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Avatars Help Schizophrenics Gain Control of Voices In Their Heads
Zothecula writes "Imagine if there was a voice in your head that regularly threatened to harm you or your loved ones, or that even ordered you to do so yourself. Awful as that would be, such auditory hallucinations are one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia, with approximately one in four sufferers continuing to experience them even after taking anti-psychotic drugs. Fortunately, scientists have recently helped some schizophrenics gain control of their condition, by turning those voices into interactive avatars."
"Danny isn't here, Mrs. Torrence"
Odd, my avatar looks like Goatse
Table-ized A.I.
Next, we send them across the galaxy to get adopted by neolithic native tribes and help liberate the planet from corporate invaders.
kiil myself like the resignation *BSD b0t FreeBSD the most. Look at
People almost always hear the word "schizophrenia" mentioned when they hear of violence. Very few are actually violent. Studies have shown that about 5 percent schizophrenics are violent compared to 3 percent most other people.
Well? I'm waiting for an answer.
My doctor says it's OK to talk to myself so long as I don't say, "Hu?"
Not to be confused with MMORPG avatars, giving voice to fat mens' inner lipstick lesbian.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
A low carbohydrate, high fat diet can also help reduce, or eliminate, symptoms of schizophrenia.
This is something that I've done for a long time - I've acknowledged that each voice has its own personality and ways of interpreting the world, and as long as they are working together or making efforts to find common ground on a lot of issues, then you as a whole can function productively. I function well enough - I've even seen a psychiatrist and other mental health counselors, who have gone on to say that although having 'delusions'/hearing voices is unusual, the schizophrenia may be a misdiagnosis since it's usually disabling. It's only a mental disease if it causes harm to you or others.
You can't control me, fool!
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Does anyone know why schizophrenia svoices always seem to try and cause harm? Why don't the voices tell you to clean your house, volunteer for something, build a house, do something good?
There is no such thing as 'schizophrenia', and the laughable "The voices in my head told me to do it" excuse is the type of nonsense that only a five year old would take seriously.
Let me see - a neurotic scumbag wants to kill somebody - so he uses the oldest 'get out of jail free' card in the book - it was the 'voices in his head' that 'told' him to do it! So he HAD to do it! See the logic? Neither did I. Because there IS no logic to this bullshit, so how come so many cretins keep spouting this nonsense as if it's somehow true?
If a man comes up to you in the street and says 'go and murder that woman over there', do you feel 'compelled' to do so? So how much less important are 'the voices in your head' compared to a REAL person telling you to do something?
This bullshit excuse continues because most people are obviously so stupid that they can't even think it through for two minutes.
So what if 'the voices in your head' told you to do something? How are you FORCED to do it?
"The voices in my head" - getting brutal murderers out of a (fully justified) death sentence since 1964. (Or whatever date some dumbass came up with this stupidity as his defence).
Let me repeat - there is no such thing as a PHYSICAL disorder called 'schizophrenia'. What is called 'schizophrenia' is simply a set of OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOURS which are caused by childhood abuse - i.e. by having assholes for parents. There is NO evidence whatsoever that anybody is 'born that way'. But then, in order to look at the suffering of a child, you have to be able to face your own suffering, and most people find it far easier to avoid doing that by making out there is a 'genetic disorder' yadda yadda yadda. Truly sickening.
This is like the mirror therapy used for phantom limb patients. Using a mirror they can "see" their phantom limb and regain control of it. Very cool.
... at best, an outdated term, full of stigma from the last millennium. I suffer from a mild variant of this disease (which is actually an umbrella-diagnosis for a thousand different psychiatric disorders), and my psychiatrist calls it "A thought disorder" - Much easier to swallow for others than the term schizophrenia, which has all sorts of negative associations. I happen to hold a steady job in a creative field, and nobody at my workplace has any idea of my disorder, and even though my disorder falls under the general term "Schizophrenia", I really don't like having that term pinned to me. Simply, because it is so hard for people to understand what it's like.
Is that you Mr Hat?
I've already read enough comments of people not knowing what or how schizophrenia is - it's not just voices (or always involving voices in general). The National Institute for Mental Health has this nice little bit to get you all up to a half-educated level:
- What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?
The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three broad categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms.
- Positive symptoms
Positive symptoms are psychotic behaviors not seen in healthy people. People with positive symptoms often "lose touch" with reality. These symptoms can come and go. [...] They include the following:
Hallucinations are things a person sees, hears, smells, or feels that no one else can see, hear, smell, or feel. "Voices" are the most common type of hallucination in schizophrenia. Many people with the disorder hear voices. [...]
Delusions are false beliefs that are not part of the person's culture and do not change. The person believes delusions even after other people prove that the beliefs are not true or logical. People with schizophrenia can have delusions that seem bizarre, such as believing that neighbors can control their behavior with magnetic waves. [...]
Thought disorders are unusual or dysfunctional ways of thinking. One form of thought disorder is called "disorganized thinking." This is when a person has trouble organizing his or her thoughts or connecting them logically. They may talk in a garbled way that is hard to understand. Another form is called "thought blocking. [...]
- Negative symptoms
Negative symptoms are associated with disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors. These symptoms are harder to recognize as part of the disorder and can be mistaken for depression or other conditions.
These symptoms include the following:
- "Flat affect" (a person's face does not move or he or she talks in a dull or monotonous voice)
- Lack of pleasure in everyday life
- Lack of ability to begin and sustain planned activities
- Speaking little, even when forced to interact.
People with negative symptoms need help with everyday tasks. They often neglect basic personal hygiene. This may make them seem lazy or unwilling to help themselves, but the problems are symptoms caused by the schizophrenia.
- Cognitive symptoms
Cognitive symptoms are subtle. Like negative symptoms, cognitive symptoms may be difficult to recognize as part of the disorder. Often, they are detected only when other tests are performed. Cognitive symptoms include the following:
- Poor "executive functioning" (the ability to understand information and use it to make decisions)
- Trouble focusing or paying attention
- Problems with "working memory" (the ability to use information immediately after learning it).
Edited down, for some brevity. Full text here
Cognitive symptoms often make it hard to lead a normal life and earn a living. They can cause great emotional distress.
Avatar! Know that Britannia has entered into a new age of enlightenment. Know that the time has finally come for the one true Lord of Britannia to take his place at the head of his people! Under my guidance, Britannia will flourish, and all the people shall rejoice and pay homage to their new... Guardian! Know that you, too, shall kneel before me, Avatar. You, too, shall soon acknowledge my authority - for I shall be your companion... your provider... and your master!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzoXQKumgCw
Let's plug it into this and see what happens!
I guess they bring balance to people's heads too.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
rimshot.
Does this mean I shouldn't invest in sock puppets?
"Odd groups left... even groups got right... get away from the head... whelps left side, many whelps... WTF was that shit..." That'd definitely make me want to murder somebody
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
I can see this being very effective. If I had to deal with a bunch of those ugly mugs from Elder Scrolls: Oblivion all over again, I'd want them out of my head and out of my life too!
Who knew that microsoft Bob was really just a manifestation of your inner dummy?
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
It helped when I realized that those voices in my head were actually radio stations I was picking up through the implant. I came to understand that they would argue and say stuff but they weren't really talking to me since it was just a general broadcast. Since I figured this out I've been able to resist the urge to kill, kill, kill, usually.
At first glance I thought it said Avatars Help Schizophrenics Gain Control of Vehicles with Their Heads
Needless to say upon re-reading the headline I was sorely disappointed.
I stole this Sig
Hmmmmm
I've known two bad cases of schizophrenia (who could not hold onto a job), the negativity comes from the effect it can have on the person, not the word itself. Unfortunately the bottom line in society is that if your mind behaves "strangely" then others will shun you, if your body behaves strangely (say, cancer) then others will act with compassion, provided it's not contagious (eg:leprosy). On the bright side I think there is a lot more compassion and understanding toward "thought disorders" today than when I grew up in the 60's.
Changing the name is at best temporary relief from the stigma, the new term will eventually pick up the same stigma as the old one. As a "functioning schizophrenic" you have the opportunity to change people's attitudes by example, I understand it takes a great deal of courage to do that but you will never change anyone's attitude by "staying in the closet". For example when I think of Stephen Fry, I think educated, witty, curios, homosexual, intelligent, atheist, bipolar, introspective, honest and open, which when all rolled together creates an interesting and likeable personality.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
We look at schizophrenics and derisively note that they "hear voices". That they are too mentally weak to discern that the voices come from within their own heads. Now imagine that you actually hear those voices. Imagine them? You wish. No, a booming, thundering, Jovian voice is shouting right into your face, "You are no good! You might as well go throw yourself into the ocean!" Or worse yet, "Your sister is evil. You have to kill her, or she will kill you and many others." And not once, but over and over and over and over again. Until you are defenseless. Until you are exhausted. Until you can do nothing but what your voices insist. And then they call YOU crazy.
No, I've never heard a voice. Not a one. Not even when I was baptized in the spirit by some bullshit Pentecostals. But how can anyone doubt that the voices that schizophrenics hear are less real to them than those of their caregivers?
But the voices are mostly unseen. Imagine, again, someone screaming at you whom you cannot see. Screaming right into your ear, yet you cannot turn and look at them. And so I do not doubt that putting computer-generated faces to those voices can be therapeutic.
"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal"
Keep Doing Good.
Have gnu, will travel.
Abraham heard the voice of god. Or he may have been suffering from a disorder such as schizophrenia. Which is more likely... .
If my guess is correct, I wish he had had such an avatar. It would have saved the world quite a bit of misery now.
Bert
Whenever I recall what someone said, I literally "hear" them saying it in my head. Same with music and other audible stimuli.
I often wonder what differentiates this from the auditory hallucinations some schizophrenics experience. From what I understand it usually isn't voices they "hear" - bells ringing is reported quite a bit, also the sound of wind.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Turns out the voices in your head come from Tamriel.
Gamertag: WyleType
To be clear:
1.1% of the population are schizophrenic and 98.8% are not.
Of schizophrenics, the fraction 0.05 (5%) are violent, so the percentage of violent schizophrenics in the total population is
1.1% x 5% = 0.011 x 0.05 = 0.00055 (0.055%) .
Of 98.9% non-schizophrenics, the fraction 0.03 (3%) are violent, so the percentage of violent non-schizophrenics in the total population is
98.9% x 3% = 0.989 x 0.03 = 0.02967 (2.97%).
So there 53 (0.02967/0.00055) times as many violent non-schizophrenics as violent schizophrenics in the total population. That is, in a random encounter you are about 50 times more likely to meet a violent non-schizophrenic than a violent schizophrenic.
See http://www.wimp.com/schizophrenicsymptoms/
Mundus Vult Decipi