an article explaining some of schizophrenia

i made some additions on 4/21/18 at the bottom.





I’m going to type another article on schizophrenia now. I don’t mean what I type here to be a complaint considering I have schizophrenia myself – this is more intended to inform people about the condition; the real condition and not what lore and stereotypes have said about it.



In my last article on schizophrenia I mainly covered hallucinations – yes, people with this condition can hallucinate with any sense. More common is visual and hearing, but even smell can be hallucinated. My doctor has told me most people with this condition don’t hear the “voices” around other people, but sometimes I do hear them around other people. when hearing auditory hallucinations around other people, well it’s confusing to the point that the person hearing those hallucinations can have a panic attack. I have.



But there are symptoms like delusions of grandeur where a person can think they’re super important, like God talks to them, or that they’re an alien with much knowledge sent to earth to teach us. This probably sounds funny, but it’s not. People truly believe these things and for those who do, they can get in some serious trouble for thinking this way.



Often people with schizophrenia will think other people can read their minds. This happens to me a lot and it stinks to say the least. Imagine not being free even in your own mind.



A similar symptom but nearly reverse is that the person thinks they’re sending their thoughts to other people. This is called “broadcasting”. For most people with this condition broadcasting is uncontrollable and after a while They start to try to think just things that are “acceptable” to think or not think at all. This one happens to me also.

On of the lesser known symptoms of this condition is “ideas of reference” and “delusions of reference”. The difference is the person thinks it, or the person knows it. As an example, they might be driving past a fast food place and their sign will say something like “cheeseburgers half off when you purchase a large soda” – the person with this symptom could think “I love cheeseburgers. That sign is meant for me to see”



Ideas and delusions of reference themselves are not that bad of a symptom, but they can quickly lead to paranoia – which is horrid.