Internal Experience Of Having Schizophrenia

It is difficult for someone who is not diagnosed with schizophrenia to understand the internal experience of this illness. Even when you describe the experience to another, that level of understanding only reaches a certain extent but a full understanding is not to be expected. When a person is diagnosed with schizophrenia, it affects their manner of thinking and overall perception.

To gain a deeper understanding into that internal experience, it is best to look into them individually. It will also enable you to better understand the manifestations for each symptom. 

Experiencing Delusions

A person suffering from delusions as a symptom of schizophrenia becomes obsessed with an idea and experience absolute certainly as to the truth behind that idea. Although a person has logical ability to reason, the premise of their conviction can be incorrect. 

When a delusional idea occupies one's brain, it has tremendous power to last in there. In fact, the patient will even begin to consider their delusions as something that is real. Treating delusions is tricky since the person affected by it must learn to identify first that these thoughts are delusion. This is only possible with what expert psychologists call as meta-awareness of the symptoms that exist above the level of awareness wherein the symptom itself is located.

Experiencing Hallucinations 

When a person suffers from delusional thoughts, you can almost always expect hallucinations to go with it. This is characterized by hearing “voices” that the patient think is real, but is actually coming from inside their head instead of an external source. 

However, there are other forms of hallucinations that a patient might manifest aside from auditory hallucinations as described above. One example is visual hallucination wherein a person sees objects or visual perceptions that are “weird” and out of the ordinary. 

Experiencing Disorganized Behavior or Speech 

This is another vital symptom experienced by people with schizophrenia. The problem with disorganize behavior or speech is that the tools that enable them to function properly are malfunctioning, which makes it difficult to correct them. A common example of schizophrenics suffering from disorganized speech is when they are aware of certain thoughts although these are not communicated as intended. 

In terms of disorganized behavior, an individual will manifest gestures or body postures that they are unaware of. These behaviors can range from simple to dramatic to downright bizarre. 

Experiencing Negative Symptoms

Negative symptoms in schizophrenia is referred to as those that are abnormal as a result of the acquisition of this mental disorder. These types of symptoms are the ones that typically result to depression if not addressed properly. When a person develops negative symptoms of schizophrenia, they will lose motivation or lack energy needed to realize certain activities. 

Dealing with Real Emotions 

One of the biggest challenges when dealing with schizophrenia is the need to cope with the emotions that go with this experience. It is therefore important for others to respect and treat people with schizophrenia fairly given the depth of their pain. After all, they are dealing with real feelings and emotions here. 

Since schizophrenia is considered as a progressive mental illness, it is important to provide social and emotional support to cope with the internal experience of this disease. 
