Found this video from onemansblogMany years ago, my dad was diagnosed with Schizohprenia, though from how he described it to me it didn’t seem to be like this video. However, if you listen to it and turn the volume up, it’s easy to see what a strange experience it must beThis video is converted from an old ecording. It was created as an educational program by a pharmaceutical company (NPR) that specializes in treatment for Schizophrenia to demonstrate what it’s like to be affected by the disease. See the web page for more details within a couple of days.
from onemansblog.com posted with vodpod
You can also watch this video on Youtube too learn more
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Wow. That was really intense. My friends dad was schizophrenic and ended up killing himself because nobody understood what it was like.
Comment by Ashleigh — January 16, 2008 @ 9:49 pm
My Unusual and Weird* Thoughts
Comment by N88 — January 16, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
Sorry to hear about your friends dad. Today happens to one year since my dad died, though it had nothing to do with schizophrenia, he had a heart attack.
My Dad used to say it was kinda like he would be watching himself saying and doing things from a distance, but he had no control over what he was saying or doing. I guess it’s different for different people
Comment by Brad D — January 16, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
thanks
this opened my eyes, do you know if this is similar to the effects of dementia in elderly people? any response is helpful.
Comment by mike — January 16, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
Maybe your thoughts are weird but mine are wierd
Comment by Brad D — January 16, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
God, that’s intense. If that’s anything close to what living with schizophrenia is like, it’s no wonder people isolate themselves and commit suicide. 5 minutes of that was more than enough from me, I cannot imagine trying to live with it all the time.
Comment by LynzM — January 17, 2008 @ 1:49 am
what the fuck is this ?
Comment by jimsy — January 17, 2008 @ 2:13 am
i here this in my head i thought it was normal and just different parts of me arguing with myself now i am crazy ? sometimes i even talk out loud like this to myself?
help?
Comment by christine — January 17, 2008 @ 5:13 am
I’m a senior psychology major at USM. This video doesn’t really tell anything about schizophrenia. Voices are not always negative and not always constant. Many patients don’t even hear them. There are also many more symptoms associated with it. If anyone wants to see what schizophrenia is like go to http://youtube.com/watch?v=gGnl8dqEoPQ there are 2 videos of a guy named gerald who shows virtually every symptom of schizophrenia all in one person(which basically never occurs).
Comment by chase — January 17, 2008 @ 5:47 am
My dad and his cousin have Schizophrenia and it really is very different for different people.
Comment by Famf — January 17, 2008 @ 6:40 am
Christine, if you always thought it was normal that way, you are probably not crazy. From my point of view, crazyness starts when you cannot distinguish between what’s real and what’s not anymore. But if you get along well with your world you should probably be fine. And yes, schizophrenia is different for every single person.
Comment by Manuel — January 17, 2008 @ 8:22 am
@chase. Thanks for the YouTube link, also a very interesting video, I’ve added it to the top of the post
@Christine, I’m no expert so I don’t want to give advice. I also argue with myself as well, and sometimes if I get excited it might be ‘out loud’ accidently. But for me, it’s not quite the same as the video. They don’t really sound like ‘voices’. Just my thoughts..sometimes I call them ‘thoughtlets’ because they are very short partially formed thoughts that zoom in and zoom out. I think they are there all the time, but I really don’t notice most of the time. Mostly, just when I am worrying about something that might or could happen. It’s not crazy for me, it’s just who I am, and they never tell me to “do” anything, more like just a ‘self check’ or even like maybe like a conscience.
Comment by braddet — January 17, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
@Brad D
What you described is amazing. I recommand you to read (or see the movie with the same name) a book named A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick. It’s labeled science fiction, but this label doesn’t do justice to it.
I’ve read a similar description of a schizophrenic who pondered upon the notion of solipsism (the stance that only your mind exists). You can read it here: http://www.geometricvisions.com/Madness/schizoaffective-disorder/dissociation.html
Thanks for the video!
Comment by Rasputi — January 17, 2008 @ 3:27 pm
I’m not convinced that this video comes anywhere near achieving what it claims. Each person’s reality is unique, and I’m sure schizophrenia is also quite individuated. This is, admittedly, a chaotic, confusing mess, and perhaps a schizophrenic’s reality is much like this. However, this attempt comes close, in my mind, to making fun of mental illness.
IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ME I WILL FIND YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Will Walker — January 18, 2008 @ 4:19 am
I’ve tried repasting the video as I heard it was a bit choppy. The video itself isn’t the best quality, but I hope this helps a bit.
@Rasputi – Thanks for the link. I have bookmarked it and will be checking it out soon.
Comment by BradDet — January 18, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
I live with my grandmother and she’s been diagnosed with schizophrenia AND dementia. While this may not be “exactly” like what it is to live with it, it is a real eye opener. Thanks for posting.
Comment by Mindilla — January 20, 2008 @ 2:29 am
At first it just felt weird but then it wasn’t bad.
If it makes you kill yourself then it must be worse than this.
Comment by Therealjoe — January 24, 2008 @ 6:22 pm
my mother has paranoid schizophrenia. I can’t imagine hearing all those voices at once, it was very disorienting to me. Very good video though, thanks for posting it.
Comment by amie — January 24, 2008 @ 6:35 pm
Christine, as long as what you are hearing isn’t interfering with your ability to live life then you should be okay.
Comment by Saraj — January 24, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
It was hard to watch.
Comment by ellen — January 25, 2008 @ 12:36 am
The one criteria for diagnosis that ALL psych diagnoses have is that it must seriously impair your normal life. So, Christine, if you’re working or going to school and living normally, you’re okay.
Comment by spooky — January 25, 2008 @ 1:05 am
Rasputi and Braddet,
I am a solipsist with similar “Thoughtlets” and I very much like that name for them as I now can call them something and describe them to someone else.
Comment by Grabochev — January 25, 2008 @ 7:50 am
Actually, mental illness is a fraud. And anyone who professes to see it are just cattle following the herd. Mental illness is only people trying to get attention. It is usually caused by some kind of trauma the person experienced growing up. It’s exactly like someone that is choked as a child, growing up fearing anything put on his neck. It’s a simple mindset that can be changed with a simple thought. Hasn’t anyone else noticed that the more “cures” we come out with, the more “illnesses” seem to pop up as the years go by. Go back several thousand years, and none of these “illnesses” existed. They are a fabrication of idiocy. Someone look at me, give me attention, I’m insane! Grow up everyone, leave childishness back when you were chidren.
Comment by Meiliken — January 25, 2008 @ 10:53 am
@Meiliken.. are you serious or just trying to get attention? Either way it worked !
It’s kinda funny, I suppose you could say “mental illness is all in the mind”
I believe it highley unlikely that there can be any part of our bodies (including our mind) incapable of becoming ill. Take epilepsy as an example would you deny that seizures really exist? or are just people trying to get attention?
There has been much research on the brain, and how it works, and although we don’t know everything, we do know that things can and do go wrong, and studies have shown many medications improve quality of life (over sugar pills) in double blind tests.
I am the first to admin, when my Dad was first diagnosed, the science at the time was VERY scarry, they would just bombard him with all these different kinds of drugs and then see what effects they would have. (Better or Worse). Not unlike the hack surgery of days gone buy. He was in the hospital for many many months
Several years later, when he had relapse, they could simply import his drugs into a computer which could determine all the possible interactions and tolerances potentially bult up and recommend a new series of mediations. He only had to be hospitalized for a day or two.
Philosophically speaking, we can never be certain that we each experiance ‘reality’ the same way. So there really is no “normal” and therefore defintions of ‘sane’ and ‘insane’ can be hard to pin down.
But we are human, and parts do fail whether we like it or not.
Thanks for your comments just the same.
Comment by BradDet — January 25, 2008 @ 1:31 pm
That particular NPR logo is that of National Public Radio. NOT a pharmaceutical company. It’s unlikely that a pharmaceutical company would produce anything like this. Especially producing a bottle with a poison label. Hello? This is America. They don’t trust you enough to understand it isn’t really poison.
Comment by Becca — January 30, 2008 @ 5:13 pm
That video also had a lot in common with acid trips. In fact in the early days of LSD research before it was banned one proposed use was to give it to doctors so they could better understand what their patients were going through.
Get some practice while you are young so when you mind goes later in life you can enjoy it instead of freaking out!
Comment by Timewarp — January 30, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Excellent post, amazing looking weblog, added it to my favorites!
Comment by psygiesetible — November 23, 2009 @ 10:25 pm
Hi there everyone,
I have been diagosed with Schizophrenia in July 2007. I can attest that this video is fairly close to what the experience is actually like, although the voices are normally a little more easy to distinguish and the people youre talking to generally seem to think you’re weird (lol). Compaired to the other videos that are out there, this is surprisingly accurate. That said there are so many other facets of this disorder that have yet to be explained to the masses.
Just wanted to post my 0.02.
Comment by malcolm — March 17, 2010 @ 8:53 am