Understanding why people born blind never develop schizophrenia could transform how we think about and treat one of medicine’s most baffling conditions.
Schizophrenia produces many symptoms other than hallucinations and causes profound cognitive and social dysfunction. Poverty of thought, delusions, and disordered thinking and speech among others. There would be signs others could see.
schizophrenics often can’t tell easily by themselves that they are schizophrenics, if a blind person comments about hearing things others might simply write it off as their (the blind one’s) acute and great sense of hearing that the blind developed through necessity that they (others non blind) don’t have and thus can’t hear
Right, I should have known better than to use “always” there. “Often” would have been safer. The point was that the number of senses you have don’t matter much, as the brain is plenty capable of building a full hallucinated experience with whatever senses you’re used to using.
Maybe the blind schizophrenics just don’t ever know.
If they are hearing hallucinations, how would they know they aren’t real? It’s not like they can see that there’s nobody saying these things.
Schizophrenia produces many symptoms other than hallucinations and causes profound cognitive and social dysfunction. Poverty of thought, delusions, and disordered thinking and speech among others. There would be signs others could see.
dude they’re blind, not stupid.
schizophrenics often can’t tell easily by themselves that they are schizophrenics, if a blind person comments about hearing things others might simply write it off as their (the blind one’s) acute and great sense of hearing that the blind developed through necessity that they (others non blind) don’t have and thus can’t hear
That implies that schizophrenic people ARE stupid for believing the things that they experience.
Which is much more offensive and disrespectful than what I said.
no, you said being blind would specifically prevent them from realizing their symptoms in contrast to seeing people.
Not “in contrast to”, but as an additional challenge.
how does what that person said imply that?
The sighted schizophrenics don’t know their hallucinations aren’t real. It’s always an external diagnosis.
Not for everyone, I know my hallucinations aren’t real, and sought out help myself.
I’m happy that you sought help, and I hope you’re doing well
Right, I should have known better than to use “always” there. “Often” would have been safer. The point was that the number of senses you have don’t matter much, as the brain is plenty capable of building a full hallucinated experience with whatever senses you’re used to using.
Oh, I know. I’ve spent years trying to explain to my brother that people aren’t actually standing outside his window yelling insults at him.
Well, asking someone else who is around would be a good way, for one thing.
How often do you check with others to confirm that something you just experienced was real?
“Do you hear that or is it just my tinnitus?” is a fairly common question in my household.
Don’t be a moron.