This week in Psychology, we were given a video to watch, which simulated what having a psychotic episode as a schizophrenic patient would be like:
Often, in the media especially, schizophrenia is depicted as someone who has no control whatsoever of their life. In movies, schizophrenics are viewed as the abnormal ones, either being portrayed as a “crazy” person or as someone who has potential to succeed, but is too blinded by their never-ending hallucinations and daydreams. This exaggerated view of schizophrenics, however, is far from reality. As the video showed, people with this mental illness can absolutely live “normal”, healthy lives. Just like with any mental illness, some days are worse than others and staying regulated on their prescribed medication will help patients with these daily struggles. People with schizophrenia are often depicted in a way which makes people almost scared of their disorder or worried of how they will function in society. When in fact, people will this disorder can certainly live long, healthy lives, when on the proper medication and with daily routines. The media often exaggerates issues or things in the public eye in order to grab anyone’s attention. This ultimately casts a negative shadow on these misunderstood and feared disorders, like schizophrenia. Simulations, however, like the one in this video, begin to help people understand the experiences schizophrenic patients go through every day. They have struggles, just like the rest of us and the more we can understand each other’s pain, the more we can begin to heal it.
A perspective on Psychology 