ProjectCARE: Beyond Schizophrenia

Hello! We are Joycelyn and Lois from Temasek Polytechnic. We are currently taking Guided Learning as a module this semester. This blog is a part of our project, where we would be providing insights about Schizophrenia. 

If you are interested in finding more information about Schizophrenia, here is also another useful YouTube channel you can go to! 

This is extracted from her “About” page:

We hope that this blog has been useful in increasing your awareness on Schizophrenia. In our survey, when asked about their confidence level in helping people with Schizophrenia, most of our respondents have rated below 7 with 0 being the least confident. Through this blog, we hope that you are more confident and motivated to help people with Schizophrenia. 

In addition to writing this blog, we have also created a campaign on giving.sg to provide a platform for you to contribute in helping those with Schizophrenia that are under the care of Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH). You can donate by clicking the “Donate” tab. The money collected from the donations will go directly to SAMH and we hope that the money will help to encourage the caregivers and those with Schizophrenia, that they are not alone in this journey. We appreciate any amount donated by you! 

Moving on, as part of the society, here are some tips on what to do and what not to do when in contact with someone who has Schizophrenia. 

What to do:

Lend them a listening ear and encourage them 

Provide them with as much support as possible - to let them know that they are not alone

Listen to them actively and approach them as you would approach any other person

What not to do:

Being too pushy and going overboard to extent your help - they still need some space 

Pry into the details of their illness, diagnosis and health situation

Joke about their illness or take it as a trivial matter - it is a reality to them

As mentioned in the previous post, family members and caregivers can look out for support groups for both you and your loved one.

The Singapore Schizophrenia Network (SSN) brings agencies together to provide better treatment, care and support for persons with Schizophrenia and their families.

The members of the SSN are:

Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)

Caregivers Alliance Limited

Caregivers Association of the Mentally Ill (CAMI)

Institute of Mental Health (IMH)

MINDSET

Silver Ribbon Singapore

Singapore Anglican Community Services

Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH)

Sunlove Home

Tai Pei Social Service

Next, if you are a family member or a caregiver of someone with Schizophrenia, here are some tips for you! 

What to do: 

Educate yourself about what Schizophrenia is really about - try to remove all misconceptions and learn to recognize the early warning signs of a psychotic episode

Create a conducive environment to reduce stress on him/her

Encourage him/her to be independent - set up a schedule or give him/her tasks to do and allow self-help. This allows him/her to build up his/her self-worth again.

Gently encourage them to stay in treatment and continue taking medications if they are already doing so

Speak slowly and clearly

Join them in their feelings rather than focusing on the fact that what they are experiencing is not a reality - give them a chance to be heard. This brings comfort to them and lets them know that they are not alone in what they are facing.

Look out for support groups for both yourself and your loved one - these groups need not provide medical treatment. It can just be somewhere to unwind and let out your feelings.

What not to do and things that are not helpful to your loved one:

Keep emphasizing that what they are experiencing is not true/real

Criticize them and look down on them

Now that you know more about the symptoms and causes, you might be wondering how you can help people with Schizophrenia. 

Firstly, as many of you have responded in our survey (about 60% of respondents), if you see someone exhibiting some of the “warning signs” as stated previously, you should bring him to see a psychiatrist or a counsellor, talk to him/her to identify the problem, or talk to his/her family members, instead of ignoring him/her and taking the “warning signs” lightly.

Then, how should we react when we see someone experiencing an episode? Here are some ways to avoid triggering the person even more:

Do not get angry or irritated with the person

Do not shout or threaten - your tone can be negatively misinterpreted by him/her

Follow the sitting/standing position of the person - standing when he/she is sitting can appear threatening

Minimize audio and visual distractions

Avoid having too many people present

Biological causes are mainly related to disruptions of the brain and can be genetic. A child can have an increased risk of developing Schizophrenia when:

A close family member has psychotic illness

His/her mother had her first child when she was a teenager or at a later stage of life

There are complications occurring before or during birth (e.g. premature labour, low birth weight and lack of oxygen during birth) - may affect the brain development of the child, such as abnormalities in the brain tissues

Therefore, it is very crucial to maintain not only the physical aspect of health but also the mental aspect. The care and concern that each individual gets from others around him/her is very important in contributing to his/her mental health. Every concern counts! 

Although the exact causes of Schizophrenia are not known yet, there are various factors that may cause one to be at a higher risk of developing Schizophrenia. These factors can be categorized into different types. However, we will mainly talk about three types which are psychological, social and biological.

Psychological causes are mainly related to the mind and how it is affected. Someone with a history of irregular and brief symptoms of Schizophrenia will be more susceptible to developing Schizophrenia. Also, experiences of traumatic events can trigger Schizophrenia. 

Social causes are mainly due to the environment that the person is exposed to:

Nutritional deficiencies during childhood 

Emotional distress due to not having their social needs (care and concern) met 

Losing someone close to them

Loneliness or isolation

Changes in mood, thinking or behaviour are “warning signs” before the actual start of a person’s Schizophrenia. The person may also start to have a deterioration in their normal functioning. This is when people around them (friends and family) need to give them extra care and attention!

Myth: People with Schizophrenia all have the same symptoms.

Fact: Not all people with Schizophrenia experience the same symptoms. As you would have read from the other posts earlier and may have guessed, there are a wide range of symptoms, which makes it not possible for every individual with Schizophrenia to experience all the same symptoms. Symptoms thus vary from individual to individual.

Myth: The only symptoms of Schizophrenia are hallucinations (e.g. hearing voices that do not exist) and delusions (e.g. having strong false beliefs).

Fact: Hallucinations and delusions are not the only symptoms. They are only the more well known symptoms of Schizophrenia and the ones that are the most noticeable by others!

There are 2 main categories, positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are hallucinations and delusions. On the other hand, negative symptoms can be:

Having an emotional withdrawal

Having a difficulty showing their emotions (may show no facial expressions as well)

A lack of motivation

Social withdrawal

Having difficulty functioning normally (may not be able to give a quick response in conversations, they may also have difficulty concentrating)

Firstly, we will be sharing about the symptoms of Schizophrenia!

In the survey that we conducted, 63.5% of our respondents correctly identified the mental illness as Schizophrenia based on the scenario given, while 25.7% of our respondents chose Anxiety Disorder instead. 

However, it is not Anxiety Disorder as people with Anxiety Disorder do not experience hallucinations and delusions as stated in the scenario.