The Independent:
Scientists have discovered a remarkable similarity between the genetic faults behind both schizophrenia and manic depression in a breakthrough that is expected to open the way to new treatments for two of the most common mental illnesses, affecting millions of people.
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NOW I know for sure what's wrong with me.
;)
my husband is someone diagnosed with schizophrenia. the whole world writes people like him off as useless and abhorrent. here is the kicker, he is a kind and gentle man, a loving father, the kind of person you can rely on to do the right thing - naturally. he takes zy prexa and fish oils. he is able to hold down a job. his meds are expensive, really expensive, and when the last of his medi-cal is taken away and he loses funding for his medication, i don't know if his illness will allow him to work and allow him the dignity that he has worked so hard for.
he is not disposable, but america treats him as if he is of less worth than a cockroach. i get angry about this.
My best wishes to you and your husband, Moon.
If you don't object I'll include him in my prayers for people who need healing, a peaceful and quiet mind, a reduction of their symptoms, better and cheaper meds, a future that doesn't look quite as scary as the one you're now facing. Prayers for ALL people who face these battles.
Part of the problem is that MOST Americans think mental illness is black and white, you're either "normal" or you're "sick." They don't realize it's a matter of degree. It's shades of gray.
"Mentally Ill" they associate with the homeless folks who wander the streets muttering. Few Americans realize that almost every one of them has at least one friend who suffers mental illness but "keeps a lid on it" with medication, diet, exercise, prayer, meditation, and so on.
Television doesn't help, often making mentally ill characters violent. Or at least, making many violent characters mentally ill, when in fact, percentage wise, its as low or lower than "normal" people.
Hang in there, Try and enjoy the good things life has to offer while you both can. god bless BOTH of you.
More knowledge has been gained in the past year than in the last 100 years by combining resources and knowledge of this very misunderstood illness. Keep up the good work, as one out of 100 people suffer from the disease. It is interesting how it may turn out to be a "first cousin" to bipolar disorder and involves the dopamine receptors and immune system. Perhaps this will lead to further knowledge and treatment of autism also.
I'm of 2 minds about this scientific finding, maybe 6 minds.
Schizophrenia is unrelated to multiple personality disorder.
Let me discuss that with my other selves and we'll get back with you.
I'm sure they'll come up with some sort of pricey drug, with two dozen side effects, that will take care of it.
i was thinking of howard hughes.. how his mind kept telling him he was rich--- like a schitzo? but his obsession kept telling him he was being ripped off. he was ... and, he was.
There's hope for Limbaugh yet!
And the GOP
Interesting that so very much rests with the immune system. However, this article was much ado about nothing ~ same old, same old. We still remain rooted in the earliest stages of understanding this devastating disease and how to best care for its sufferers.
Again, I'm just wondering who writes these headlines. The secrets of schizophrenia are by no means "unlocked". Of course, this is progress, but as you say, "We still remain rooted in the earliest stages of understanding this devastating disease."
I'm with you on the headline...I can't stand how scientific studies are always reported as being a "major breakthrough" or having "solved the mystery" of whatever disease. Even when a study is very promising, it needs to be replicated. I know its the headline writer's job to sensationalize, but they usually just misinform the public when it comes to current scientific research.
"This is a pretty major breakthrough for us because before today you could count on the thumb of one hand the number of common [genetic] variants that have been reliably identified for schizophrenia," said Michael O'Donovan, professor of psychiatric genetics at the Medical Research Council's neurogenetics centre in Cardiff.
yep, but your opinion is so much better...
Quite the snide comment, amdezurik.
My family consists of MDs, Psychiatric Nurse Practioners, scientists, and authors who have devoted their careers to the treatment of mental illness due, in large part, to this cruel genetic curse that has plagued my family for generations. Just this weekend, I tried providing my beautiful, brilliant sibling with a new bed set. After thoroughly searching for chips & FBI devices and providing exhausting assurances that the government won't be in to "mess it all up," I was allowed to proceed. This followed an afternoon spent with an elderly aunt whose Rx-induced tremors caused her tea to spill everywhere but her sweet mouth.
When you have spent your entire life caring for loved ones, in and out hospitals, and poring over the latest breakthough research reports promising treatments (which regularly crop up every few years) maybe you will understand my hesitancy in placing much hope in HuffPost's headline which, in essence, says "We have found more genes."
That being said, I would never want anyone to lose hope that a new treatment is on the horizon. And so, from the bottom of my heart, I hope this lastest round of experts is onto something tremendous.
I just cannot stand it when an infinitesimal gain in the knowledge of an infinitesimal piece of the biology of the brain is labeled as revealing the secrets of schizophrenia! Billions are poured into this useless research while people with mental illness land in jail because there is no money for treatment. I don't give a $%#! about this tiny bit of knowledge when treatment centers are closed, psychiatrists charge hundreds of dollars for 15 minutes of "therapy," and people who are mentally ill get nothing but high-cost pills with terrible side effects in the way of support. When we closed the huge state-run Guantanamos of the mentally ill in the 70s, we replaced them with the streets or with small neighborhood Guantanamos. People are still afraid to seek treatment. Since there is nothing but horrible expensive drugs for treatment, most people who are mentally ill have no reason to risk revealing their illness. Discrimination has gotten worse and the mentally ill know that they will be forever stigmatized if they seek treattment.
Yes
so instead of find a real kind of help without all those pills you don't like (and we pretty much agree on them) you would just let people suffer with these conditions?
this is a terrible illness, i for one do suffer schizophernia, i had it for years and always in denial. there are 5 types of it, the 5th is the worse. i take six differents medicines to help control any of the symptoms that may accour. the reason i suffer from it is because my mother had German Measles right before i was born, thus cause deafness in both ears, it wasn't till i was in my teens i started hearing voices, it scared me to death and i kept quiet about it plus not knowing it made it worse from heavy drug and alcohol usage. today i do regret for not being open about this illness i have. believe me, its hard to understand the reallity of the world we live in and the world is not my friend but i thank the Lord i'm not a religion fanatic nor have to live with a tin foil hat on. the last 15 years i had to learn to live with it, to the people who knows that if their love ones do suffer with this disease stay close to them and never stop loving them!
PEACE
Thank you for sharing.
My Daughter-in Law has this disease. She has a heart of gold. Her episodes Are challenging, but the love, understanding and patience goes on.
Thanks to you both. I asked a best friend's son how he felt since his adolescent schizophrenia had come under control after years of struggle we had tried to help with. "Are the obsessions and voices all gone now?". No, he said, as he handed me the nails to continue the project we were working on, "They're going on full blast right now. I just have to ignore them." I still hope for a cure and better insight into what causes this hellish phenomenon, but I cherish people like you two with courage and compassion.
Hmmmm, I have a question: If you were born deaf, as you imply from your mother's case of german measles, how can you hear voices, you have never heard a human voice nor spoken words.
It's called a hallucination.
i have 80% hearing loss, i do wear hearing aides, i tend to have hallucinations....believe me its frusterating, took years to cope with this and learn to live with it. i should of said a little more about the so called deafness, but rather it is hearing impairment.
lol. my cellphone vibrates now and then (or I think it does) even when it's not in my pocket.
And apparently I'm not the only one.
I'll pray for you friend. Maybe my belief in God is mental illness too, but there is nothing I wouldn't give, all of my possessions, that you and others who suffer so greatly might find relief, or a cure from this illness, even if just for one day. Have peace and know that there are many of us out here that care deeply for you and everyone else afflicted by mental illness.
The emerging scientific understanding of our human minds and behaviors is eventually going to have vast ramafications on our legal/penal systems. Think of the worst crime you can, and it will likely be shown that the perpetrator is genetically predisposed or had suffered some kind of brain injury or exposure to some compound shown to affect one's mentality. Should we continue to punish the sick for their illnesses? Sounds barbaric but what does society do to the person who sexually molests children when they discover his deviant interest was the result of a brain tumor and its removal removes all interest in abnormal sexual expressions? Or the mom who kills a family, their own family, and we discover that voices of angels guided them to save the innocent from satan? Our prisons are filled with these tortured souls who are also tortured physically and psychologically by their very being in a system as poor as ours. We've advanced much over the last few years but barbarism and unenlightened thought still plagues us in particular when it comes to understanding criminality.
It will not change the legal/penal system, people will still be accountable for their actions and choices, regardless of our understanding what causes it. Hopefully it will lead to better treatment along with the punishment that is a deterrant.
Follow the Money. Compassion and other options to treat these individuals Is Not Profitable.
Obviously you have a problem with reading comprehension: schizophrenia is not a choice. think of it this way: What if you had a heart attack while driving and struck a pedestrian. Would you be guilty of reckless driving?
Oh, maybe your problem isn't reading comprehension, it's human compassion.
......and ALL this time the DEA would have us believe it was Cannabis that caused these conditions!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070324132832.htm
Way to go, Mis-Using Science for Personal agenda's!
This news story on cannabis is the WORST sort of science journalism, and the scientists who wrote the study are the WORST sort of investigators. Correlation is NOT causation; they need to be schooled in logic and statistics. Disgusting.
If only everyone understand the difference between correlation and causation. A basic premise, and no 'scientific' article should ever be written without a clear understanding of the difference, otherwise it should not meet the standard of being called 'scientific'. I completely agree with you.
The condition leaves me lethargic with constant fear of interpersonal interaction.
Hang in there Mike.
For more.
See also: "WATCH: Joe The Plumber Wins "World's Best Person" For Taking God's Advice"
I've always thought that there was a correlation between schizophrenia and organised religion. If you teach children that invisible beings are watching their every move throughout their lives, they could end up a bit paranoid and confused. Mix that with a natural chemical imbalance, and you could have yourself some serious problems.
I thought so too after working for some months in a psychiatric hospital. The error is the focus on 'organized' religion, which actually tends (tends!) to defang the power of the idea of the invisible being whose reality DEMANDS to be honored as not only real but decisi vely so. The trouble is that those who take this seriously, risking a strong analog to schizophrenia in the process, come to realize that our human normality is itself founded upon invisible guarantors of its legitimacy, the questioning of which in serious terms leads to the use of organized violence. The real organized religion is the political economy.
You obviously have not known a person who is dealing with schizophrenia.
Oh, really? There is indeed a reason they interpret what they hear/see so often in terms of the devil and God, and the voices they hear accuse them of being awful people who deserve to be punished. Read a little and learn.
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First Posted: 07- 2-09 12:12 AM | Updated: 07- 2-09 12:16 AM