Edgar Orozco
Schizophrenia
Central Texas College
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have schizophrenia? R.D. Laing puts it
“Schizophrenia cannot be understood without understanding despair.” The same can be true for
any mental illness, but what makes schizophrenia so different? The individual dealing with
schizophrenia is found dealing with a loss of reality, hallucinations, disorganized speech and
behavior. There are many other difficulties and hindrances that come with being a schizophrenic
such as self-stigma, social challenges, unhealthy habits, ineffective medication and symptoms.
All these contribute to the possible obstacles that the patient has to deal with long term.
Self-stigma can play a big role on an individual’s life with schizophrenia. According to
Alicia Lucksted from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, “consistent with current
theories of self-stigma, their results suggest that the meaning and characteristics a person assigns
to a diagnosis may impact how that person views themselves as a person with that diagnosis,
