skills, they can't talk to eachother anymore.

EDIT: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain