On Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia and psychosis in general is misunderstood.  I don’t personally have schizophrenia, but have had the privilege to live beside different people over the span of many years.  Losing touch with reality isn't as unusual as people would like to believe and, in the brain’s natural state, psychosis isn't the unpredictable and out-of-control disorder that destroys so many lives.  Some of the most severe differences in functioning among people can be explained by prolonged negative experiences during childhood when the brain is developing, which only serve to adversely affect the social functioning necessary to overcome the dysfunction.  While every psychiatrist begins his practice understanding the correlation between nature and nurture, health workers fail to acknowledge the major social causes for behavior while focusing on the biology of a disorder.    

Unfortunately a combination of factors in a person’s life can better explain (in my opinion) differences in severity among illnesses with the same label including Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and so many others. 

I wonder, in its natural biological state, if schizophrenia would be so feared and detrimental.  Most importantly, would schizophrenia exist in the world as we see it today? 

-Nichole Bergstrand