“Oh he’s just different.” “They’re weird.” “I just don’t understand how someone could act like that.” These are all phrases that can be heard on any street, in any country, and in just about any situation. People are judged constantly by others based on weight, looks, clothes, marital status, wealth, personality, and so much more. Our society continues to impress what is acceptable and unacceptable when it comes to how others live their lives. However, some people cannot control the aspects by which they are judged. People live under all sorts of circumstances and no one thing impacts two people the same way. People who live with schizoaffective disorder are only an example of these sorts of people.
Schizoaffective disorder is a serious mental illness that features of two different conditions. It is a combination of schizophrenia disorder and a mood disorder. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that distorts how a person thinks, acts, and what they perceive as reality. The mood disorder most commonly associated with schizoaffective is bipolar disorder. This is an illness that is marked by emotional lows and highs as well as problems with concentration and remembering specific details. Patients may experience a deep depression, and then they may turn around and be at an emotional high. Schizoaffective patients, however, live with both the effects of schizophrenia, as well as bipolar disorder, making cooping with everyday life a struggle. Schizoaffective is a life-long illness and impacts all areas of daily life. Work, school, relationships, and common aspects of life are difficult for schizoaffective people. (WebMD, 2013)
Even though the symptoms of the two disorders are combined together and make for a seemingly more complicated l...
... middle of paper ...
...on. In the end, harsh comments and judging others benefit no one. Just like everyone else in life, people with schizoaffective disorder deserve to be given a chance.
Works Cited
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2013, December 21). Schizoaffective disorder. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/schizoaffective-disorder/DS00866
WebMD. (2013). Schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from WebMD: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=42963
Haywood, T., Kravitz, H., Grossman, L., Cavanaugh, J., Davis, J., & Lewis, D. (1995). Predicting the "revolving door" phenomenon among patients with schizophrenic, schizoaffective, and affective disorders. The American Journal Of Psychiatry, 152(6), 856-861.
O'Donnell, K. (2012, December 10). Inside the beautiful mind of Brian Wilson. People, 76(24), 76.
Every year one hundred thousand young Americans are diagnosed with the disease schizophrenia (Carman Research). Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that is associated with unnatural behavior or thinking . The disease usually affects people during the late adolescence stage or early adulthood, typically during this time they develop the symptoms linked to the disease.
According to the DSM-IV, schizophrenia is classified under the section of “Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders”. Schizophrenia is one of the most serious major chronic brain disorders in the field of mental health; it is a neurological disorder that affects the cognitive functions of the human brain. People living with this incapacitating illness can experience multiple symptoms that will cause extreme strain in their own and their families and friends life. The individual can lose reality, unable to work, have delusions and hallucinations, may have disorganized speech and thought processes, will withdraw from people and activities, they may become suspicious and paranoid, may behave inappropriately in every day social situations. They may neglect personal hygiene and dress improperly, use excessive make-up; every day life is becoming chaotic for everyone involved.
For a very long time, mental health was a disease people would not dare speak about. The stigma associated with mental health meant that it was viewed as a curse or simply poor upbringing. Crazy, right? (Pardon the pun). Although it’s not seen as a curse by us in this generation any more, many people with mental health issues still have to face ignorance, prejudice and discrimination from our society just because of their lack of understanding or reluctance to try and understand. Be that as it may, these attitudes directly impact upon how and if people choose to seek help, making the negative and ignorant opinions and attitudes of others potentially dangerous to many individuals and the people around them.
Schizophrenia is a deteriorating progressive disease, consequently, it is resistant to treatment for the individual suffering schizophrenia. (Catts & O’Toole, 2016). In most cases the individuals suffering from schizophrenia, are resistive to treatment, in most cases, individuals suffering from schizophrenia, and are resistive in taking antipsychotics. (Catts & O’Toole, 2016). Jeremy doesn’t see himself as a “schizophrenic”, he states that “he’s happy naturally”, and often he’s observed playing the guitar and doing painting in his room. Weekly, he has an intramuscular medication to treat his disorder, crediting the support of his wife. It is indicated that the morality rate, in patients suffering from schizophrenia is higher, despite the considerable resources available, in Australia. New data show that in 20 countries, including Australia, only 13.5% meet the recovery criteria, which means that 1or 2 patients in every 100, will meet this criteria per year. (Catts & O’Toole, 2016). This means that there’s a decline in providing support and services to individuals like Jeremy suffering from a mental illness such as Schizophrenia. Many individuals become severely ill before they realise they need medical treatment, and when receiving treatment it is usually short-term. (Nielssen, McGorry, Castle & Galletly, 2017). The RANZCP guidelines highlights that
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness.
This stereotype contributes to the stigma individuals’ face and encourages social exclusion and intolerance, especially in schizophrenia (Ray & Brooks Dollar, 2014). Ken sought out help and went to the emergency room because he recognized he was severely depressed. There, the doctor promised he would not be put in restraints, yet when he was taken to the hospital, he was placed in restraints because it was company policy (Steele & Berman, 2001). Due the stigma that individuals with mental illness are violent, Ken was not treated fairly (Stuart & Arboleda-Florez, 2012). Stuart and Arboleda-Florez (2012) are very credible authors to be writing on the effects of stigma in mental health. Both authors have experience in psychiatry, combatting stigma and mental health issues.
The discussion of mental health is slowly being brought to the social surface to create a more inclusive society for those dealing with a mental illness. However, those with a mental illness are continuously being affected by stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination by those who simply don’t comprehend the complexity of the human brain (Glaser, G.2017). As more people become mental health activist, they are exposing the plethora of issues surrounding the overall mental and physical stability of those who are negatively affected by the social construct of what it means to be normal.
Network, C. W. (2008, May). About Concurrent Disorders. Retrieved from Central West Concurrent Disorders Network: hppt://centralwestcdn.ca/about-concurrent-disorders
This psychotic disorder primarily affects a human’s brain. A person living with this mental illness experiences several symptoms as well as signs. Therefore an individual relies on a relative or someone he/she is comfortable with in order to watch him/her. People who are suffering from Schizophrenia are usually referred to as Schizophrenics. Many individuals have a difficult time accepting that either he or she has been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. This mental disorder mainly affects a human’s state of mind as well as his/her personality. Schizophrenia affects both men and woman of all ages and race. But young men in their early teens are more affected with this psychotic illness than young women. An individual’s brain functions differently than a normal human’s mind.
I can see this very clearly in my own life. My younger brother sufferers from an extreme anxiety disorder called Asperger’s. This disorder is on the same spectrum as Autism it is just at the very end of the spectrum making it a less extreme case. It has always been apparent even at a young age that he was different. The only problem is that he doesn’t look any different than the other kids his age. Strangers he meets expect him to act and react just as a normal kid would, but he can’t. My father’s side of the family hard a very hard time understanding my brother’s disorder. They didn’t see it as a disorder. They thought he would just get over it, that he was being weak. It took a lot of convincing and research to prove to them that what was affecting my brother wasn’t a thought process or a weakness, there was something mentally wrong with him. He doesn’t receive help and attention at school as the kids with physical aliments or disorders with physical symptoms like ADHD. It is easy to see that those kids need help, but it wasn’t until we got my brother tested in the second grade that he began to receive help. We had to prove to the schools he was different in order for him to get the attention he needed. On the other hand of the argument, the people with brain injuries or disease get more help because it is obvious there is something wrong with them.
"Schizophrenia." NIMH RSS. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
¿Labeling someone with this disorder can hinder their social acceptability, allow them to excuse their behaviors as a disease, and may also promote a depressed and unhealthy lifestyle. It would be helpful if the intended resources were implicated appropriately but this system is failing our youth. The labeling should be removed for the betterment of our children. There is a level of understanding that needs to be used but we need to hold our youth accountable for their actions regardless of a diagnosis. The next time you see that child in the grocery store that appears to be old enough to know better but is still acting like your toddler just remember, he may not be able to control it. We should not pass judgment on others based on our socially mislead knowledge.
The standards of every culture believe to be considered normal, natural, or healthy. These views lead to disagreements about the causes, diagnosis, and the treatment of the disorders. Many people with mental problems are discriminated against because of their mental disorder. Mental illness and stigma refers to the view of the person with mental illness as having undesirable traits. Stigma leads to negative behavior, stereotyping, and discriminatory behavior towards the person with mental health issues.
Why is there a cloud of judgment and misunderstanding still surrounding the subject? People with a mental disorder or with a history of mental health issues are continually ostracized by society. This results in it being more difficult than it already is for the mentally ill to admit their symptoms to others and to seek treatment. To towards understanding mental illness is to finally lift the stigma, and to finally let sufferers feel safe and accepted within today’s society. There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed.
Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders with major impairments in thought, emotion, and behavior; there is a constant prevalence rate of one percent with the occurrence being slightly higher in men. Though different psychologists have various theories on whether the disorder is linked to genetics or social economic status, schizophrenia in all