To put it bluntly, schizophrenia scares me a lot more than I thought it would. Until I walked through the hallucination simulation and realized how little I know about the disorder. The first thing I learned was that with schizophrenia is not something that you slip in and out of. I was under the impression that a person with schizophrenia would simply flip personalities and have no recollection of the other side when they switched back, it is weird to think that someone could have two thought processes going on at the same time.
To have no control of an entire train of thought in your own head would be incredibly hard to fight. If I had those voices going on in my head, first off, I wouldn't know that they we not supposed to be there. If you are born blind, and never view the world, you cannot comprehend the idea of a picture. If there were voices in your head for most of your life, without a trigger or warning, telling you that you were worthless or better off dead, what signs would have that this was not normal? This scares me again because, although hurtful, the voices would seem to be part of a normal life.
Going through the Second Life version of a hallucination was disturbing to say the least, and I'm glad I was able to go through with the option to stop the voices. If that were my life, seeing myself die in mirrors or having the TV speak to me would drive me insane, if I were not already. This experience in SL opened my eyes in a way that was in no way offensive to anyone with mental disorders. The producers from UC did a very good job and I do commend them for the quality of work they have done.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I hesitated to share this simulation with the class. I've a nephew who treats his schizophrenia with drugs, but when he forgets to take them, he can be homicidal.
ReplyDeleteSo voices in one's head are not something I take lightly. I suppose I will have to tour this site myself.
I have taken Psychology in high school and now again in college so I know a little bit about schizophrenia and the in the beginning part that you are talking about switching personalities sounds more like Multiple Personality Disorder where people flop personalities. Schizophrenia is much more internal than external and people can being to show signs in their teens. Hearing voices is a very dangerous thing and you are right that they tell people to hurt themselves or others so it is very important to get treated before some hurts themselves. You also had the option of shutting off the voices but actually people with the disorder cannot which can be really scary. Mental Disorders are no joke and I am glad that people are learning about them through Second Life.
ReplyDeleteok now that my rant is over, sorry I am very sensitive on the subject of metal disorders but you could use a better hook to draw the reader in. You describe the stimulation well but the transition between paragraphs could be better. So just fix those few things and your blog post will be stronger.
ReplyDelete