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SCHIZOPHRENIA
Have you ever....
Gone for 24 houres without sleep? 48 hours? Longer? How did you feel after being awake this long? How did you look?
Dozed off for a second, awakened with a start, and didn't kow where you were? How did you feel? What would it be like to
feel that way for a week, several weeks?
Lost your sunglasses or car keys and no matter what you did, you couldn't find them? How did it make you feel? Did you feel
like screaming?
Been driving down the road when suddenly your directions got mixed up? North or South reversed or confused? How did you
feel?
Had a funny little tune going through your mind for a couple of hours or a whole day, and no matter what you did it still
bothered you? How would you feel if that same tune went through your mind for three days, a week, a month?
Now put three or more of these things together. Say you hadn't slept for three days, you heard the same music going on and
on in your head, and you couldn't find your car keys. How would you feel? How would you look? What would you do? How
would you communicate with others? How would others behave toward you?
DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS
Imagine that...
Nothing seems enjoyable or fun anymore. Even your favorites, spending time with friends, listening to music, or going to
the theatre, no longer give you any satisfaction or pleasure. What would it be like to be unable to enjoy yourself?
You suddenly find it difficult or impossible to remember anything you read. You read a page in a book, but when you set the
book down, you can't remember what you read. How would you deal with your work or your studies?
You can't remember anything your boss or teacher says in class. You sit through class or a meeting really trying to pay attention,
but when it is over you can't remember what was discussed. How would you feel about going to class or work every day? How
would you explain your difficulties to your boss, teachers and parents?
You live in a black and white and gray world, because all the color had faded away. Someone "pulls the plug" on
the energy in your body, and all but 20% of your energy drains out. You feel full of hot, dry sand, too tired to start even
the simplest task. How easy would it be to do your normal activities?
Simple things you used to do automatically, like deciding what to wear or which radio station to listen to, take enormous
effort. Even after deciding, you aren't sure you made the right decision. How would this complicate your daily routine?
What if you had to handle major decisions like where to go to college or big changes like moving to another state?
You wake up every morning for weeks and can't think of one good reason to get up. You wish you had died in your sleep, and
think the world would be better off without you. How much hope would you have for your future?
Put three or more of these situations together. This is the world that a person with depressive illness lives in. It is
bleak and lifeless, without color or humor.
UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE WHO HAVE MENTAL ILLNESS:
This may make it easier for you to understand how a person who is mentally ill might feel. They may feel this way all the
time. Can you understand why they do no look reall attractive sometimes? Why they may not comb their hair or change their
clothes? Can you understand how they must feel?
THE IMPORTANCE OF TREATMENT
I have added this page simply because both Jim and I suffer from depression. He was diagnosed with depression in 1991, and
I have just been diagnosed. Matter of fact, it has been recommended that I been reevaluated to see if maybe not I am Bi-Polar
(new fancy term for Manic Depressive). So both of us understand what it is like to have to live with depression and we understand
what a battle it can be. We also understand that being diagnosed with depression can also make you even more depressed,
because of the stigma associated with people with a mental disorder (esp us older folk who recall the 70's). More will be
added to this page as more information is available to us.
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