By Hanna S., Sol H., Tobi R., Tobi E. and Fiona R. | Students
Schizophrenia is a serious disorder which affects how a person thinks, feels and acts. It often begins in late adolescence or early adulthood. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality, which causes significant distress for the individual, their family members, and friends. If left untreated, the symptoms of schizophrenia can be persistent and disabling.
Unfortunately, it is a disease that is highly stigmatized.
For the research we started working on three priority questions we chose in order to gain further insight into schizophrenia:
What is it like to live with schizophrenia? (What is it like to live with the stigma created about schizophrenia? What do people who live with schizophrenia see?)
We think that living with schizophrenia must be really difficult, because, from what we know, they tend to see and hear things that are not in reality, but in their own minds. We don't know exactly what visions they may have… but we assume that they can see from simple things to things that really terrify them. Even hearing voices that haunt them in various ways. In addition to these issues, there are different stigmas against persons with this disease that also harm them socially. An example of a stigma could be: “all people with schizophrenia are aggressive and dangerous”, among others.
This can make them tend to be more excluded or judged. How they cope with all these issues is something we plan to investigate, but we know that they have various treatments that help them a lot in their lives.
Which region of the brain does this illness affect and what happens exactly?
As we do not know a lot about the brain itself and its different regions and functions, it is very hard to make a hypothesis right now. We are willing to learn a lot about the brain throughout this project and we certainly think that it affects a part of the brain that creates images or controls what we see or sense because that is what schizophrenia is about, seeing or hearing stuff that is not there.
What causes it and how can it be prevented?
We think that this disease can be prevented by having a healthy life. For example doing sport, not consuming alcohol or drugs, trying not to be stressed, sleeping well and the necessary hours and having routines. We think that another way to prevent this and other diseases is to see a neurologist and have brain studies. We do not know the cause very well and that is what interests us most about this project. We think that it may have to do with the past lived by the person or with genetics.
If you want to find out what people with schizophrenia live and experience, and know more about this disorder and the social perception of it, see our video and know the story of Tobi:
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