Schizophrenia Research

What is it?

schizophrenia

ˌskɪtsə(ʊ)ˈfriːnɪə/

noun

1. a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behaviour, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation.

   • (in general use) a mentality or approach characterised by inconsistent or contradictory elements.

   
   

Is the definition that comes up when you type it into Google. Schizophrenia has a permanent effect on the sufferer's life, whether they recover or not, as they will always have the doubts in their heads about whether what they are seeing is part of reality or just a consequence of their disorder.

How schizophrenia can be represented without clashing with any mental health anti-stigma campaigns/previous representations:

Time to Change is an example of a campaign that speaks out against unfair and inaccurate representations of mental illness in the media. One example of a misrepresentation of schizophrenia is the film, 'The Voices', causing a Nikki Mattocks, Time to Change supporter, to say:
“Hearing voices is something I have experienced for years now, and I have no shame in saying that. I first found out about this film when I was tagged in Facebook posts by numerous people asking if I've killed anyone recently. This made me feel like a complete freak show. The slogan of the film - "hearing voices can be murder" is completely inappropriate and stigmatising.
Through comments such as these being released, it reflected badly on the film and those involved in the making of it, for example, the director/actor. This is something that we aim to avoid in the makings of our trailer. 
Time to change is a campaign, launched in 2007, becoming well funded by 2011 (£21 million in 4 years) and on their website people can access this:

Myths/facts

There are lots of myths about mental health. Knowing a few facts can help us to challenge any negative thoughts and actions. 

Here are some to think about:

• Myth: Mental health problems are very rare.
• Fact: 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem in any given year.

• Myth: People with mental illness aren’t able to work.
• Fact: We probably all work with someone experiencing a mental health problem.

• Myth: Young people just go through ups and downs as part of puberty, it’s nothing.
• Fact: 1 in 10 young people will experience a mental health problem.

• Myth: People with mental health illnesses are usually violent and unpredictable.
• Fact: People with a mental illness are more likely to be a victim of violence. 

• Myth: People with mental health problems don't experience discrimination
• Fact: 9 out of 10 people with mental health problems experience stigma and discrimination.

• Myth: It’s easy for young people to talk to friends about their feelings.
• Fact: Nearly three in four young people fear the reactions of friends when they talk about their mental health problems.

Making it clear to people who are not so well informed what they should remember when seeing an incorrect portrayal in the media, and we can use this as a guideline to develop our protagonist's character and his backstory.

(more information is on the Time to Change website)

Symptoms and typical life:

The symptoms may start showing when the sufferer is younger, becoming withdrawn at school, a drop in grades, but as they grow older, the symptoms become more pronounced and more distressing. Symptoms at this point may include:
- Delusions and hallucinations
- Disorganised speech
- Catatonic behaviour
- Lack of mood
- Muscle immobility
- Excessive/pointless muscle movement
Symptoms change from person to person but these are the common ones.

Some of these symptoms may put strain on relationships in the home and at school/work, sometimes rendering a sufferer jobless and/or homeless. At home, the daily life might start to revolve around the person with schizophrenia because the symptoms are difficult to handle for all of those involved.

Why we chose it:

We chose schizophrenia because it was a topic not often explored correctly within the media, it may even be considered a taboo topic to a lot of people simply because they do not know enough about it. We wanted to research into the illness and see if we could create a realistic product that would get minimal critical feedback in regards to our representation of the protagonist, and try to avoid incorrect stereotypes, adding the extra challenge to the process.

RESEARCH:- http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/news/time-change-comment-voices-film
- http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/202/s55/s49
- http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/about-us
- http://www.healthyplace.com/thought-disorders/schizophrenia-symptoms/schizophrenia-symptoms-and-the-impact-on-everyday-life/