--Original published at Jenna'sPSY105blog

For this week’s first impression post, I chose the first prompt that has us watch a simulation of someone living with schizophrenia. The simulation instilled a great bit of fear that something bad was going to happen, which is one thing that schizophrenics have to deal with all of the time. The guy was home alone while his significant other was at the grocery store. At first the video started off waking up and going about daily morning tasks, everything feeling pretty normal. But it did show him picking up his pill bottle, and then deciding not to take his medication. Then, the symptoms began to show. The man became very paranoid that someone was out to get him and that “they have found him” and “they are coming for him.” He went around the house closing the curtains so nobody could see in him through the windows. The TV was talking to him too. When the pizza man showed up, he was terrified to open the door, and when he did it was just a crack. When he brought the pizza inside, he was convinced it was poisoned and he knocked it off of the counter and onto the floor, ruining the meal he was about to have. He kept having a lot of self doubt and negative thoughts running through his head, as well as hallucinating that he news reporter was speaking directly to him and being very harsh on him.  At the end, the woman comes back with groceries, she points out that he didn’t take his medication. She gives it to him and opens up the curtains to let some light in, and reassures him that he’s OK.

I think this simulation compares pretty consistent to how schizophrenia is depicted in movies and the media in general. They typically have paranoia, hallucinations, voices in their heads, etc. which are pretty common symptoms throughout most people who suffer with schizophrenia. Something that I feel is different is that the media convinces you that schizophrenics are dangerous, scary, crazy, or that their mental illness is crippling. But many are “regular” and successful people who are able to live with and maintain their symptoms are perfectly capable of living a normal life. This video also did a good job of promoting taking medicine. Most things in the media about schizophrenia don’t focus on stressing the importance of taking your pills everyday to combat these symptoms and have control over them. Many people try to live without being medicated or try to stop taking their medication, but this video did good job of reminding people what they will have to deal with if they don’t.

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

For this impression I picked the first one. In films and movies which regard the topic of mental illnesses they are either glorified and romanticized or seen as an abolishment and or a sin. After watching the video it demonstrated different sensory and understanding which other people with schizophrenia face. Before watching the video it had a sensory and I thought there was a possibility of something startling me as someone with schizophrenia might face. The beginning of the video was fairly normal but as it progresses it demonstrated different voices in their head and possible fear. After the fear, more panic sets in and it continues. Most of the fear which people struggle with are self doubt which control their thoughts. It is as though everything is against them which they hear in their head. After watching the video it showed the individual with schizophrenia before they took their medications and it was as though everything was attacking them. This video didn’t change the idea of what I thought people with schizophrenia were. In the media, it is mostly similar to this since most of the media views people who have schizophrenia without medication, similarly to this video. Based off of what happened in the video, without the medication it could possibly escalate to what is shown in the media. The difference was how livable it is. The video didn’t show the impacts of it with medication but most media outlets show it as debilitating. Lastly, I didn’t realize how much self doubt and presence of depression/ thoughts linked to depression were in schizophrenia. The majority of the internal voices which were in the film were self-doubt and internal hatred. The main feeling, I felt the person expressed was worthlessness or the fear of being worthless. I originally thought something would pop out and startle me but what the person was doing was normal daily activities and having internal fear and thoughts of self doubt.

--Original published at KatieMillerPSY105

For this first impression post, I chose to do the first option of watching the simulation of a person with schizophrenia. When watching this video, I was thinking about how difficult this illness would be to live with. You can’t control the voices in your head, you can’t control the scents you smell, and you can’t control the hallucinations you have. This video showed the person experiencing hallucinations from the tv and from the pizza. The pizza was called “poison” by the voices in the person’s head. It would be hard to have to go through everyday hearing voices saying hurtful things to you. In a way, I thought this video was a little creepy or scary to me. I did not know a whole lot about how real schizophrenic people (not how the media portrays them) were, so when I watched the simulation I thought that it would be scary for those who were diagnosed with this illness.

I believe that the media portrays people with schizophrenia as “crazy” people. They show people with this illness as frantic and out of control whereas the person in this video was more calm and relaxed during the episode. I think that the media could do a better job of raising awareness about this disorder and how it can affect anyone who has it differently. Overall, I found this video very interesting and I now have a better understanding of what it is like for someone who has schizophrenia.

--Original published at CatherinesCollegeBlog

I chose the first option for this post. After watching the video that stimulates the experience of a person with schizophrenia, I immediately felt bad for anyone who has to experience this all the time. The constant voice that was demonstrated in the video, either telling the schizophrenic person she was stupid or wrong, seems incredibly difficult to live with. It is like having a constant reminder about any insecurity or doubt we may feel, but it likely feels to schizophrenic people that there is no escape from this voice. It must feel very unsettling too, especially when you think the worst is going to happen at all times. Even when the pizza delivery guy was simply doing his job and not trying to raise suspicion about other motives, the schizophrenic person immediately believed he was out to get her or knew something bad she had done and was trying to get revenge. I would not like to be forced to combat this negative, doubtful voice in my head at all times, so I feel for those who have to face this challenge. The video also mentions that there is no one typical case for a schizophrenic person, which would discourage me. These people do not know the exact symptoms or reactions they are supposed to experience after being diagnosed with this disorder, so it is a gamble regarding what they will experience and the degree to which it will affect them. Personally, I have not watched a movie or seen in the media a schizophrenic person, so I am not exactly sure how they are typically portrayed. If I had to guess, I would say they are probably demonstrated as acting out of control with their thoughts and behaviors. They are likely portrayed as crazy people, and since media likes to keep things intriguing and stretch the truth, they probably do not get judged based on the challenging situation they are in. The media likely leads people to believe that schizophrenic people have more control over their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, when in reality they do not. Providing a reasonable explanation for something intriguing makes it less interesting for viewers, which is why they are likely only seen by their characteristics, not their situation.

--Original published at Tiffany'sCollegeBlog

For this week’s first impression on chapter 14, I chose to do option 1, which is to watch a video on schizophrenia and share what we thought about it and then compare it to the media and schizophrenia. To start this all off, I don’t believe that I’ve seen anything having to do with schizo and out of the major films listed in the prompt, I don’t think I’ve seen any of them. So right off the bat, comparing this to the media, I haven’t seen anything having to do with schizo, so maybe that should be a good thing to be brought up in society. Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality. After watching the video, I don’t really feel any different about schizophrenia. I don’t know much about it to make any assumptions or even form an opinion. I do think that it probably is one of the disorders that does go under looked and anything or anyone having to do with schizophrenia should be looked at. I think the video was portrayed well enough but there wasn’t much background to base anything off of.  

--Original published at Kirsten's Kreations

For this post, I chose to do the first option because I wanted to understand the struggles people with schizophrenia go through. When starting this video I was sort of weary about it because I didn’t know what to expect. At first it didn’t see anything that much out of the normal because there were just small flashes of every day normal things such as brushing teeth and reading the news paper. Then the voices start and that is when things started to get weird. The voices were harsh to the person you were simulated to be. Them telling the person they were worthless, there was poison in the food or drinks, and how people were on to the person. It make me feel scared and worried for the person. It is also interesting to see that people like this can experience things that aren’t actually there like the headline of the newspaper changing and the coffee in the mug bubbling. In this film, the person them-self seems to be more calm than I expected. In the media, people with schizophrenia seemed to more frantic about trying to calm the voices and the things they see. More so it seems to me it depends on the person as to how they react to their schizophrenia acting up. The media does tend to do an okay job and being able to express the person with this problem having voices and seeing things that can’t be heard or seen by others.

--Original published at Kealey's PSY105 Blog

 For this post, I watched Elyn Saks’s TED Talk on her experience with her sever mental illness. In her lecture, she shared quotes from her early personal recounts describing her struggle with schizophrenia. Her stories of delusions and hallucinations of demons and paranoia are unsettling. She recreates the way she would speak when she had an episode. Dark, ominous messages about death and torture escaped her mouth in incoherent and disturbing short phrases. She recalls wanting to leave the Yale library to go to the roof because she believes it is the only place she feels safe. Saks then describes the torment of being restrained against her will at the hospital. The way the doctors treated her seem inhumane, what we would consider malpractice today. It is heartbreaking to hear her describe her quest to wean herself off her medication. She wanted to prove that there wasn’t anything wrong with her, she didn’t believe in her illness. To her disappointment, the psychotic episodes and imaginary demons returned with vengeance and she was faced with the fact that she needed to accept her schizophrenia.

I cannot imagine what it is like to be someone who struggles with an illness like this. Being in a nightmare with demons and murderers out to get you is scary enough, but I imagine being schizophrenic is very similar, only you are not able to wake up. People with schizophrenia must feel trapped, not just mentally but physically too. Saks’s message is inspiring because she did not fall into a life controlled by her mental illness, she overcame it. She attributes her success to her treatment and support network. Unfortunately, stories like hers is unattainable compared to the thousands of convicts and homeless people that are mentally ill. Much of the homeless has a mental illness and they are still marginalized, avoided, and ignored. Maybe if these people had access to the resources that Elyn did, they wouldn’t be in the position they are in now, and their demons wouldn’t drive them to do things like committing crimes. Society as a whole would benefit to continue taking strides towards understanding and accepting mental illness and working together to give access to treatment and medication to all who need it, no matter their social status.