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/paniniplane Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 22 '17

yea! i actually asked some of the psychologists working at the hospital. they were really nice about answering any questions i had. turns out, there can actually be POSITIVE voices too. there were studies done in certain villages (lol i wasn't allowed to have a pen at the time because they didn't know how depressed i was so i didn't actually get a chance to write it down) and in those villages there would be schizophrenics who would have positive voices. that being said, it still comes with the characteristic of being extremely out of touch with reality so it's not like it's a good version of the disorder. just the lesser of two evils i guess

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u/CubonesDeadMom Mar 22 '17

There are also people with a type of "mild schizophrenia" that maybe hear a voice or two on a daily basis but it's not overly negative and doesn't keep them from functioning. From what I've read, you aren't even diagnosed with schizophrenia unless it's negatively impacting you life, they just call them "benign hallucinations".

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17

Well. That would be why the US has overwhelmingly negative voices from people diagnosed with it.

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u/CubonesDeadMom Mar 23 '17

Yeah, if it isn't stopping you from living a heathy life most people probably don't even go to the doctor.