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SCHIZOPHRENIA Below you find some texts that are related to the theme Schizophrenia. You’re supposed to study the texts carefully and then make an oral presentation. In the presentation you can deal with the texts separately and with the way( s) they may be related to the theme. You can choose one or two passages of text for reading aloud. A. Adrift in an
anchorless reality A. Adrift in an anchorless reality In this text a schizophrenic patient tells us about her life My name is Janice Jordan. I am a person with schizophrenia. I am also a college graduate with 27 hours toward a master's degree. I have published three articles in national journals and hold a full-time position as a technical editor for a major engineering/technical documentation corporation. I have suffered from this serious mental illness for over 25 years. In fact, I can't think of a time when I wasn't plagued with hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. At times, I feel like the operator in my brain just doesn't get the message to the right people. It can be very confusing to have to deal with different people in my head. When I become fragmented in my thinking, I start to have my worst problems. I have been hospitalized because of this illness many times, sometimes for as long as 2 to 4 months. I guess the moment I started recovering was when I asked for help in coping with the schizophrenia. For so long, I refused to accept that I had a serious mental illness. During my adolescence, I thought I was just strange. I was afraid all the time. I had my own fantasy world and spent many days lost in it. I had one particular friend. I called him the "Controller." He was my secret friend. He took on all of my bad feelings. He was the sum total of my negative feelings and my paranoia. I could see him and hear him, but no one else could. The problems were compounded when I went off to college. Suddenly, the Controller started demanding all my time and energy. He would punish me if I did something he didn't like. He spent a lot of time yelling at me and making me feel wicked. I didn't know how to stop him from screaming at me and ruling my existence. It got to the point where I couldn't decipher reality from what the Controller was screaming. So I withdrew from society and reality. I couldn't tell anyone what was happening because I was so afraid of being labeled as "crazy." I didn't understand what was going on in my head. I really thought that other "normal" people had Controllers too. (….) (http://www.mentalhealth.com/story/p52-sc03.html) The following two texts are from Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon. The singer is perhaps not schizophrenic, but he may be characterized as having “schizoid experiences of reality”. B. Brain Damage The lunatic is on the
grass The lunatic is in the
hall And if the dam breaks
open many years too soon The lunatic is in my
head You lock the door And if the cloud
bursts, thunder in your ear Written by Roger
Waters All that you touch Gilmour/Waters/Pink Floyd.
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