Living With The Enigma

Called Schizophrenia

by Tom Shepherd

gifted schizophrenic

. . . a condition in which one’s ability to rapidly and accurately process information is at times impaired, perhaps due to insufficient blood supply to the prefrontal cortex of the brain . . .

By Tom ‘Miguel’ Shepherd

a/k/a Tommy Separdi

artist-intellectual-social critic

a/k/a Tom Widmark

For the schizophrenic, schizophrenia is not perceived as a disease. Schizophrenia is perceived as a place, dominated by unscrupulous individuals whose intention is to ruthlessly exploit and verbally demean the schizophrenic.

Anonymous Schizophrenic

If a dreamer acted and thought in his waking life as he does in his dreams he would be a schizophrenic . . .

Swiss Psychoanalyst Carl Jung

Dr. Abraham Hoffer, M. D., recognized as a leading authority in the fields of psychiatry and orthomolecular medicine and the author of several publications, states on page 38 of his book Healing Schizophrenia (2004):

“Schizophrenic men may occasionally become confused in their sexual identity . . . Schizophrenics may also have desirable physical attributes that non-schizophrenics may envy. Schizophrenics are frequently very attractive physically. They tend to age and lose their hair color more slowly, and generally appear more youthful than their chronological age . . . they seem to be able to survive misfortunes that would kill other people.”

Dr. Hoffer further states, ”There is some advantage in carrying the [schizophrenic] genes: having enough of them without becoming sick. First-order relatives are a case in point: in the Darwinian sense of being biologically superior, they are reproductively successful. . . Schizophrenics themselves tend to be physically superior to non-schizophrenics . . . They do not have as high an incidence of arthritis or cancer; and they are more resistant to bacterial infections. They also seem to be more creative, a psychological trait due perhaps to their inner experiences with perceptual changes.”

*Orthomolecular Treatment for Schizophrenia by A. Hoffer, M.D., Ph. D., pp 18-19.

It is an ironic yet horrific fact that psychiatrists, as well as numerous other members of mainstream society, considered to be intelligent human beings, still think that for an individual to be attracted to other individuals of the same gender is an abnormal condition – a confusion in one’s sexual identity. There is not a man alive, I dare say, that does not find himself attracted to other men – both romantically and erotically. Contact sports – namely collegiate wrestling – is perhaps the only socially acceptable method for two so-called normal dudes to grapple with each other.

Mainstream society is sick, but mainstream psychiatrists and licensed clinical psychiatrists are perhaps even sicker – so it seems – as it were. Ironically, it is the dudes that are non-participants in contact sports programs that most frequently get saddled with homophobic labels, perhaps because they are presumed to be not as skillful as other males in the martial arts.

Shrinks and their bedfellows, the clinical psychologists and psychiatric social workers, are perhaps the most homophobic of all – or at least many of them appear to me to be so – to an alarmingly psychotic degree. Even shrinks commonly confuse male effeminacy and male homoeroticism as being one in the same affliction, thus encouraging phony super-rigid, super-macho (and even violent) behavior amongst mainstream males – as a disclaimer of sorts – as a method of attempting to avoid mentally disturbing verbal humiliation or mockery by other males and females. A good rule of thumb: think twice before you speak. Keep in mind that there is a homoerotic dimension to every dude, albeit a well-guarded dimension. The classic retort – it takes one to know one – carries a universal ring of truth.

read The Myths and Realities of Mental Illness read

Tom Blaise Shepherd The Good Earth News, 1997

The schizophrenic individual is not likely to be aware of his or her alleged misperceptions of reality – nor is the casual observer. In fact, the schizophrenic individual – the individual diagnosed as schizophrenic – may not have any misperceptions of reality. Ironically, the schizophrenic individual may score in the superior range of intellectual ability on an IQ test, depending on his ability to process information at the time he is taking the test.

In any event, most schizophrenics function very normally most of the time. Psychotic episodes, as they are termed, generally only occur on occasion and an individual experiencing a schizophrenic episode is not likely to view his perceptions as inaccurate while experiencing the ‘episode.’ However, once an episode has transpired, as it were, and the schizophrenic removes himself from the environmental situation that provoked the episode, his (or her) mental state returns to what we call normal, or near normal, at which time, in hindsight, he may realize that he perhaps did misperceive or misinterpret a situation – or at least overreact to the inappropriate or insensitive behavior of another individual.

The so-called schizophrenic is most likely an individual that has been repeatedly discredited – by parents, by surrogate parents, by employers, by teachers, by military commanders and by peers merely for having very accurately perceived reality and for having reacted very appropriately to the sociopathic behavior of parents – or surrogate parents – or employers – or teachers – or military commanders – or peers, to include spouses.

The schizophrenic is an individual that has been conditioned early on in life to be the family’s and the community’s scapegoat. His self-confidence has been squashed by hostile and neglectful parents, surrogate parents and peers that have conditioned him to not trust his own intuition. He is thus taught to believe that his own judgment is faulty – that he misperceives reality. Thus, he does not trust others, nor does he always trust his own judgment, as he has been conditioned to accept himself as ‘crazy.’

The world, indeed, is a hostile place and the schizophrenic generally vacillates between withdrawing totally and reacting with anger and rage towards those whom he does periodically come into contact with – often a boss or co-employee or a mere clerk in a store whom he perceives has demeaned him – and quite possibly has intentionally demeaned him. Because he – the schizophrenic – was never schooled by his own parents in the arts of self-defense – in the necessary survival social skills -- to include verbal repartee – his normaaally complaisant, non-combative nature becomes increasingly apparent to co-workers and others in the community with whom he has periodic contact. If they are mean-spirited they will no doubt achieve some sort of inner satisfaction in pushing his buttons, as it were, in order to bring on an episode.

The schizophrenic thus has been placed in a checkmate situation by virtue of his (or her) basic integrity and in view of his (or her) fluctuating mental states – at times he (or she) is perhaps relatively lucid – at other times he is unsure of himself and unsure of the intentions of others – highly paranoiac in his perceptions of himself and of the intentions of others.

Our society highly values – and rewards – ruthless competition and violence – both competition and physical violence are taught in our schools – in the classroom – in the gym and in the ROTC programs – how to package a product in order to deceive a consumer, how to verbally demean another individual, how to physically overpower another individual, and how to kill or maim another individual. The individual that has been socialized – in the home and in church – to view competition and mental and/or physical combat as unhealthy thus cannot reconcile the dichotomy that exists.

It is OK for a ‘higher up’ to abuse a ‘subordinate.’ However, it is not OK for a subordinate to retaliate (in kind) or to complain – such is the military rule of conduct and code of justice. Those that complain are discredited as being ‘out of contact with reality’ and are, after being shipped off to the jail cell or the psych ward (which is a jail cell), then disenfranchised as either a ‘sociopathic criminal’ or as ‘mentally ill’ – as schizophrenic – most commonly, as paranoid schizophrenic.

Most of the victims of racist, sexist and ethnic slurs in America during the past 50 years have not been minorities, nor have they been women – they have been compliant, soft-spoken, intelligent, non-violent ‘white’ men – men that are exploited by industry and by their spouses for the very fact that they are compliant, honest, soft-spoken and non-violent. It is OK in America to discriminate against a ‘white non-Hispanic male’ – especially against a white Celtic or Anglo-Saxon male. That is not a paranoid observation – it is a very astute and accurate observation.

Let’s define neurotic and psychotic, two terms commonly misunderstood by lay people. Neurotic means that an individual is mildly disturbed – upset, usually to the point of avoiding situations that might provoke a more severe disturbance. Psychotic means that an individual is severely upset – so out of contact with reality that he (or she) is incapable of exercising sound judgment in his (or her) actions. Virtually all human beings experience varying degrees of neurotic or psychotic behavior at various periods of time.

Schizophrenia is a catch-all term used by psychiatric technicians for describing a variety of seemingly inappropriate behavioral responses, especially when an individual is unable to sustain close interpersonal relationships and ongoing gainful employment as a result of his or her responses. Although a typical schizophrenic individual may hold dozens upon dozens of jobs in a lifetime, such an individual is invariably terminated from employment soon after being hired. Rarely is a schizophrenic individual able to hold a job – of any kind – for more than one year – at the most, even though he (or she) may indeed be a very conscientious individual – a hard worker.

The ‘medical model’ typically views schizophrenia as an inherited ‘vulnerability’ or ‘weakness’ or as a ‘disease’ – the result of a viral infection contracted via the mother during pregnancy or by a viral infection contracted by the infant, making such an individual less able to adapt or adjust to social/environmental stress during childhood, adolescence or adulthood than others. The ‘medical model’ also views schizophrenics have having smaller brains, as well as a lack of sufficient blood supply to the prefrontal cortex of the brain, thus handicapping such an individual in rapidly and accurately processing information.

The sociological or psychological model views schizophrenia as a developmental disorder– the result of being exposed to a variety of forms of cruel disparagement by ‘significant others,’ beginning in early childhood and continuing through adolescence. Early childhood psychological and physical trauma can perhaps set the stage for adolescent and adult schizophrenic reactions to life situations. Such conditioning hinders the individual in his (or her) ability to relate well to others during his (or her) adult life. Such an individual thus develops what is called a ‘schizophrenic reaction’ to life situations – a reluctance to trust others and an inability to cope with difficult adult relationships – withdrawal from relationships and overreacting to perceived threats, whether real or imagined. Stress itself can, according to scientists, presumably rewire brain anatomy and chemistry.

The schizophrenic’s perceptions tend to become clouded or distorted, making it virtually impossible to sustain healthy interpersonal relationships, even though on the surface such an individual may appear – to a stranger or casual observer – to be perfectly normal.

Silvano Arieti, M. D., author of Understanding and Helping the Schizophrenic (1979) and Interpretation of Schizophrenia and winner of the National Book Award for Science, stresses the great importance the nuclear family plays, to include an unhappy marriage of the parents, in the development of childhood, adolescent and adult schizophrenic reactions to life. Arieti’s ideas are still held up by leading neuro-biologists, as well as by leading psychologists. See Amazon.com/books

The diathesis-stress model theorizes a combination of biological and psychological causes. A diagram of the model is provided in the publication Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Causes and Treatments (page 97) by Kayla F. Bernheim & Richard R. J. Lewine. See Amazon.com to purchase a new or used copy.

Chronic schizophrenic thought or simple schizophrenia (sometimes known as Type II schizophrenia) is typically so well camouflaged on the surface (by patients) that even experienced psychiatrists and clinical psychologists may fail to appropriately diagnose the condition.

In some instances, diagnosticians distort patient symptoms on paper– perhaps suggesting that the patient poses a danger to others, when in fact the individual does not pose any significant threat or danger to others. The fact is that others, including psychiatric technicians, often pose a significant threat or danger to the patient.

Chronic schizophrenic females and males, although rarely dangerous to others, as a result of their inability to sustain employment and ongoing relationships usually wind up as vagrants of sorts and are preyed on by more functional members of society – often for purposes of de facto prostitution.

There is some ongoing dispute over what is the basic pathology in schizophrenia—the main disturbance from which other symptoms arise—but a number of experts believe that the answer has to do with attention – the ability to concentrate.

So-called normal people, without thinking about it, exercise selective attention. That is, they decide what they want to focus on in the environment and then concentrate on that, with the result that sensory data from the thing they are interested in registers forcibly in the mind while extraneous data (the sound of the air conditioner in the classroom, the earrings on the student in the front row, casual conversations between strangers) are confined to the edge of the consciousness. A schizophrenic’s concentration is typically interrupted with flashbacks – memories of previous traumatic experiences, during which moments the schizophrenic’s mind wanders away – it is as if he (or she) is in a trance. In other instances, the schizophrenic’s speech wanders away – digresses – from the topic at hand.

The fact that schizophrenics have difficulty in concentrating was remarked upon by pioneer European psychiatrists Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) and Eugen Bleuler (1911-1950). Today, almost a century later, many researchers feel that this particular deficit may underlie most of the remainder of schizophrenic symptomatology.

The chronic schizophrenic has extreme difficulty in setting realistic goals and in reaching those goals as a result of being continuously distracted or preoccupied by extraneous thoughts and as a result of finding himself (or herself) in a perpetual checkmate situation, often beset by contradictory thoughts as to what is the best course of action. This probably is a result of having been reared in an environment in which an extremely domineering, yet rejecting parent, has prevented his (or her) child from ever exercising his (or her) own will. The parent or parents’ wishes invariably take precedence over the child’s.

As adults, schizophrenics thus typically have great difficulty modulating their responses to REAL environmental visual and auditory stimuli.

The schizophrenic does not get along well in a group, as the schizophrenic has extreme difficulty siphoning out extraneous thoughts, sounds and sights. Thus, in time the schizophrenic tends to avoid crowds and to withdraw into a safe place, where he (or she) can create. Schizophrenics typically have superior minds and remarkable creative ability if allowed the freedom to exercise their minds in a creative manner.

Typically, the schizophrenic has been terminated from many, many jobs simply for either under-reacting due to mental confusion or over-reacting in response to the disturbing actions or verbalizations (often vulgar) of other workers.

The best HELP for a schizophrenic is to enable him (or her) to file appropriate documents for Supplemental Security Income, while encouraging the schizophrenic to develop his (or her) talents and perhaps eventually become financially independent.

Once again, schizophrenics typically are more sensitive and more easily distracted than others. They usually work best in a situation where they create and implement their ideas without being under the thumb of a domineering supervisor.

Humanists tend to believe that people diagnosed with schizophrenia are merely people who are unable or unwilling to conform to barbaric ways of thinking and behaving – ways that are reinforced through the ancient, superstitious, barbaric religious teachings of Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, all of which tend to reinforce a caste or class system and social and economic inequality.

Subtypes of schizophrenia include:

Catatonic schizophrenia. Characterized by a tendency to remain in a stupor or trance, remaining in the same position for an extended period of time, alternated by brief periods of frenetic activity.

Disorganized schizophrenia. Characterized by erratic speech, non-conformity, peculiar mannerisms and ideas of persecution.

Paranoid schizophrenia. Characterized by ideas of persecution and/or grandiosity, unfocused anxiety, anger, argumentativeness, doubts about one’s gender identity as a result of failure to appropriately imitate and internalize societal standards of appropriate male or female behavior. Such an individual may be preoccupied with homo-romantic or homoerotic thoughts or feelings and feel persecuted by others for holding such thoughts. As a result of barbaric religious teachings, the majority of people, out of fear of persecution, tend to deny their own romantic-erotic feelings for others of the same sex, even though all human beings have a natural capacity for experiencing such thoughts or feelings.

The bottom line: all people presumably have a capacity for experiencing homoerotic feelings, although society typically mandates that individuals repress or suppress such feelings and that they deny they have ever experienced such feelings. Such attitudes are reinforced through ancient, barbaric religious teachings throughout the Old Testament or The Torah [Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with another man as he would with a woman, the two of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.] However, a mature and knowledgeable individual exercises restraint (preferably celibacy) in view of his (or her) awareness of the likelihood of contracting a debilitating and incurable virus as a result of reckless promiscuity (unprotected sex).

Celibacy is a healthy choice, given the high risk of contracting an incurable virus – to include herpes, new strains of gonorrhea and AIDS. Even casual oral sex can transmit any of the above viruses. Don’t let anyone lead you astray.

Words such as straight and gay, as commonly used to define an individual’s sexuality, should be dropped from usage and professionals, to include teachers, psychologists and physicians, should take the lead in pointing out that all people presumably have a natural capacity for experiencing romantic, passionate and erotic feelings for others of the same gender.

Undifferentiated schizophrenia. Characterized by multiple symptoms to the extent that one does not fit clearly into one of the other subtypes.

Schizoaffective schizophrenia. Characterized by withdrawal, yet with more noticeable mood changes or excitability than the other forms of schizophrenia.

Residual schizophrenia. Characterized by having had at least one schizophrenic episode resulting in incarceration in a psychiatric facility, yet currently displays no prominent psychotic symptoms. Such an individual tends to be unable to sustain a close relationship with anyone.

Simple schizophrenia. Individuals diagnosed with simple schizophrenia tend to have difficulty setting a goal and following through with plans as a result of their inability to rapidly and accurately process information. They also tend to withdraw from social interaction as a result of repeated failures in their relationships. However, they do not present any significant evidence of delusions or hallucinations, although a thought disorder may exist – a preoccupation over perceived slights by others or extreme feelings of inadequacy as a result of an inability to measure up to what society considers to be appropriate gender role modeling.

The condition is generally worsened by the use of caffeine products, alcoholic beverages, neuroleptic drugs, antidepressants or mood stabilizers. Although neuroleptics may somewhat reduce social anxiety, the side effects – that ironically include increased restlessness and a reduction in the ability to respond to emergency situations, as when driving a motor vehicle or operating machinery – may outweigh the benefits. Artists have reported a decreased ability in executing psychomotor skills, to include the ability to draw a straight line. Eyesight may also be affected.

Of course, employing regular habits of sound nutrition: consuming amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, non-fat milk, soy products, fin fish and poultry breast meat, reducing calorie intake, and avoiding caffeine, alcoholic beverages, sodas, candy, pastries, fried foods altogether; and getting regular outdoor exercise, are instrumental in keeping the brain functioning at optimum efficiency. Sound nutrition and regular outdoor exercise are instrumental in enabling anyone to get a good night’s sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for further stabilizing the brain.

NOTE: If you need a stabilizer to reduce anxiety and get a good night’s sleep, then consider over-the-counter, FDA approved diphenhydramine hydrochloride (an anti-histamine with tranquilizing properties) which is marketed as Benadryl or as a sleep aid under a variety of brand names. Maximum recommended dosage is 25 to 50 mgs. three or four times a day (in times of extreme stress). Otherwise, suggested as an occasional sleep aid. Monitor yourself.

Diphenhydramine is far safer than the commonly prescribed psychiatric prescription anti-depressants and neuroleptics (Thorazine, Dyprexa, etc.), as diphenhydramine does not produce the neurologically damaging side effects and weight gain that neuroleptics produce. Plus, you can monitor yourself – your moods – and thus be your own physician! Get yourself a battery-operated blood-pressure monitor. If you follow the above-recommended living habits, your blood pressure will more than likely stabilize to a healthy range. Plus, your cholesterol levels will also stabilize to a healthy level. You will experience dry mouth. Thus, drink lots of water in order to stabilize your water balance.

One final suggestion: be very selective about your TV viewing habits. Television violence, to include news reporting of violence, can produce high levels of anxiety and bring on psychotic episodes – in those diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, personality disorders and PTSD. Schizophrenics tend to have difficulty in separating fiction from fact. They tend to read personal messages into objective media broadcasting or into extraneous conversations of total strangers. Avoid crowds – learn to enjoy being alone – read, write, , meditate, relax, listen to soft instrumental music or no music.

Sources of information:

Abnormal Psychology: Current Perspectives (6^th Edition) by Bootrzin, Acocella and Alloy.

Biology & Schizophrenia: Examining the Evidence (2007 Revision) by Thomas Blaise Shepherd

Casebook in Abnormal Psychology (2^nd Edition) by John Vitkus

Harper-Collins Outline of Abnormal Psychology by Costello and Costello.

Murder and Madness by Donald T. Lunde

Myths and Realities of Mental Illness Tom Blaise Shepherd, The Good Earth News, spring 1997

Penguin Dictionary of Psychology (3^rd Edition)

Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments by Kayla F. Bernheim & Richard R. J. Lewine