With recent news about the killer who committed the atrocities in Norway now diagnosed as an alleged paranoid schizophrenic by 2 psychiatrists, I am afraid you will think all the stories I have about being a functioning, non-violent skitz to be purely anecdotal. By this I mean, I am afraid you are thinking that maybe, if I am non-violent, then it is just a fluke, and that most schizophrenics have violent tendencies. If you are to believe the media, every shooter is a schizophrenic and schizophrenia is synonymous with violence.
While I am all for the punishment and imprisonment of so-called schizophrenics who attack and murder, I want to be clear that they are not the norm in the skitzy community. The only thing I can tell you is what I know first hand and provide you with more links to books on the schizophrenic community. While some say this is pure anecdotal evidence (by that they mean that one instance does not prove anything), I urge you to stop yourself from jumping to conclusions about the personality traits of schizophrenics.
Imagine listening to the radio 12 hours a day, with no ability to turn off the radio. Sometimes the radio plays soothing music, other times it plays horrible messages about people coming to hurt you, or saying that you are a bad, evil person. Imagine that unstoppable radio playing for 12 hours a day for months on end. According to http://www.schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm, 2.2 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia. Yet, despite this imaginary radio playing hostile messages 12 hours a day for months on end, 2.2 million Americans do not hurt or kill another human being. This is not anecdotal evidence, this is statistics.
So what do 2.2 million Americans do? Different things. All people react to stress differently, so one coping mechanism might not work for the next person. I know a man who would keep journals of everything the voices said. He had boxes and boxes of journals with all the statements made by his illness' voices. He had no history of assault (drug use, yes, but not assault). I know another man who would make bracelets out of beads to calm himself when the voices were being particularly mean. Also, no history of violence. I know another woman who would sit and giggle to herself in response to what she heard. No history of violence. I know that I would write down rebuttals to the voices when I was having auditory hallucinations. I would also paint pictures. I would also read as many books on schizophrenia as I could, so that I would understand what was happening with my brain chemistry.
Some people need to hide from the world, while others feel that they need to be highly scrutinized by family or colleagues so that their paranoia doesn't seem so ill-based. Personally, I believe the latter statement is the underlying reason why I keep an online diary/blog. I believe that somewhere in my subconscious there is this little piece of logic that says if people are really listening into my thoughts (albeit, via a blog entry that I myself post) then I won't be so paranoid after all, and this helps me cope with my illness. Also, in some backwards logic, I feel that if I am under surveillance, as my illness would have me believe, then it is best to get the entire story out there. So, if you are reading this, welcome, reader. Thank you for taking the time out to read my little diatribe.
While I am all for the punishment and imprisonment of so-called schizophrenics who attack and murder, I want to be clear that they are not the norm in the skitzy community. The only thing I can tell you is what I know first hand and provide you with more links to books on the schizophrenic community. While some say this is pure anecdotal evidence (by that they mean that one instance does not prove anything), I urge you to stop yourself from jumping to conclusions about the personality traits of schizophrenics.
Imagine listening to the radio 12 hours a day, with no ability to turn off the radio. Sometimes the radio plays soothing music, other times it plays horrible messages about people coming to hurt you, or saying that you are a bad, evil person. Imagine that unstoppable radio playing for 12 hours a day for months on end. According to http://www.schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm, 2.2 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia. Yet, despite this imaginary radio playing hostile messages 12 hours a day for months on end, 2.2 million Americans do not hurt or kill another human being. This is not anecdotal evidence, this is statistics.
So what do 2.2 million Americans do? Different things. All people react to stress differently, so one coping mechanism might not work for the next person. I know a man who would keep journals of everything the voices said. He had boxes and boxes of journals with all the statements made by his illness' voices. He had no history of assault (drug use, yes, but not assault). I know another man who would make bracelets out of beads to calm himself when the voices were being particularly mean. Also, no history of violence. I know another woman who would sit and giggle to herself in response to what she heard. No history of violence. I know that I would write down rebuttals to the voices when I was having auditory hallucinations. I would also paint pictures. I would also read as many books on schizophrenia as I could, so that I would understand what was happening with my brain chemistry.
Some people need to hide from the world, while others feel that they need to be highly scrutinized by family or colleagues so that their paranoia doesn't seem so ill-based. Personally, I believe the latter statement is the underlying reason why I keep an online diary/blog. I believe that somewhere in my subconscious there is this little piece of logic that says if people are really listening into my thoughts (albeit, via a blog entry that I myself post) then I won't be so paranoid after all, and this helps me cope with my illness. Also, in some backwards logic, I feel that if I am under surveillance, as my illness would have me believe, then it is best to get the entire story out there. So, if you are reading this, welcome, reader. Thank you for taking the time out to read my little diatribe.
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