About 1 percent of Americans, or about 3.5 million people, have schizophrenia, but experts say the mental illness remains deeply stigmatized and misunderstood.
According to Brooke Kemp, the reason is Psychiatric Mental Health There is a general lack of knowledge about schizophrenia among Indiana-based nurses.
“Some people might see someone having hallucinations and think, ‘That’s schizophrenia,’ but there’s so much more to this illness,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
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“It’s important that people realise that schizophrenia is a condition that can be diagnosed and treated.”
On World Schizophrenia Day, Kempf shared some of the most common myths and misconceptions surrounding schizophrenia.
About 1 percent of Americans, or about 3.5 million people, have schizophrenia, but experts say the mental illness remains deeply stigmatized and misunderstood. (iStock)
Here are five.
Myth #1: People with schizophrenia are violent
Kemp says one of the biggest and “most harmful” misconceptions is the idea that people with schizophrenia are “scary” or “violent”.
“There is a long history of conflating TV and film characters who exhibit strange, confusing or frightening behavior with a diagnosis of schizophrenia,” she said.
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“But we must remember that these are fictional, dramatised situations. A diagnosis of schizophrenia has nothing to do with what we see on screen.”
When people with schizophrenia experience an acute episode (such as delusions or auditory hallucinations), they may behave differently than usual and may become angry or violent.
“The person is likely experiencing something within themselves and discussing it or reacting to it, but they’re not directing anything at other people,” Kemp said.
When people with schizophrenia are experiencing an acute episode (such as delusions or auditory hallucinations), they may behave differently than normal and may become angry or violent. (iStock)
If symptoms are managed with medication, “you probably won’t know the diagnosis,” she noted.
“I’ve worked in community mental health for many years and have heard their stories, and I know that people with schizophrenia are good, caring, loving people,” Kempf said.
“They are, Violent crime than one perpetrator.”
Myth #2: People with schizophrenia have multiple personalities
There is a misconception that people with schizophrenia have multiple personalities, but Kemp pointed out that this may be because the Greek word “schizophrenia” means “split mind.”
“But people with schizophrenia don’t have split personalities,” she says.
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“During illness or when a person is having a seizure, their behavioral characteristics may change, but this is not because they have a split personality.”
Myth #3: People with schizophrenia are not smart
According to Kemp, this assumption is completely false.
“If the disease is not properly managed and continues to progress or experiences repeated relapses, patients can experience loss of grey matter in their brains and cognitive decline,” she told Fox News Digital.
“But that doesn’t mean they’re not smart.”
One expert said she has worked with many “highly successful people with schizophrenia.” (iStock)
Kemp said some patients may experience cognitive decline in the early stages of the disease (called the “prodromal” phase), but that early diagnosis and intervention could help prevent that.
Kempf said he has worked with “a lot of very successful people with schizophrenia.”
“People with schizophrenia do not have multiple personalities.”
In many cases, she noted, people can no longer see “highly intelligent individuals.” Behind the disease.
“As long as people with schizophrenia are receiving the right treatment, ideally with long-acting injectables (LAIs), they can control their symptoms and function very well,” Kempf said.
Myth #4: Hallucinations and delusions are the only symptoms of schizophrenia
Kemp noted that schizophrenia is made up of what are clinically called “positive” and “negative” symptoms.
“Delusions, hallucinations and changes in behaviour or thinking are considered positive symptoms,” she said.
“Delusions, hallucinations and changes in behaviour and thinking are considered positive symptoms of schizophrenia,” the expert said. (iStock)
Experts explained that patients experiencing these symptoms may hear auditory hallucinations, have extra thoughts, delusions and fixed false beliefs.
“Hallucinations aren’t just about hearing voices,” Kemp said. “Hallucinations can occur in a variety of ways based on the senses of what you see, hear, smell and feel.”
Negative symptoms, Kemp said, are when a person loses interest in the world around them, becomes withdrawn or shows no interest in everyday social interactions.
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“People with schizophrenia are labelled as ‘lazy’ or thought of as not being normal people, but it’s not because they’re lazy – their brains just don’t recognise these things as important,” she says.
Kemp said people with schizophrenia may also experience what are called “psychomotor” symptoms, which means they may move unusually slowly and their speech and thought processes may be slightly slowed or disorganized.
“Unfortunately, if these negative symptoms continue and there is no treatment, they can affect cognitive function.”
Myth #5: People with schizophrenia require long-term or lifelong hospitalization
Kemp said people with acute schizophrenia symptoms usually have very short hospital stays.
“For someone who has had a schizophrenic episode, the average length of hospital stay may be around five days.”
“In the case of hospitalization, the average length of stay for patients with schizophrenia is around five days,” she said.
“If patients don’t respond to medication and can’t function safely on their own, they may have to enter a longer-term, more advanced facility.”
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today, Health care workers Kemp noted that the goal is to provide community-based services to help people with schizophrenia live independently.
This could mean supporting them with employment services and providing housing opportunities to ensure they have an affordable and safe place to live.
“Some patients continue to live with their families, others live in group homes,” Kemp said.
“People living with this disease deserve to be treated as human beings and receive the same care as those diagnosed with a physical illness.”
From a medical perspective, experts noted that schizophrenia comes in different levels of severity.
“But again, if managed appropriately with early intervention, individuals can maintain high functioning and lead independent lives,” she said.
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“Our goal is to create as little structured an environment as possible so that the person can lead a normal life, going to work, shopping for groceries, driving a car on a daily basis.”
Kemp said ultimately schizophrenia should be seen as a disease, not a choice.
“Although schizophrenia is a mental illness diagnosis, it should be considered no differently to a physical illness diagnosis such as diabetes, heart disease or kidney disease,” the experts said. (iStock)
“Although schizophrenia is a mental illness diagnosis, it should be considered no differently than a physical illness. Diagnosis of diabetesheart disease and kidney disease,” she said.
“It just affects a different organ – the brain.”
While other brain disorders such as epilepsy tend to be more accepted by society, illnesses such as schizophrenia still carry “a lot of stigma, probably because of the fear of the unknown”, she said.
“It’s treatable, Medicines and Support Services It’s available,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“We all have a role to play in dispelling misconceptions, increasing understanding and reducing stigma,” she continued.
“People who suffer from this disease deserve to be treated as human beings, Physical illness“
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