I have schizophrenia indiscriminately, a mix of symptoms and emotional distress. I’ve always been “sick” for as long as I can remember. My first memory was a hallucination. By the way, that was the only person I was aware of talking out loud in between my visual hallucinations. I want to talk about the misconceptions about schizophrenia and how frustrating it is that we are portrayed in the media as Creepy Monsters and Super Freaks. Even my favorite TV show used the phrase “cuckoo for cocoa puffs” to describe a schizophrenic suspect two weeks ago. That really disappointed me.
And I’m a bit of a hypocrite about this, because I often refer to myself as “crazy” and I actually prefer my friends to say that in public instead of “schizophrenic.” But there’s a reason for that.
With all this mental health awareness, empathy, activism, and visibility; With all the hype for mental health medications and the popularity of therapy and self-awareness, it seems like no one has schizophrenia or wants to.
For example, I will mention some of the stereotypes that I would like to erase from the collective memory of the human race, not just as someone with a mental illness, but specifically as someone with schizophrenia.
Everyone with schizophrenia is a “religious freak” haunted by demons.
I have no “special relationship” with any God or devil. In fact, I don’t believe in a God or devil, but I do believe in a heaven for animals. I don’t think my illness has anything to do with my spiritual maturation over time.
You can always tell when someone has schizophrenia by the way they talk to themselves.
I don’t babble about my hallucinations. Side note: I don’t know. Sometimes I’ll have a constant auditory hallucination, but I don’t talk out loud about my visual hallucinations. They’re just there. I treat them like wayward ghosts and ignore them.
All people with schizophrenia are dangerous or violent.
I don’t have abnormal or unusually violent fantasies. Everyone has some darkness in them, mine is no darker than most. When I’m in a psychotic state, I always do more harm to myself than to others. In fact, when people with schizophrenia are violent, it’s usually because they have a history of other disorders, such as addiction.
People with schizophrenia don’t realize there’s something wrong with them.
While it’s true that 50 percent of people with schizophrenia are unaware of their condition or have anosognosia, this isn’t true for everyone. I know I’m sick.
When we’re angry, it means we don’t take our medication.
Medication doesn’t solve all problems, and psychiatric medications don’t work like aspirin. I take my medication seriously. I’ve worked diligently with my doctors over the years to get the best use out of my medication with the least side effects. I’ve gained weight from the medication, I’ve become a zombie from the medication, I’ve become worse from the medication. Yes, I took my medication today. Even if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have made a difference in the anger attacks I’m having right now. Sometimes people get angry, that’s all.
People with schizophrenia need to be protected from reality.
It’s okay to feel. I don’t have to be protected from the ugly, the disgusting, the sad things in life. Sure, I avoid shelter animal commercials when I can because they upset me, but mostly it’s because I don’t want to be sad when I watch the morning news. It’s okay to be angry, happy, a little hyper, a little depressed. Emotions are a natural part of life.
These things aren’t just true for me, they’re true for many people with schizophrenia to some degree. We don’t all sit in dark rooms listening to death metal, sharpening knives, and making eyeless collages of people from high school. Most of us are out and about, going to doctors’ appointments, taking our meds, trying to live a quality life.