Schizophrenia

Ask your volunteers the following questions: There are many popularly held beliefs and stereotypes about schizophrenia. List two beliefs that you can think of. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being “not at all” and 10 being “absolutely accurate”, how accurate do you think each of the beliefs are? Rank each individually. How do you think schizophrenia is diagnosed? Volunteer 1: Joseph stated that he believed that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia heard voices and had different personalities. Firstly he rated a 9 out of 10 that individuals with schizophrenia heard voices. Secondly he rated 5 out of 10 that individuals with schizophrenia had different personalities. Thirdly he states that that he believes that a doctor in hospital diagnoses schizophrenia. Volunteer 2: Julie stated that she believed that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia can live normal lives, but they also can be suicidal depending on the severity.

She rated a 9 out of 10 that individuals with mental disorders can live normal lives. She rated 3 out of 10 that they can be suicidal depending on the severity. Consequently she states that she believes that the diagnosis of schizophrenia is through meeting requirements in the DSM. (Julie is a Special Education Teacher)Volunteer 3:Lucas states that he believes that individuals with schizophrenia are crazy and have impulsive behaviors. He rates a 6 out of 10 that they are crazy. He also rates a 6 out of 10 that they have impulsive behaviors. In addition he states that he believes that the diagnosis of schizophrenia is possible  through therapy. Volunteer 4: Matthew states that he believes  that individuals  with schizophrenia are crazy and that they have mental illness where they have different personalities.

Further Description

He rated a 5 out of 10 that individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia are crazy. He rated a 10 out of 10 that individuals diagnosed with mental disorder have different personalities. Also he states that he believes that a neurologist can diagnose schizophrenia . Volunteer 5: Amy states that she believes that individuals with schizophrenia are more likely to be men than woman, and that they can hallucinate depending on the case. She rated a 10 out of 10 on individuals diagnosed with mental disorder are more likely to be in men. She also rated a 10 out of 10 that individuals diagnosed with this mental disorder can hallucinate. Consequently she states that she believes that the diagnosis is through a  doctor with a license through questionnaires, observations, and testing.

(Amy has worked in medical field for 20 years)First, when asking individuals to answer these questions I found that a lot of people did not know what Schizophrenia was. I had to ask a lot more people than expected due to them having no knowledge on Schizophrenia. That completely shocked me. As you can see people with a background in the medical field, and Special Education had the most knowledge in the mental disorder. Schizophrenia is, “a psychotic disorder, or one in which the person’s thoughts. Including perceptions, and behaviors are impaired to the point where she is not able to function normally in life.”

Additional Information

(Spielman, R.M., 2018i) The symptoms of Schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, and abnormal motor behavior. Some early symptoms would be unusual thoughts, paranoia, off communication, and problems at school or work. We learn that hallucinations are “perceptional experience that occurs in the absence of external stimulation.” (Spielman, R.M., 2018i) As you can see Amy that has a background in the medical field had that symptom correct.

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