Do you know what schizophrenia is? Schizophrenia is defined as a mental disorder that affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves. This week I had to watch a video about looking through the eyes of a man with schizophrenia and how he perceived things in everyday life. I was shocked when I watched the film, because it was like I was perceiving things from man starring in a horror movie. The man in the video,heard voices, that were never actually there, constantly telling him what to do and other voices telling him to do the exact opposite. The man also hallucinated that he might have performed a crime, heard voices telling him not to trust anyone, that people were after him because of his action, illusions telling him he was worthless, and viewing the food that he had in front of him as toxic.

At the end of the video it became obvious that the man kept hearing and perceiving things that were false when a woman entered the house and erased the tension that had built up during the film. This woman was pretty familiar with the man and this became apparent when she told him that he forgot to take his medicine, if her ordered pizza had arrived, and that he should to let sunlight enter the dark house. This house was kept dark to add to the effect that the situation was more frightening than it actually was when the curtains covering the windows parted and sunlight entered the house revealing a bright and sunny day outside. Once all of this had taken place the house and the situation did not seem frightening any to me any more.

I was frightened through most of this film because it reminded me of a horror show and those always get on my nerves. Though I am not an expert on individuals who have schizophrenia, this video reminded me of numerous cases that I see in fictional television shows and movies. Compared to how I typically see schizophrenia in the media, this video portrays my viewpoint on them really well. By this I mean a dark room, voices from people that are not actually there telling the man many different things, constant negative comments being directed at the man telling him he is worthless, and someone else in the film saying that the schizophrenic individual forgot to take their medicine. Yes, this video shocked me but the reason why it truly shocked me was because at the beginning of the video it said that the symptoms that I will experience in the video represents a compilation of a range fo sensory occurrences as reported by actual patients, meaning that people with schizophrenia could be living in a horror film every day.

Do you know what schizophrenia is? Schizophrenia is defined as a mental disorder that affects how an individual thinks, feels and behaves. This week I had to watch a video about looking through the eyes of a man with schizophrenia and how he perceived things in everyday life. I was shocked when I watched the film, because it was like I was perceiving things from man starring in a horror movie. The man in the video,heard voices, that were never actually there, constantly telling him what to do and other voices telling him to do the exact opposite. The man also hallucinated that he might have performed a crime, heard voices telling him not to trust anyone, that people were after him because of his action, illusions telling him he was worthless, and viewing the food that he had in front of him as toxic.

At the end of the video it became obvious that the man kept hearing and perceiving things that were false when a woman entered the house and erased the tension that had built up during the film. This woman was pretty familiar with the man and this became apparent when she told him that he forgot to take his medicine, if her ordered pizza had arrived, and that he should to let sunlight enter the dark house. This house was kept dark to add to the effect that the situation was more frightening than it actually was when the curtains covering the windows parted and sunlight entered the house revealing a bright and sunny day outside. Once all of this had taken place the house and the situation did not seem frightening any to me any more.

I was frightened through most of this film because it reminded me of a horror show and those always get on my nerves. Though I am not an expert on individuals who have schizophrenia, this video reminded me of numerous cases that I see in fictional television shows and movies. Compared to how I typically see schizophrenia in the media, this video portrays my viewpoint on them really well. By this I mean a dark room, voices from people that are not actually there telling the man many different things, constant negative comments being directed at the man telling him he is worthless, and someone else in the film saying that the schizophrenic individual forgot to take their medicine. Yes, this video shocked me but the reason why it truly shocked me was because at the beginning of the video it said that the symptoms that I will experience in the video represents a compilation of a range fo sensory occurrences as reported by actual patients, meaning that people with schizophrenia could be living in a horror film every day.

I had a childhood friend with schizophrenia, we lived next door to each other and spent quite a bit of our summer together, we would play in the park together until he moved when I was 15. When I first met him I was 13, he seemed to have something causing him some distress and wouldn’t tell me his name. My parents had invited him and his family over to have dinner with us to welcome them into our neighborhood. I had never really known what schizophrenia was before I met him. Once him and his family came over I could tell there was something off before the meal even started. He looked as if he didn’t trust anyone and he could barley stomach the sight of his food. Half way through our meal he shot up out of his seat and screamed “I’m not with them.” after that he started breathing really heavy and his parents and my parents went into another room and talked. Him and I sat at the table alone together. He slowly started whispering something to me over and over again, I could not understand what he was saying. I asked him to speak up but he wouldn’t. I decided because he was in my house I should do more to make him feel more settled. so I got out my seat and walked over to his side of the table. I don’t think he took my attempt to calm him down as a kind gesture. As I got closer his eyes lit up with what I assumed to be fear. I placed my hand on his shoulder and just as I was about to speak he grabbed the butter knife we had been using to butter rolls and slashed through my arm, and his whisper grew to a scream. I could understand what he was saying now. “you’re one of them, I know” He wouldn’t stop yelling after he cut me. I was shocked to say the least. I couldn’t understand why he had hurt me when I was trying to ease him. The commotion startled my parents and his. I was surprised to see that no one was upset with him. They left right then. later that night my parents explained to me what he was going through. Apparently he had recently been diagnosed and the new medication wasn’t going over very well, still I had no idea the ins and outs of what a schizophrenic person is actually experiencing. I think this video does a good job at illustrating the perception of some one with this illness. I was able to forgive him once I learned he didn’t actually want to hurt me, he had no choice he is schizophrenic, he is sick. I think the media does a good job at portraying the difficulty of living with this illness, but at the same time the media harms the perception of these mentally ill people because more often than not they are portrayed to be dangerous and hopeless doomed to be lost in their mind.