Schizophrenia

Isabel Fleming

Central Piedmont Community College

 Introduction
● Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that can cause dillusions,
hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of
motivation.
● In 2004, Susan Smiley directed a documentary about Schizophrenia
titled ‘Out of the Shadow’.
● This film is about a middle aged woman and her fight with
Schizophrenia for over 20 years and the effects it had on her and
her family’s life.
 Out of the Shadows
● This documentary tells the story of the filmmaker’s mother, Millie
and how/when schizophrenia began affecting their lives.
● Millie was just 25 when the effects began to plague her life, at this
point she already had 2 children.
● From that point on, Millie was in mental chaos and it began to
greatly affect her as well as her children.
● Millie and her family remained ignorant to her diagnosis and didn’t
seek any help until long after the children moved away.
 Symptoms
● Symptoms include; Delusions, Hallucinations, Disorganized speech,
Disorganized or catatonic behavior.
● With Schizophrenia, however, symptoms tend to decrease
throughout the patients life.
● Positive psychotic symptoms: Hallucinations, such as hearing
voices, delusions and distorted perceptions and behaviors.
● Negative symptoms: A decrease in the ability to initiate plans,
speak and express emotion.
 Other Resource

● https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/schizophrenia/what-i
s-schizophrenia
● This is an excellent resource for studying Schizophrenia, it provides
you with a detailed description of what it is, what the symptoms are,
and even how to live with this disorder.
 Psychological

● Severe hallucinations
● Dramatic mood
swings
● Depression

Millie’s
Biological Schizophrenia Social
● Millie’s struggle
● A common theory for
with
what causes
Schizophrenia
schizophrenia is that it
made it difficult to
is overactivity of
maintain a healthy
dopamine in limbic
relationship with
areas of the brain
her family.
 My Opinion
Schizophrenia is a life altering disorder, it changes every aspect of your
life. Your social life, mental health, and even family relations will be
change. This is not only hard on the patient with Schizophrenia but also
on their loved ones, which is what I believe makes this disorder as
severe as it’s made out to be.
 Treatment
● One very common treatment for schizophrenia is using medication to block
the overactivity of the dopamine production in the brain.
● Schizophrenia is a very complex mental disorder and can usually not be
treated with just one type of medication.
● Finding the right treatment for it can be a lengthy process, so each patient
must be truly dedicated to getting better in order to see progress.
● Counseling is also very helpful in addition to medication, however
counseling alone is not enough.
 Conclusion
After 20 years of suffering from Schizophrenia, Millie finally found a
treatment plan that began to work for her and was instituted into a
mental hospital. These conditions combined with regular counseling
finally stabilized her condition enough to where she feels confident that
things will continue to improve, both with her relationship with her family
and her everyday life.
 Sources

https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/schizophrenia/what-is-schizophrenia

https://outoftheshadow.com/about-documentary-out-shadow/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-happens-to-the-body/