I guess the point of me starting this blog was to let other people know that it’s okay to have a mental illness. There are so, so many people that struggle with their mental health but don’t talk about it.
I believe that being open and talking about our mental health is the first weapon to blowing the shit out of stigma and make people truly own who they are. If you’re living with a mental illness the last thing you need is people making you feel as though you ought to be ashamed of it, that you’re attention seeking or exaggerating.
The YouTubers that I’m sharing today are just beautiful through and through. They talk openly about their mental health and have some really great content.
For Borderline Personality Disorder:
Sammy Marie Grimm – Sammy’s channel is about make-up, the vegan lifestyle and mental health. Most of her videos are about mental health, namely BPD. Sammy has BPD with schizophrenic tendencies (also sometimes called borderline schizophrenia). Click here to visit her channel.
Bryan is a lesser known YouTuber, by the look of things, but I love having a male perspective on this! He suffers with BPD and the thing I love most about him is that he is just a normal person putting himself out there and talking about his mental health. Click here to visit his channel.
Schizophrenia
The Amateur Aries channel is run by a wonderful lady called Amanda. Amanda suffers from schizophrenia and talks regularly about this. Click here to visit her channel.
My absolute favourite mental health YouTuber is Lauren at Living Well with Schizophrenia (Click here). Lauren actually has the lesser known Schizoaffective disorder, which is almost a combination diagnosis of Schizophrenia and a mood disorder, such as BPD or bipolar. She is such a lovable person to watch and is so very honest about her struggles. Her passion for helping others is beautifully apparent.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Chloe has dissociative identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder. Chloe’s channel is called Dissociadid and is very well put together. She gives viewers a real sense of what it’s like to live with this trauma-induced disorder. Click here to watch a video of hers.
All-rounders:
MedCircle are amazing!! They feature real people with so many different mental illness and cover a bunch of issues that come with them. They are definitely worth a watch. Click here to visit their channel.
I’m sure that as more time passes this list will grow (watch out for a part-two!)
If you have a keen interest in mental health, or live with one of the disorders/conditions mentioned above then I definitely recommend watching some of these channels. Be mindful of your own mental state and of your triggers. Most, if not all, of these guys provide trigger warnings.
Sammie-Marie and Lauren have helped me the most. To find an understanding of myself that I wouldn’t have been able to reach had it not been for exploring the experiences of others living with similar symptoms to my own.
What is the first thing you think of when you try to imagine a person with schizophrenia? Would it be a dishevelled, wild-eyed, delusional person that may or may not lose their mind and hurt you? Would it be a sweet early-dementia-like patient who appears fine most of the time but is prone to hallucinations, delusions and sometimes anger in their confusion? Science, and the real world would say that the latter is a closer portrayal of Schizophrenia.
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is defined as a psychiatric illness that is characterised by losing touch with reality in a state of what is known as psychosis. It can appear suddenly or can be gradual and progressive. There is no known cure for schizophrenia and so treatment involves the use of drugs to control symptoms, although 25% of those that experience an episode of schizophrenia will recover completely.
The diagnostic
criteria from the DSM-V is as follows:
The presence of 2 (or more) of the following,
each present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period (or less
if successfully treated), with at least 1 of them being (1), (2), or (3): (1)
delusions, (2) hallucinations, (3) disorganized speech, (4) grossly
disorganized or catatonic behaviour, and (5) negative symptoms.
For a significant portion of the time since the
onset of the disturbance, level of functioning in 1 or more major areas (eg.
Work, interpersonal relations, or self-care) is markedly below the level
achieved before onset; when the onset is in childhood or adolescence, the
expected level of interpersonal, academic or occupational functioning is not
achieved.
Symptoms in schizophrenia are termed ‘positive’ or ‘negative’. Positive symptoms are those that are brought by schizophrenia; meaning you wouldn’t have them if you didn’t have schizophrenia. These are symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.
Negative symptoms relate to things that you would have if it weren’t for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. These are symptoms such as being unable to move (catatonia), or feeling less emotional or motivated.
What causes schizophrenia?
The cause of
schizophrenia is not understood, but studies have highlighted risk factors for
developing the condition, such as genetics, a chemical imbalance, a persons’
environment.
There’s currently a movement, more so in America than the UK but it applies worldwide all the same, that is lobbying to push the World Health Organisation to reclassify schizophrenia as a neurological condition, much like Parkinson’s or dementia.
When a move like this occurs, it’s clear to see just how strongly stigma still clings to mental illness. We live in a world, sadly, where people with a certain ‘type’ of illness are accepted and cared for by both people and officials more than that of another type. It is more socially acceptable and pitiable to be diagnosed with a neurological disorder than it is a psychiatric one; to see a medical doctor and not a psychiatrist.
Raymond Cho, M.D of SARDAA (Schizophrenia And Related Disorders Alliance of America) has been campaigning for the change and is quoted as saying “There is scientific consensus that the illness is a brain-based, highly heritable illness. There is overwhelming evidence that schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder with disease processes commencing early in neurodevelopment and manifesting as subtle neurologic and behavioural abnormalities long before DSM-defined illness onset.”
It has been found that physical abnormalities are more prevalent in people with schizophrenia than people without, adding weight to the theory that schizophrenia is a condition that develops during foetal development and is therefore neurological in nature.
John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center is bolder still and says that “If schizophrenia was a disease that we just discovered today there would be no question that’s how we would classify it” – Powerful huh?
Symptoms that a schizophrenia patient might experience include:
A
chronic lack of interest
Problems
with concentration
Problems
with memory
Psychotic
symptoms – hallucinations and delusions
Becoming
overwhelmed in social situations
Avoiding
people or situations
Becoming
withdrawn
Anxiety
Neglecting
self-care
Incoherent
speech
Mood
changes
Sad, isn’t it? It’s also sad that every one of the above symptoms can be found in dementia too.
As mentioned before, schizophrenia’s most known characteristic is psychosis. You know the symptom that puts fear into everyone that has read the Daily Mail? Here are some other causes of psychosis:
Brain tumour
Brain cyst
Dementia
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
HIV
Epilepsy
Stroke
Postpartum psychosis
Bipolar
Almost all of
the conditions on the above list would warrant sympathy and compassion from the
world populace – would schizophrenia? Psychosis in schizophrenia and bipolar are associated with violent
behaviour – what about dementia patients that exhibit psychosis and are violent?
Why aren’t we afraid of them?
Because of stigma.
The
media portrayal of schizophrenia would have us believe that all schizophrenics
are dangerous and unpredictable.
They
have a split personality or multiple personalities (completely different
disorder and again, nothing to be afraid of.)
Here and here are two heart-breaking stories of dementia patients that have committed murder. Do you think that society is going to begin to fear dementia patients? Society acknowledges that these patients were sick and vulnerable and that absolutely applies to the schizophrenic members of our society; they absolutely deserve the same amount of love, care and compassion as anybody with any illness – I might even argue they would deserve more compassion due to the current climate of stigma. They are far more likely to be discriminated against.
The reality is though, most schizophrenia or dementia patients aren’t always in psychosis and they are not always violent.
Regardless of whether or not the illness is reclassified, why should it matter? It shouldn’t. These patients have an illness that they did not ask for and an illness which (like many others) has a huge impact on all aspects of their lives. Any person with any illness, mental or physical, deserves compassion and understanding. Poorly people have enough to deal with, so let us learn to accept them without labels and judgement, and let’s keep on spreading awareness and changing the world.
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