--Original published at Kaity Takes on Psychology

Mental illness is a very serious issue, particularly in America, where nearly half of the population endures some form of it. I decided to watch the video highlighting various hallucinations and delusions often seen in schizophrenic patients. Initially, the video was relatively peaceful and calm, with just about everything going right. Then, the delusions started to occur and the schizophrenic patient began to hear voices urging them not to do things like drink their coffee, take their medication, and opening doors.

I have never met anyone diagnosed with schizophrenia, but my sister’s mother in law has it, and I have heard stories of her psychotic episodes. I think it is interesting how little we see about schizophrenia in the media, especially because it is a very real illness. American culture tends to omit discussion about the more serious mental illnesses, and instead chooses to present certain illnesses in a romanticized way, as if depression or anxiety is some glamorous gift. I recall watching part of A Beautiful Mind in high school psychology, and it showed a few scary aspects of schizophrenia, but otherwise focused on the positive aspects such as the protagonists’ brilliance, which is associated with delusions of grandeur.

Schizophrenia seems to be something often pushed under the rug until it has some pertinence in mainstream media. Psychological thriller movies love to scare the audience by creating characters diagnosed with schizophrenia, but they often misrepresent the mental illness. Symptoms of schizophrenia range greatly from person-to-person, and most people with this illness do not have the same symptoms. The best way for our culture to gain a better understanding of schizophrenia is to push it to the forefront of society, and not only raise awareness, but increase acceptance. A simple Google search can inform anyone interested in learning about schizophrenia that the best way to help those in need is to be supportive and patient.

--Original published at Bogo's Blog

Watching this video, my first impression was, “this isn’t so bad.” As the video kept going I found my opinion changing drastically. The voices in his head were very terrible and negative, giving him negative feedback for everything that took place in the video. On certain things that we’d consider mundane, the voices would make them very difficult and tough to accomplish. One thing I did notice when I was watching the video was that everything changed when the wife, presumably, walks in. Her calm demeaner made the man calm down and it caused the voices to dissipate. Of the movies listed, I’ve only seen Donnie Darko as of now and comparing that to the simulation I’d say that media does not really cover the symptoms of schizophrenia very accurately. I don’t think it’s right for movies to exaggerate or understate the severity of mental illnesses because that puts the wrong impression in the minds of young children, who will then grow up believing this and forming incorrect stereotypes. The media has a lot of power lately and I think they should take responsibility for this power especially when they are addressing something as serious as schizophrenia.

--Original published at WilliamsCollegeBlog

Before watching this video, I was not sure what to expect. I am not very aware of what Schizophrenia is and how it may affect people who have it. From what I do know however, is that people with this mental illness are not always in the right mindset and they are not able to see the world in the same light as someone else might. After watching this video of the simulation, I was somewhat scared but also surprised to see what a person with this illness goes through. There were different voices inside the person’s head, and they had different tones. This can make for a person to be very confused in how they should act to a stimulus or just how to function for an everyday occurrence. One scary thought I had was when the person was hallucinating, and the TV was saying something completely different. It just goes to show how little parts of life can be dramatically changed when someone has a mental illness such as Schizophrenia.

The way the media portrays Schizophrenia, in my opinion, is very inaccurate to how they really are. For one thing, the only way someone might discover what an illness really is, is through movies and all movies are meant to over-emphasize the little things, which is does not depict each event correctly. This just goes to show the power of the media and what they are able to do to capture the audience. Now while the media might go too far into a subject, other mental illnesses might not be covered enough or just glanced over to please the audience. This is not a good idea because then people’s judgments are once again skewed into thinking one way. This goes back to the idea that stereotypes can be formed by how the media talks about mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia.

--Original published at Allison's Psych Blog

I actually have seen this video before, in an AP Psychology class I took in high school. I find it really interesting that they were able to put together that video to depict how people with schizophrenia live. I think it is so eye opening because in the media, you see people with this illness depicted as completely insane, talking to themselves and going crazy, but in this video, it shows that the person is able to completely function and act normal even though he’s having thoughts and voices in his head constantly. When you think of something like this, you don’t think about how the voices they are hearing really affect how they do everyday things and how they have to live their lives with that constantly happening. We only see them as someone different than us, someone who is plain crazy. But people with this illness are able to live their everyday lives with the help of loved ones as if nothing is wrong with them. Of course this depends on the severeness of it all, but this video showed just that. The whole idea of schizophrenia is so interesting to me, and I loved being able to experience it to see how these people live their lives.

--Original published at Victoria's Psych Blog

Schizophrenia in the media is typically portrayed as people who hear voices and they only discuss consperacies the voices tell them. People affected with it are typically described in the media as crazy and it is said that symptoms are sudden onset. However, I have done a lot of research on my own time on schizophrenia and I personally know someone with it. The media does not portray the affected persons well at all. They especially do not show the patients support system. The person I know with schizophrenia described similar experiences as in the video. They described the voices in their mind as always arguing with each other and they had a hard time focusing on issues. This was portrayed in the video when the voices argued on whether to open the door or answer the phone. I did like that the video had the wife come in and was very calm about the pizza on the floor. A support system is huge with people that have schizophrenia. The affected person might not be able to care for themselves and having someone to help them care for themselves and ease them back to reality. Schizophrenia is a very complicated disease and I enjoyed the video because it helps someone understand what a schizophrenic goes through on a daily basis.

--Original published at Voltage Blog

The video started off very normal and typical and I was expecting more to happen. I did not realize schizophrenics sometimes had voices telling them what to do. Throughout the video I became more aware of how much they are affected by this illness. By seeing this video, I am more aware of what schizophrenics are experiencing on a daily basis and will hopefully be able to identify these symptoms if they appear later in my life for myself or someone else. I was not aware that this illness was able to cause hallucinations such as altering the news on the TV and having the news anchors talk directly at the person. I thought this was very strange and rather frightening. It is a feeling that everything is out to get you and only you and you have very little control over the outcome. It was almost like the person was being controlled by the illness and force them into protecting themselves from everything. From the things that I have seen on the media, this video feels like a horror movie compared to what they have been saying. Most media just glance over this illness and do not give a second thought about it. Schizophrenia not only messes with someone’s everyday routine, but it affects the person’s life. Not many people are truly aware of what schizophrenia is capable of doing, but by showing this video to them, it will help make them more aware as to what this illness is able to do.

--Original published at Ben's PSY105 Blog

Dr. Saks’s story was a very deep, thought provoking one. Listening to her describe her condition was truly eye opening about mental illnesses. People are always trying to describe mental illnesses even though they’ve never experienced them. The “typical narrative” of schizophrenia is that the patient has distinct personalities, and they are competing to control the patient. Hearing Dr. Saks describe her experiences showed how far off the general public is with their understanding of the condition. Public ignorance of mental illness is not just for schizophrenia. Lots of people claim to have disorders they’ve never been diagnosed with. If you were to poll people in the street, a lot would probably claim to have OCD, when in reality, most of them don’t.

As a society, we seem to be moving in the right direction in terms of getting rid of the stigma attached to mental illnesses, but despite the progress there is still a long way to go. Lots of people are still afraid to get help for their issues because they don’t want to believe they have a “problem”. A major part of the reason people like Dr. Saks are able to overcome their issues is because they got help. People are reluctant to go to doctors for mental issues because of the stigma, but they are willing to go to the doctor when they have a cough. As a society, we need to collectively get rid of the stigma of mental illnesses. People shouldn’t be afraid to get help for their problems, but society still makes them feel uncomfortable acknowledging them.

--Original published at Grace's College Blog

In Elyn Saks TED talk, she describes her struggle with mental illness throughout her life. She worked to ween herself off medication, which did not work, and eventually she managed to balance her life with her mental illness. Watching this video, I felt pity the entire time. Living with schizophrenia sounds like a job you can never get away from. She was constantly struggling and it seemed to get in the way of her schoolwork, and a lot of the people she described being around her who were supposed to help her, seemed to make it worse and did not understand.

Compared to how schizophrenia is depicted in movies and TV, I think most times they are pretty accurate. Saks described being restrained on a bed many times, even when she was not violent. She describes muttering sentences that don’t make sense, and seeing things that are not there, stuff of nightmares. As far as I have seen in entertainment, schizophrenia is depicted almost exactly as Saks described. Before watching the TED talk, I expected Saks to describe her experience differently.

I think Elyn Saks turned out differently because she had this ingrained motivation to make herself better and not become her illness. Saks worked to get through law school, even when she struggled with symptoms. She attempted to live without her medication and tried for so long, until friends told her she needed to be on her medication. She describes having an excellent support system of people who understand her and her illness. I feel that having people around you who are understanding and willing to help is the important aspect of dealing with a mental illness.

--Original published at Ally'sCollegeBlog

Option 1:

I have watched movies such as “A Beautiful Mind” with my parents and that was my primary education on Schizophrenia. I have never done much research on it because I thought the movies looked realistic. After watching the video, my mindset has changed. I was so captivated on how they made it feel like you were living in that person’s shoes. I have come to realize that my views on people with Schizophrenia are incorrect. It was interesting that the voices were very self loathing. They tried to diminish the person’s confidence and make him/her more paranoid. In the beginning of the video everything seemed normal and calm but as the day progressed, the hallucinations and voices grew. At the end a lady shows up, I believe it is either a caregiver or romantic partner. Anyways, before she walks in you hear all these voices and it is very overwhelming but right as she entered the house, everything fell silent and it was peaceful again. It was very interesting to me that she was almost a reality check or an rock for him.

I think the media has skewed not only Schizophrenia but all mental illnesses. It contorts them to either make a good plot in a movie or diminishes them to were there is little to no awareness at all. It is sad that the places we turn to for truth do not provide accurate information. I am not saying movies are an accurate source for anything, but that is how many kids learn. From watching television or a big motion picture, children can absorb false knowledge. That is exactly what happened to me. I thought Schizophrenia was very different than what it really is, and it is all because of a movie.

--Original published at MaddieHinson

Option 1:

Before I watched the youtube video, I thought for a minute about how I perceived Schizophrenia to be like in people. What I knew about it wasn’t much, mostly just what the media has portrayed. I’ve seen a few shows/movies where it has been depicted. In a Grey’s Anatomy episode, a girl had scratches and cuts all over her body, because there were voices in her head telling her there was something inside of her that needed to get out. In another episode, there was a man who would have a psychotic breakdown if his mom wasn’t with him, and the only thing that would calm him down was if he made a list about what to get at the grocery store. Those seemed relatively accurate from as far as I can tell.

Watching the Youtube video, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As the voices started, and the video went on, it definitely got a more creepy, and I can see if you aren’t in your right mind how convincing those voices can get. It also would be very stressful and confusing because you aren’t sure who to believe, and there’s chaos going on in your head most of the time. I thought it was interesting that whenever the caretaker (woman) came home, that everything seemed to go back to normal. I wonder if that is apart of Schizophrenia, when you are around someone you had previously trusted, that the symptoms start to go away. I also would not know how to care for someone with this disease because I feel like you would not be able to tell when they are hearing voices or not.