Featured Image Credit: Scissus Animus/YouTube
Topics: Health, Mental Health
Anish Vij
Warning: Article below contains references to schizophrenia and self-harm
A schizophrenia simulation video has revealed what life might be like for those who suffer from the condition.
The disorder is a serious mental illness that can affect how a person thinks, feels and behaves.
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People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality, which can be distressing for them and for their family and friends, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Symptoms can include hallucinations, delusions, thought disorder and movement disorder.
You can watch an impression of what it's like to live with schizophrenia below:
The simulation video allows people without the diagnosis to experience symptoms of the mental health condition, with many describing it as 'terrifying' and one woman with the condition speaking out on whether it is truly accurate or not.
According to Rethink Mental Illness, schizophrenia affects around 1 in every 100 people.
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It categorises schizophrenia as: "A mental illness which affects the way you think."
The site explains that with schizophrenia comes both 'positive' and 'negative' symptoms, which doesn't mean good or bad.
'Positive' symptoms include the experience of certain things that are an 'addition' to one's reality, which can involve seeing or hearing things that other people cannot.
'Negative' symptoms revolve more around the loss of ability to do something, such as losing motivation, socially withdrawing and losing your normal thoughts and feelings.
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In video simulations, people have attempted to recreate these exact conditions that an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia may face.
The POV simulation begins with a man walking up to a supermarket.
Other voices can be heard saying "this is pointless", "even that kid knows you're stupid" and "don't go in there" as the man enters the shop.
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Upon entering, more voices say "don't go in there", "nobody cares about you" and "the wine bottles are listening to you".
A mix of insults, paranoia, intrusive thoughts and startling commands from an array of different voices follow as the simulation proceeds.
The video continues with the man leaving the supermarket as the voices speed up in unison telling him to take his own life, "run" and "die".
Upon getting home, a voice can be heard saying "you think you're safe but you're not" while other voices laugh and sing "you're not alone" and "you can't hide".
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The simulation, which has over 989,000 views, is clearly distressing for viewers and many have commented on the accuracy of the video.
While some found the simulation 'realistic', a woman with diagnosed schizoaffective disorder explained in a separate YouTube video exactly which parts of the video were accurate.
Lauren noted that the man's own internal dialogue, namely shouting 'look out' when a child ran past, was 'kinda accurate'.
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She noted that 'it does feel like you're over-sensitive to a lot of stimuli' so if an 'unexpected' stimulus runs by, it can be a 'little jarring'.
Then, speaking about the several different voices, Lauren revealed she only hears 'one voice' typically which she has identified and named as 'Jennifer'.
"When I'm experiencing intense psychosis, this is kinda of what the dialogue is like," she explained.
"It's kind of harsh and not very nice to say and giving you command hallucinations [...] so that's kind of accurate as well."
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Lauren also added that it was 'a little accurate' when the hallucinations begin interacting with real people in the simulation.
"There's that kind of tone to things when other people are around," she said.
She continued: "I like that they incorporated [...] stimulus moving around because that's kind of what it's like."
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Noting the 'common delusions', 'intrusive thoughts' and references to 'self-harm' related to schizophrenia, Lauren also explained that it's easy to get 'sucked in' to certain thought narratives.
Lauren concluded: "It's kind of an accurate portrayal of how disorientating the voices that you can hear [...] can be really overwhelming.
"I think the whole video was a little sensationalised but overall, I think it was a pretty good representation of what it's like."
If you, a family member or a friend is struggling with schizophrenia, you can contact the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline Monday to Friday 10am to 10pm Eastern Time on 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or text 'Helpline' to 62640.