Myths About Schizophrenia You Probably Believe

It is estimated that about 1.5 million people are diagnosed with schizophrenia each year. And yet, it is a mental disorder that many people misinterpret. There are so many myths about schizophrenia out there, that it’s hard to really know what living with schizophrenia is actually like for the individuals who suffer from it. While many people believe that the symptoms of schizophrenia include a split personality or a split mind, the truth is that schizophrenia has more to do with hallucinations and delusions. People with schizophrenia have a hard time with their mental health, and the stigma that comes from the myths about schizophrenia makes their reality even worse.

One of the common myths about schizophrenia is that it is untreatable. While schizophrenia is a mental illness that is difficult to treat, information on schizophrenia and paranoia suggest it is possible to recover completely from this disorder. Over time, a person with schizophrenia who takes their medication may be able to wean off it and find themselves living a perfectly healthy life. Because this disorder usually comes about in episodes, it can be possible to live a life where these episodes slowly stop occurring over time.

When you see individuals with schizophrenia portrayed in movies, they are usually violent and crazy. Experiences of living with a schizophrenic, prove most people with this disorder are not violent at all and may be more likely to end up on the opposite side of a violent crime. There is a small percentage of cases where patients become violent when having an episode where they are experiencing hallucinations and delusions, but otherwise, most schizophrenics are safe.

Probably the most common of myths about schizophrenia is that it is a multiple personality disorder. Schizophrenia is confused with dissociative identity disorder, which is what we see in movies where a person has a split personality. Multiple personalities is actually not a symptom of schizophrenia, and hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia are more commonly seen.

While dealing with schizophrenia can make holding a steady job more difficult, it is not impossible for schizophrenics to hold a job if they are properly treated. With the right medication, many people with this mental disorder can go years without ever experiencing an episode. There is no reason why they cannot work full-time just like any other functioning member of society. Surviving schizophrenia on a daily basis isn’t easy, but it is possible.

Schizophrenia is not a behavior disorder, but a mental disorder. In no way is bad parenting going to cause a child to become schizophrenic. Now, a child may be schizophrenic and episodes may be more likely to occur in a dysfunctional household, but bad parenting is definitely not the initial cause of the disorder itself. It just may prevent recover from happening as quickly. This also refers to more severe parenting situations and not just minor cases of bad parenting.

While schizophrenia can be hereditary, it is not always passed on from parents, so it’s not a 100 percent fact that if your parents have the disorder, you’re sure to get it. However, if one of your parents is schizophrenic and you start to have symptoms of schizophrenia, this is definitely a sign that you should go see a doctor and get your mental health checked and treated. The National Alliance on Mental Illness says that schizophrenia is twice as common as HIV/AIDs, so it is a lot more prevalent in society than we think.

Many people assume that anyone suffering from schizophrenia is going to require long-term hospitalization, and this is one of the huge myths about the disorder. While some people who go through severe episodes may require hospitalization at points throughout their life, many people with this mental illness do not require long-term hospitalization and are able to function in the real world relatively well as long as they are medicated.

Because the myths about schizophrenia include tales of violent, disorderly patients who can’t be controlled, you would think that it is quite obvious to point out someone with schizophrenia, but this is far from the truth. With so many people in the world suffering from this disorder, there are probably people walking by you every day who are surviving schizophrenia and you don’t even know it. Don’t judge people until you know what it is they are dealing with on the inside.

On the other end of the spectrum, one of the mistruths about schizophrenia is that the medication is an easy cure all for the disorder, and this is also far from the truth. While medication can help in many ways to stop episodes of schizophrenia, the medication itself can lead to substance abuse. Alternatively, many patients hate taking their medication, because it makes them feel dull inside. Living with this mental disorder isn’t easy, because you’re either sick or you’re medicated and not yourself.

One of the constant truths you can see among all of these myths about schizophrenia is that a stigma has built up around the disorder. This stigma has caused schizophrenics to have to deal with a lot more stress than they already deal with in their own minds each day. If more people were educated on what schizophrenia actually is, they might not be so quick to judge or so fearful of people who suffer from the disease.

Mental health is something to take seriously, and reducing the suffering of these individuals should be a top priority in our society. Understanding what is fiction and what is fact is the first step in eliminating the negative stigmas and moving forward with more knowledgeable information on mental health issues.