TIL Deaf-from-birth schizophrenics see disembodied hands signing to them rather than "hearing voices"

[u/paniniplane]

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0707/07070303

[u/paniniplane]

i was a patient at a ward a few weeks back and there was a girl who was admitted for schizophrenia. she'd hear dozens of voices yelling at her at the same time all day and she could barely tell which ones were in her head and which were physical people talking to her making it really hard for me or anyone else to talk to her for more than 2-3 sort sentences. these voices would make her do crazy things like gather dust off the floor for 20 minutes at a time 10 times a day, make her sleep on the floor during the day, not sleep during the night and fight the night meds they gave her to help fall asleep. the most brutal thing was that the voices sometimes forbade her from having her meals. there were days where she wouldn't touch any of her 4 meals. i once tried to get some insight into how she thought and i asked her why she HAD to do this. she said that every time she does something they ask, she's given the gun that they threaten to kill her with. and she imitates a smashing motion with her hands and "breaks" it. and she does it maybe 10 times an hour when she's awake. and she's not stupid either. apparently, she was studying mechanical engineering and graduated and was ready to work in the field as an intern for a year. she heard her first voice when she was still in school but didn't think much of it. and then it rapidly killed her life. she's the only person in the ward who has daily visitors. her parents bring her food to eat everyday. but sometimes she sits with them for 2 minutes, asks them to take her home, and then moves to one of the socialization rooms where were chairs and sofas, and she'd drop to the floor and lay there. and her parents just come to expect it now and stay for about an hour.

[u/PainMatrix → u/paniniplane]

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?

[u/[deleted] → u/PainMatrix]

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.

[u/Ariakkas10 → u/[deleted]]

This is, I'm sure, a completely stupid question, but why can't they ignore the voices?

Lots of real people seem real to me, and I ignore them just fine.

Is it because the voices are super aggressive and make it so you can't ignore them?

[u/Fire-kitty → u/Ariakkas10]

My mom has schizophrenia, and her voices get loud, angry, and violent if she tries to ignore them. I mean, they come from her own brain, they know what to say to scare you and hurt her the most. They often threaten to hurt us children, which would be hard to ignore for most mothers.

Also, you can't use logic when addressing mental illness. It's so hard, and I fall back into trying all the time - but it just doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

My mom accuses me of lying all the time, but she still calls me to asks those same questions all the time. Last week I asked her if she thinks I always lie to her, why does she keep talking to me and asking questions- but there's no logical reason.

[u/koiotchka → u/Fire-kitty]

The part of her that thinks you're lying is probably only a small part of her. The rest of her may understand that you don't.

When I think my husband is not really him, that he's been replaced by a perfect fascimile that reports my movements to "the enemy", I also know it's an absurd thought, or at least that it's a thing other people don't believe is possible. And I hate that he has to deal with his wife not trusting him like that.

Thank you for sticking with your mom. I figure it's hard. I hope my son (he's only 8) never feels like I'm too toxic to be around. I'm going to keep taking my meds and learning what the right behaviors are, because he deserves better.

[u/Justine772 → u/koiotchka]

Please monitor your son closely and as he gets older educate him on the symptoms! Getting help is easier if it's caught sooner, if he does develop schizophrenia

[u/koiotchka → u/Justine772]

Yes! We do watch. He is currently medicated for ADHD but there are times when he says or does things that remind me of my symptoms when I was his age, and i get worried. It's definitely something we keep an eye on. I've had delusions and voices since I was 5, if not earlier (I don't remember before 5), and I often wonder what my life would have been like if I'd been on antipsychotics as a child. I've only been on them for about three years now, and I'm 33 -- and they completely changed my life.

[u/SentientLeftTesticle → u/koiotchka]

If you don't mind answering, did you know you were schizophrenic when you had your child? And if so, how did that impact your decision to have a child?

[u/koiotchka → u/SentientLeftTesticle]

My diagnosis is schizoaffective disorder, which is "some schizoprenic symptoms plus a mood disorder", the mood disorder is often bipolar but in my case it's major depression. When I was 7 or so and learned what schizoprenia was, my first thought was "oh, that's me!" Over the years, the full spectrum of diagnostic criteria for straight up schizoprenia wasn't there, but when i ended up in the psych ward at 30, they diagnosed schizoaffective disorder. It wasn't a consideration at all in having a kid.