In the assigned video, Cecilia McGough, a mental health activist, shares her perspective on schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) and her own experiences with hallucinations. The presentation covers a number of critical topics, including stigmatization and learning to imitate normal behaviors. The paper’s purpose involves responding to the video by comparing it to evidence-based points from the textbook, determining questions that it provokes, and incorporating a Christian perspective on mental illness.
New Information from the Video
The presentation by Cecilia McGough conveys a series of points that supplement my background knowledge regarding SSDs. To start with, the presenter reviews the status of schizophrenia as an umbrella term and explains that SSDs are associated with communication impairment and disorganized speech instead of being limited to hallucinations (TEDxTalks, 2017). Another new piece of information is the existence of residual schizophrenia in which prominent hallucinations and delusions are not manifested (TEDxTalks, 2017). Based on her own case, the presenter demonstrates that visual hallucinations in schizophrenia are unique to the person and can be inspired by mass media images and personal fears (TEDxTalks, 2017). One interesting detail about hallucinations is that auditory and visual ones can occur simultaneously, allowing illusory images to “speak” to hallucinating individuals and even give instructions (TEDxTalks, 2017). The speaker also cites schizophrenia prevalence statistics (about 1% of the entire population) and explains how stigmatization promotes discouragement from treatment to avoid this diagnosis on the medical record (TEDxTalks, 2017). Therefore, for an individual with no personal experience with SSDs, the video can become a learning opportunity.
Information in the Video and the Textbook
Despite citing first-hand experiences, the presenter delivers information that finds solid support in the textbook. In chapter fourteen, Comer and Comer (2017) continue the speaker’s discussion of speech impairments by conceptualizing them as a positive symptom that might find reflection in peculiar neologisms and clang associations. The presenter’s experiences with diverse hallucination types make her represent the average pattern for schizophrenia patients that Comer and Comer (2017) explain. According to the textbook, auditory and visual hallucinations affect 75% and 48% of schizophrenia patients, respectively, whereas somatic, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory hallucinations are typical for less than one-third of cases (Comer & Comer, 2017). The speaker mentions schizophrenia without acute symptoms or residual schizophrenia, and the textbook provides the context for this term by explaining the three-phase schizophrenia course (Comer & Comer, 2017; TEDxTalks, 2017). Specifically, it is typical for schizophrenic individuals to go through the prodromal, active, and residual disease stages, with the second phase as the peak of negative and positive symptoms’ intensity (Comer & Comer, 2017). Based on this, many points from the source align with findings from research that the textbook cites.
Questions after Watching the Video
There are two essential practice-oriented questions that can further promote society’s acceptance of individuals with SSDs. Firstly, the speaker mentions negative comments from schizophrenic individuals’ immediate circle or families that affect the decision to seek antipsychotic treatment (TEDxTalks, 2017). With that in mind, effective strategies for stigma destruction and the prevention of associations between SSDs and inevitable, uncontrollable violence remain an open question. Secondly, the speaker argues for the presence of double stigma, which involves certain discrimination against schizophrenia patients even in the mental health community and might stem from the fear of hallucinating individuals (TEDxTalks, 2017). One of my acquaintances with this diagnosis once reported prejudice at the group therapy session for schizophrenia patients, even against those with adequately controlled hallucinations. Because of the increased prevalence of SSDs in racial minority populations, the mental health stigma can be combined with other kinds of prejudice (Comer & Comer, 2017). Thus, another critical question refers to designing an effective plan to decrease this intra-community stigmatization, including educational and resource allocation initiatives to make SSD patients more visible.
A Christian Perspective and Contradictory Information
I do not find any fact from the video to contradict a Christian perspective on schizophrenia. Despite being a devoted Christian, I regard SSDs solely as the representation of brain malfunctioning that has nothing in common with beliefs in demons. Cecilia McGough recalls hallucinating demon-like creatures voicing her key insecurities, but she is explicit about viewing all of this as a consequence of a chemical imbalance in the brain (TEDxTalks, 2017). I am convinced that interpreting these hallucinations as the devil’s manifestations would exacerbate any patient’s coping success by maximizing irrational fear. As per Timothy 1:7, God “has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 1996/2015). The only contradictory thing is that the anti-religious community can compare schizophrenia patients’ hallucinations to believers’ communication with God for the defamation of Christianity. However, empirical research does not even support the hypothesis of schizophrenia patients’ hyper-religiosity (Kéri & Kelemen, 2020). With that in mind, there are no critical inconsistencies between Christian and scientific perspectives on SSD.
Conclusion
In summary, the implications of the analysis include the unmet need for schizophrenia stigma reduction strategies for both general audiences and mental health communities. The video illustrates ongoing misinterpretations of schizophrenia patients’ experiences and the effort they invest in acting normally. From a Christian perspective, regardless of whether hallucinations have any supernatural influences, remaining fearless and firm in one’s belief in God can be a viable strategy to supplement other interventions to reduce stimuli perception abnormalities.
References
Comer, R. J., & Comer, J. S. (2017). Abnormal psychology (10th ed.). Worth Publishers.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation. (2015). Tyndale House Publishers. (Original work published 1996).
Kéri, S., & Kelemen, O. (2020). Christianity and schizophrenia redux: An empirical study. Journal of Religion and Health, 59(1), 452-469. Web.
TEDxTalks. (2017). I am not a monster: Schizophrenia. Cecilia McGough. TEDxPSU. YouTube. Web.