Have you ever noticed how people can be unique? Everyone seems to be a little different than the other. I had the pleasure of working in a psychiatric hospital with adult live-in patients a few years back. I worked in the treatment mall where I’d see my patients for about 4 hours a day Monday-Friday.
The patients and staff were so nurturing and kind. Many of the patients had lived there for 20-30+ years. 87 percent of the patient population had schizophrenia. Some had other conditions in addition to it as well. I was only there a short 1 year stint, but the magnitude of compassion and kindness I learned from these people is priceless.
The following blog is all about people with schizophrenia and how to understand them better through my personal experience, what science tells us and what some of my professional expertise. If you stay to the end, you’ll read about a program I’m really excited to share.
#1 Understanding the symptoms, risks, and treatment options. ⠀
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Check out these facts about people who have schizophrenia here. ⠀
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Check it out and share with your friends that will find value in this content.⠀
#2 There are some positive, negative and cognitive symptoms⠀
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😊 Positive: is losing touch with reality, day dreaming etc⠀
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😔 Negative: is decreased feelings of pleasure, possible hostility⠀
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🧠 Cognitive: memory issues, poor executive functioning and decision making⠀
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It’s important to be aware so we’re not rushing to quick judgments but expressing loads and loads of compassion and empathy⠀
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#3 Understanding that the side effects of diagnosis can also cause other diagnoses.
One in four of those diagnosed with Schizophrenia are also diagnosed with depression. Most of diagnosed are between the ages of 18-29yrs. The ratio of women being diagnosed is 1.5-3 fold to men. However in my professional experience most of the patients I worked with in the long term stay psychiatric hospital (180 days- 30+ years) were men.
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Let’s be kind to everyone and be especially compassionate towards women ages 18-29 that show signs and symptoms of depression and schizophrenia.⠀
#4 Current treatment options of schizophrenia
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💊 Medication⠀
👨⚕️ Psychotherapy⠀
🏥 Hospitalization⠀
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When those three don’t work, it’s up to us to join together and support one another.⠀My grandfather was diagnosed late in life. He was in WWII and probably also had PTSD but they didn’t really diagnose for that.⠀
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It was really challenging for the family to be around him.⠀I was reminded of this when I worked in the psychiatric hospital later in life… I remember not many family members visited the patients….⠀
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Its a tough thing to deal with mental illness, but to also not have the support and community by your own family can be devastating.⠀
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Let’s make sure we’re especially kind towards those with mental illness of any sort. You never know what they’re dealing with and the support system they might or might not have.⠀
#5 I’m Excited To Share A Program With You I Created!⠀
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The Move Happy Facilitator Program© was facilitated in a psychiatric hospital that had 87% of its patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia. ⠀
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Most of the patients were men, age ranges from 20s-70s. ⠀
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It was such a huge success and enough patients encouraged me to share it with others. I packaged the program and it is available here. ⠀
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30% of the proceeds goes back to a mental health organization of your choice⠀💜
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10% of the proceeds goes to a Big Brothers and Big Sisters local chapter to you⠀🧒 ♥️
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or⠀
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You can email me that you want 40% of the proceeds to go towards funding the Move Happy® World Tour Event soon!
Move Happy® Updates
The Move Happy Podcast has over 243 downloads 😃. Can we get it to 300 by next weekend? Make sure to subscribe to the channel here for notification reminders.
So there you have it. Schizophrenia is a unique and challenging diagnosis. We didn’t dive into the medication aspect much as I wanted to focus more on the social component. We are not islands unto ourselves. Those with mental illness need our support and kindness more than ever. Our world is ever changing and those that are hospitalized from time to time miss out on keeping up with the fast pace of the world. More women tend to become diagnosed 1.5-3x than men and most ages between 18-29.
This is a lifetime condition. Some of the greatest minds have schizophrenia. They may not be as understood as they could be, even by their own family members. It’s really up to us to join together to be extra compassionate and kind towards everyone. After all, you never know where someone has been before their conversation with you.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I really miss the patients from the hospital I worked with. They after all inspired me to get my brand trademarked and package the program to share with others.
Thank you for reading. If you found any value in this, please share with a friend or family member.
PS: Don’t forget to tell someone you love them today
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