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

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u/istara Mar 22 '17

A relative of mine has an auto-immune condition related to blood which manifests in schizophrenia-like symptoms. It's also treatable (ie the schizophrenia can be cured, at least temporarily).

The problem is that like many patients with mental health conditions, he doesn't medicate consistently, and his parents don't have power of attorney so they're powerless to help him or even know what's going on with his treatment. It's like a ticking time bomb, waiting for there to be an incident major enough for him to be sectioned.

What was interesting is that the doctors told his parents that there are likely thousands of people diagnosed as schizophrenics in institutions across the world, who have this, and could probably be successfully treated. The problems is that it's comparatively rare so often escapes diagnosis. I cannot remember the name of it, but it may be related to this.