HI taylor77 and all the others here,
I have written a paper on schizophrenia and would like your opinion about this paper. It is for personal use and interest not for any research. I am always honest. I am interested in all kinds of mental disorders.
On Schizophrenia
Theaveragejoe 2016
Psychiatrist Thomas Insel (2013) writes that: “…It appears that what we currently call “schizophrenia” may comprise disorders with quite different trajectories. For some people, remaining on medication long-term might impede a full return to wellness. For others, discontinuing medication can be disastrous. “ Schizophrenia is not a uniform disorder that affects all sufferers equally. Each case of schizophrenia is unique and the one-size-fits-all research, based on the biomedical model, does more harm than good. Currently we need a medical model that embraces diversity, that embraces holism and that empowers sufferers. Unfortunately we have a medical model that, driven by financial, political and scientific ideologies, fails to consider the complexities of schizophrenia. This is bad science and I hope with all of my heart that it will soon be eradicated from universities, though I won’t hold my breath. While many researchers today are careful not to use words that can appear derogatory or offensive to clients, they do little or nothing to ensure that clients are not disempowered because research can have a message that can be extremely disempowering and depressing. Focusing on the negative facts Scientists are today focusing on acoustic research, particularly the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) model that now relies on the complex understanding of event-related potential (ERP) and how this represents aspects of the sound environment of our brain. Focusing on this sound environment, it has been found that people with schizophrenia have reduced MMN amplitude compared to that of non- sufferers. Studies are conducted in a laboratory environment where the sufferer is exposed to a chain of equal and repeated sounds that are occasionally disrupted by an unusual (odd ball) sound that briefly interrupts the constant chain of sounds. The odd sound will be reintroduced time and time again at intervals. A normal brain picks up the odd-ball sounds but the brain of a schizophrenic shows decreased performance in identifying (and predicting the coming of) the odd-ball sound. What makes this research interesting is that the subject does not need to pay attention to the sounds and, indeed, subjects can be watching a movie or reading a book during this experiment (Todd, et al., 2011). The brain of the subject will record the sound differences even if the person is asleep or in a coma and this is what makes the study interesting. Research papers on MMN look at the neurobiology of schizophrenia and creates a negative picture of sufferers whose intellect is negatively affected by their illness. It is well known that in some cases (but not in all cases) the brains of people with schizophrenia undergo massive neural pruning. It can be seen before and after images and is most evident if the expansion of the channels of the brain, in which fluid is found, in the central region. But we must ask ourselves: what is causing this massive deterioration? Is it the illness itself? Is it the lack of social support and understanding? Or is it the potent and toxic medication? Is it the withdrawal from social life? Or could it be our inability to empower people with schizophrenia so that they can help themselves and live a reasonably normal life? Is it our stigma that makes these people sick? These are the sorts of questions which a researcher that values a holistic approach should ask. Indeed it is well documented that for many sufferers it is not the voices or hallucinations that are the real problems as much as what other people think of their psychotic experiences. These questions become even more interesting when we consider that some people with chronic schizophrenia function very well. They may have reduced amplitude in discriminating sound differences, picked up by MMN studies, but the intelligence of many sufferers seem to remain intact. Some people with schizophrenia are professors of law and decorated academics like Elyn Saks. You will find much information and many papers online, completely free. Others with schizophrenia have found peace and a way to control hallucinations. For this there is much evidence that people often overlook. I don’t suffer with schizophrenia, I have bipolar disorder II, but I am interested and have been studying schizophrenia for a number of years now. I am also in communication with many sufferers with schizophrenia and this is perhaps the difference between my work and that of a researcher. My work is based on the attempt to befriend people with schizophrenia and really get to know them, their hopes, their abilities, their success stories and generally more of the positive stuff that researchers dismiss. In my longitudinal research I have found many people with schizophrenia that have reduced amplitude/perception but who still function perfectly well. I know that there are thousands of high functioning schizophrenics out there who are doctors, psychologists, academics, journalists, artists, musicians and actors. The success stories of these people don’t seem to support the basic idea of MMN research in terms of presenting people with schizophrenia as being intellectually affected by the disorder in some very negative way. These people perform well and have been doing so for years. Yet, research on MMN seems to portrait schizophrenics negatively. Schizophrenia is portrayed as an illness that negatively affects people’s intellect and that a wonder drug will restore intellectual capacities as we wait for scientists to identify the genes responsible for this illness so that we can eradicate it. I fear this because we could medicate what it is that makes us human and schizophrenia may be a human expression not just an unwanted illness. For now, there is a lot of research out there which indicates that antipsychotics may be the cause of such brain deterioration seen in schizophrenia (Salisbury, Shenton, Griggs, Bonner-Jackson and McCarley, 2002). Indeed, Salisbury et al. found that first episode schizophrenia shows similar MMN tests results to those of normal people. Reduced amplitude is not noted in first episode schizophrenics. However, marked amplitude is noted in people who have already endured multiple episodes or who are chronic sufferers that are heavily medicated. If we look at the situation differently, from a more holistic perspective, we may begin to ponder on the possibility that for some schizophrenics it is the “software’ that is the real problem, not the “hardware” or the way in which they perceive the world. As we have seen, for those who looked at the web link, some sufferers are able to change their perception with their own mind. Once the software is fixed the hardware begins to work well even if there are some deficiencies. Dr. Clark (Corry and Tubridy, 2001) argues that : “A new paradigm in psychiatry is long overdue. It’s obvious that the current system isn’t working. Let’s be honest, if psychoactive medication cured rather than contained the problem, psychiatric outpatient departments and hospitals would be empty.” For me, the argument that schizophrenia is genetically transmitted and that it is a purely biological problem, or an epigenetic problem to be more precise, is not only highly questionable but very depressing. We have no definite proof for this. While research like MMN may be valuable in some way, and we certainly do believe that it is valuable in some way, putting all of our efforts and finances on such biological research diverts valuable money away from holistic approaches which are much needed in our complex world. Moreover, doing research as is being done now does not seem to be adequate when it comes to schizophrenia. It is like comparing oranges with apples. It is clear that people with schizophrenia are not the same as normal people and the question is: should we compare them to normal people and try to “fix” them in some way to be like normal people? Or should we help them find their own normality? Help them to find their own way to cope? Theyir own center of gravity. What we have to be concerned about, however, is whether or not they have the ability to function and to find peace and to fit into society in their own way. This should be our concern, and to eradicate stigma. How many people with schizophrenia are high functioning and have learned to control their psychosis with the power of their minds? How many rely on minimum amounts of medication and alternatives like good nutrition, strategies and social support? How many people can function well with schizophrenia, even if their perception has been affected a little? These are the sorts of questions that we need to ask. Focusing on positive facts After years of painstaking personal research, I know that there are many people with schizophrenia who cope well and are employed in prestigious jobs. They may hide from the public but I have been able to enter their world simply by becoming their friend. These people are far from being intellectually disabled. They are very capable individuals who often help to change our world for the better. But we will never know how many people with schizophrenia cope and whether they are in a position to help others with schizophrenia to find a way to cope. We will never know if we dedicate all of our money, research and effort to studies like the MMN at the expenses of more holistic approaches. Clearly a balance is needed or at the very least we could integrate holistic methods into MMN scientific research. I have a message for researchers. Please look at the problem from a holistic perspective. The research papers that I read are not only offensive, because they are not accessible to people who suffer and could have their input and participate to the research, but are totally inadequate for the study of human beings. The biomedical model just does not cut it on its own. We need holistic approaches based on the bio-psychosocial model. We certainly do not need scientific reductionism. For this we must integrate biomedical research with other holistic approaches; we cannot keep the two separated. Or if we are to segregate various aspect of a particular research it must always be part of a greater whole.
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