What We Don t Understand Schizophrenia - 963 Words

Understanding What We Don’t Understand: Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is often a misunderstood disorder. With many disorders individuals can at least empathize because in some form or another they can relate them to something; but, Schizophrenia has symptoms that make it harder for others to understand, such as hearing voices that are not there or speaking sentences that have no meaning (Oltmann Emery, 2014). These patients can have misconceived thoughts of others around them too. The name Schizophrenia and the media often only enhance our misunderstandings of the disorder (Morgan, J., Morgan, C., 2010). The word schizophrenia comes from the Greek words skhizein meaning ‘to split’ and phren meaning ‘mind’, this doesn’t give great†¦show more content†¦Schizophrenia can be ruinous not only to the Schizophrenic patient but also to their families and peers because they do not understand these often sudden and unique changes in their co-worker, family member, friend, or loved one. Unfortunately the media does not always aid in proper conceptions of mental illness; especially when it comes to Schizophrenia, because it often portrays Schizophrenia’s most chronic patients and most eccentric themes. In the 1993 film Benny and Joon such characters are portrayed with some of the extreme eccentric behaviors of Schizophrenia. The film also shows the effects that Schizophrenia can have on family because Joon, which is portrayed as a â€Å"disabled† woman, lives with her brother Benjamin Pearl â€Å"Benny† after the death of their parents and the struggles that can take place within the family are viewed. Initially her brother doesn’t take notice to much of Joon’s signs of needing some form of help. He only sees what he wants and doesn’t quite understand all that is going on. Her brother â€Å"Benny† shows a lot of frustration in having to continuously find new â€Å"housekeepers† due to Joon chasing them off because of her quirky ideologies about them. He continues to struggle with having these â€Å"housekeepers† to care for Joon and ultimately ends up having to leave her alone for a short time as he has to