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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."
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.
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.
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.
That would suggest that the problem is due to a lack of myelin sheathing over the neurons. Which would cause the meatware equivalent of electrical engineering "cross-talk".
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I've known two people who have had it in a bad way, both had adverse reactions to dope (a good indicator), neither was violent although their behavior sometimes made people very uncomfortable. One of them went missing a decade ago in the bush, they found his car but he is still missing. Both of them had a very difficult time trying to lead a normal life. One contracted it in his late teens, the other in her mid-thirties, for both of them the onset came at the same time as an emotional crisis (breaking up with someone they loved).
I myself have had auditory and visual hallucinations several times ( from staying awake for 3-4 days ) the auditory ones happen when it's quiet and it's always someone saying my name. It's kinda freaky and fascinating at the same time because it doesn't sound like "a voice in your head", it sounds like someone is in the room with you. I can't imagine how freaky it must be to have full blown conversations with it on a regular basis.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
So when I gave my wife's friend (whom I didn't know was schizophrenic) a half a joint to calm her down because she was upset, according to you she was acting when she went wandering around my yard pulling her hair out because she was planning to kill someone? Schizophrenia has both genetic and environmental causes, you have a much greater chance of having it if a relative has it, for example if your twin has it you chances of having it are 40%, However it normally doesn't appear until after puberty and it's onset is usually associated with an emotional crisis, such as a divorce. The woman mentioned above "didn't have it" until she was in her mid-thirties.
BTW: Your OBSERVABLE lack of empathy and anger about this could be some sort a mental illness, I'd get that checked out if I were you.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Posting as AC because I was diagnosed with schizophrenia a couple of years ago and lived with it long before I knew what it was.
Short answer: they don't.
These cases get more attention partially because the stories are more exciting and that's what grabs people's attention. You aren't going to see news articles about someone hallucinating about the sound of a window sliding closed, but you will hear about someone who ran into a highly populated area and wrecked havoc because the voices told them so. Auditory hallucinations can be anything from nonverbal sounds to compliments to insults to orders to gibberish.
That said, there is a tendency for the the voices to be negative. From my own experience with the disorder and from talking with a few others who have dealt with it, I believe that the negativity is brought on from whatever incident or on-going circumstance brought on the disorder. My psychiatrist told me that there are some people born with a genetic predisposition towards the disease, but that most of the time, there needs to be a traumatic event for the symptoms of the disease to manifest. This was certainly true in my case and after a few years of looking back and learning to cope, I can see how much of what the voices told me are related to my personal trigger event.
So that's my $0.02, but it's not quite the same in any two people so YMMV.
If you're interested in the subject, my therapist recommended the book Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey. It's a little on the thick side, but it was incredibly helpful to me when I was coming to grips with my reality being turned on it's head.
Who knew that microsoft Bob was really just a manifestation of your inner dummy?
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
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?
The voices always tell me what to do...
Turn right - 400 yards.
Merge onto the freeway ahead.
Exit freeway ahead - Exit number 102
Prepare to turn left.