Running head: SHEDDING THE STIGMAS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Shedding the Stigmas of Schizophrenia

Jacqueline Mulholland
Indian River State College
Spring 2016

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Abstract
A ragged homeless man wandering the streets, muttering nonsense to himself; a woman
screaming in a psychiatric ward, constrained by a strait jacket; people mindlessly pacing back
and forth in a mental hospital; in other words, crazies. This used to be the stigmatized view of
people with mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, just a few decades ago. Shedding the
stigmas of any mental illness becomes a daunting task when the symptoms are not always visible
to the naked eye. Changing the perspective of not only the outside view of the disease, but also
changing the perspective of the diseased mind itself, is the first step in accomplishing this goal.
Today with medication and therapy, schizophrenia can be a completely manageable disease. The
following paper discusses two such people who are not only breaking the constraints of a world
view but also of medical science.

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Living with schizophrenia, from childhood to adulthood, is becoming less stigmatized

every day. People have realized this disease is a manageable one, a livable one and it is not
always debilitating. No longer do we conjure up images of a crazed person drawing circles in a
padded cell. Today we can find many stories of high functioning schizophrenics with a happy,
well-adjusted lifestyle. Schizophrenia is a disease that affects 2.5 million people in the United
States or roughly 1% of the world population, but we have yet to find a cure (Mental Health
America, 2016). While we still dont know what causes schizophrenia, doctors believe that genes
are not the only issue; environmental factors such as exposure to viruses or malnutrition before
birth may also be to blame (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Because of this,
schizophrenia affects everyone differently not only psychologically but also biologically and
sociologically as well. The extremes of this disease can both help and hinder the worlds
stigmatized view of it, but it all comes down to what works for each individual patient, and
treatment tends to focus on minimizing the symptoms. From youth diagnosis at 6 years old, to
high functioning schizophrenics who go on to earn college degrees, schizophrenia may be a
disease of extremes, but with proper treatment, people can still live a productive life.
Symptoms of schizophrenia usually appear between the ages of 16 and 30, and though it
affects 1 in 100 adults, that drops to 1 in 50,000 children (National Institute of Mental Health,
2016). Therefore, being diagnosed at only 6 years old, made Jani Schofield one such extreme of
schizophrenia. Even though she was not properly diagnosed until age 6, her symptoms started
much earlier. At just 1 week old, Jani was only sleeping 3 hours a night; by her 12th week she
would see things that were not there, her eyes would follow invisible objects around the room;
by her 3rd birthday, she acknowledged her first hallucination, a dog named Lo. Up to this point
Jani appeared extremely intelligent and creative, at age 4 she was even tested to have an IQ of

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146, therefore her imaginary friends caused little alarm to her family. It was not until after she
entered school that her hallucinations became malicious, even to the point of self-harm
(DiscoveryLifeFullEps, 2014). She would have multiple hallucinations of different types of
characters, mostly animals or numbers. The delusions would take on different personalities, some
were mean and told her to do bad things, while others were kind and would engage in play. Her
hallucinations had become not only her friends but also her enemies, and she did not necessarily
want all of them to leave. She would understand that what she saw were hallucinations, but it
was hard for her to ignore them when they were constantly around (DiscoveryLifeFullEps,
2014). The mind must work out how to deal with such incredible circumstances if it is to survive,
but how is it supposed to do that when all its ever know is schizophrenia? Jani no doubt has a
long road ahead of her, but it is not a dead end. As another extreme case shows us, schizophrenia
can be what you make of it.
Eleanor Longden experienced her first auditory hallucinations as a freshman in college.
They began quite simply as a narration of her daily routine, She is leaving the room, She is
opening the door. The voices started out very neutral and had become an almost soothing
background noise for her, but once she confided in someone about them by seeing a psychiatrist,
the voices became increasingly menacing. It was a kind of psychic civil war on her own mind,
which only increased her voices and their ill intent became more prominent. While discussing
her hallucinations, Eleanor stated, I began to treat into this nightmarish inner world, in which
the voices were destined to become my persecutors and my only perceived companions (2013).
Her voices became so malevolent and demanding, she was convinced that the only way to stop
them was to drill a hole in her head. After receiving treatment and a new perspective, Eleanor
credits her voices to early traumatic life experiences; they were her brains way of dealing with

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emotions and therefore, not her enemy. Each voice represented a part of her, and the voices with
the most anger and ill intent, represented the parts of her that were the most damaged (TED,
2013). In believing that this was a survival technique to deal with unimaginable trauma, she
learned to converse with her voices and manage them, to interpret what they say as a reflection
of her own fears and feelings. This shift in thinking allowed her not only to continue on in
college, but to graduate with a masters degree in psychology.
Even with the medical advancements and knowledge available today, there are still many
stigmas associated with Schizophrenia. Notably the biggest one, is that if you have
schizophrenia, you will not be able to live a normal life. Many people worldwide have proven
this to be false, some even going on to advance the research for schizophrenia (TED, 2013).
Living with this disease is definitely a struggle, and a lifelong one at that, but it is not a sealed
fate. People living with schizophrenia, from young children through to old age, are finding ways
to deal with their disease. A better psychological understanding of schizophrenia and
advancements in medications are increasingly helping more and more people to moderate their
symptoms. People every day are helping to release the stigmas associated with this disease
through treatment and understanding. A life with schizophrenia can still be, a productive and
happy life.

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References

TED. (2013, Aug 8). The Voices in My Head | Eleanor Longden | TED Talks. [Video File]
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syjEN3peCJw
DiscoveryLifeFullEps. (2014, May 27). Born Schizophrenic: Januarys Story. [Video File]
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZnrG93x5eA
National Institute of Mental Health. (2016). Schizophrenia.
Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml
Mental Health America. Schizophrenia. Retrieved March 15, 2016, from
http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/schizophrenia