I do not want to pick on anyone in particular as it is such a common misconception but I did just see a witty sig that perpetuates this error and in this place of ignorance fighting combined with having a pit I feel the need to rant.
Look folks, life is hard enough for those with any mental illness without adding complete misunderstandings of diagnoses to the mix. Imagine trying to tell somebody you have diabetes and they react as though you have epilepsy and feed you sugar but won’t let you near their playstations.
The word Schizophrenia does mean split mind but it is not split personalities. Split personality used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder, now Dissociative Identity Disorder which is very different to Schizophrenia.
Read, learn and stop spreading shit unless it is on your roses. You may think it does no harm but trust me, this just adds to the incredible stigma mental illness already brings along with it. Both groups of people deserve more understanding, not less.
I once spoke at length with a Schizophrenic about disonance in the time stream of cognitive something or other. While he deserved understanding, I will be darned if I could understand what the hell he was talking about.
He did agree not to walk back and forth, up and down our street yelling “Do Not Disturb!” and whacking telephone poles with an eight foot long two-by-four anymore though, so that was good.
I once watched a fifteen minute argument on this very topic, between a girl I vaguely knew who confused it with multiple personality disorder, and my friend’s brother who was an actual diagnosed schizophrenic. Talk about not being able to admit that you’re wrong.
I always thought that the literal definition meant “split personality” though. I saw that in a medical book, but the description didn’t sound like that.
Phrenos is greek for mind though in that wonderful Ancient Greek way it started out meaning diaphragm when they were trying to determine which bits did what and how they were linked. It gives us both phrenology and schizophrenia.
I once knew someone with MPD (as it was called at the time). It was the most shocking experience I had ever had when I first encountered one of her (several) personalities. It stills freaks me when I think back on that. We lost touch a long time ago, so I have no idea where she is or how she is. I just hope she is well.
True. But the word ‘schizophrenia’ has such a long association with the idea of ‘split personality’ in the popular culture that it’s likely to never go away.
I’ve asked this before, but why not go for the easy fix and just change the name of the disease?
You can either change the name, and fight the usual battle of educating the public of what your disease is really about, or you can keep calling it ‘schizophrenia’ and have a hard time educating people about the disease itself, because first you’ve got to get past this enormous piece of cultural baggage that continually reasserts itself.
That’s my observation, but I don’t really care. It’s Somebody Else’s Problem. Fight whatever battles you choose to fight; just don’t confuse ‘wrestling with the cultural legacy of a particular word’ with ‘educating people about the disease.’ They’re not the same thing, even if they’re occupying the same space, in a way.
Lilairen, would you care to expand on this a little? I would have thought that anyone with DID (or MPD, take your pick) would, by definition, be ‘disordered’. No flames intended, I’m just curious because 1) I’m not sure I understand what you mean; and 2) I know very little about this and I’m interested.
The issue is not with defining DID/MPD as a disorder, but one of claiming that all multiple/median systems are suffering from DID/MPD. There are a goodly number of multiples of various sorts who are just as functional as singleton personalities, holding down jobs, having families and relationships, and generally living as people who you wouldn’t know are plural unless they came right out and said so.
Some of these people (and allied folk) are of the opinion that the classing of plurality as a disorder is about as valid as classing homosexuality as a disorder, and are working to try to raise some public awareness of functional plurals and to shoot for depathologising of their condition. This is not to deny that there are plurals who are not functioning as functional members of society, who may well benefit from treatments or a “cure”, such as integration; however, those are by no means all plurals. (And some argue that the pathologisation of plurality may drive a lot of plurals into pathology, much as the pathologisation of homosexuality has fed the internalised homophobia of a myriad gay folk. If everyone thinks you’re defective for being the way you are. . . .)
I’m far from an expert; however, if you’re interested in pursuing further reading on the subject, I commend to your attention the Layman’s Guide to Plurality, at http://www.kitsune.cx/blackbirds/layman/ – it’s a sort of FAQ, dealing with common questions and the like, and covering some of the variety of functional plural systems.
(One of these days I’ll figure out how to do URL tags here.)
Could you clarify something for me? What is the difference in schizophrenia and schizoid personality disorder?
Do I ever identify with your efforts to educate! On another forum I was open about my problems with clinical depression and tried to explain that it was not a character weakness anymore than diabetes is. (That was the analogy I used too.)
Not only did people continue to say that it was all in my attitude, they also made fun of my having to take medications and see a psychiatrist. Eventually, it was out-and-out used as a weapon against me with accusations that I was scaming the government for my disability. Also, because clinical depression often involves mood swings, people (intentionally, I think) kept labeling me as bi-polar. Wrong! (I don’t get the highs.) This was at a “spiritual” forum where I no longer participate. Those guys are too sick.
I would like to change the name of depression too; feelings of hopelessness are only one of the seven or eight symptoms.
Mental illness can be extremely painful. I support you in your efforts and courage, Thylacine!
Good point Thylacine. On a related note. (Pet peeve from psych rotation.)
Major Depressive Disorder is not “just feeling depressed, only more so.” It is a clinical disorder distinct from the depressed or “down” feeling that everyone gets periodically. Too many people think they’ve felt the same way when they were “depressed,” and discount how serious it is for those who have the disorder.
Thanks, Lilairen. I thought that “able to live a normal life” was what you probably meant, but I wasn’t sure. I had no idea it was possible, so now I’m off to read that link and learn more about it.
Zoe, just remember that often those that need help the most refuse to get it.
Similar to the misunderstanding of clinical depression:
One of my bigger pet peeves is when people label things phobias and OCD when they’re really average, nondisabling fears or dislikes and quirks: “Oh, I have a spider phobia. When I saw one in the corner, I could barely bring myself to scoop it into the jar and toss it out.” Or “He must have OCD; he kept tapping his foot against the back of my chair all night.”
Phobias severely affect the lives of their sufferers. Unless your dislike of something puts serious cramps on your social life, work, or personal hygiene, you don’t have a phobia. And unless a person’s repetitive action is a consequence of his obsession with something, it isn’t OCD.
I know people don’t mean any harm, but calling everyday, (relatively) mild fears and quirks phobias and OCD undermines the seriousness of these disorders.
Well, to be technical, they are on different axises of the DSMIV.
To elaborate, Schizophrenia is a biological disease, which can be treated with medication, and some forms of therapy - Living Skills is one area in which schizophrenics can gain substantial control over their disease with treatment.
Schizoid Personality Disorder is just what it sounds like - a personality disorder. Typically, a person with SPD would be described as “Odd” by friends and relatives. They display “strange” behaviour; however, it is not typically pathological. A person with a diagnosis of SPD has normal brain function. They would typically not be treated by a mental health professional at al.
Interestingly, schizophrenia and SPD are thought to be linked. Persons with SPD are much more likely than the average Joe to have a relative with schizophrenia.
However, both conditions are not clearly understood, and neither of them is Disassociative Personality Disorder.
