One of the many things the millennials have popularized is the use of abbreves (abbreviations) in everyday conversations. Some examples include ridic (ridiculous), obvi (obviously), totes (totally), def (definitely), cray (crazy)...you get the point. In true American fashion, we have taken this to a new level and added a mental illness abbreviation to the list..."schizo" for schizophrenic. It's as if it becomes a more casual disorder by removing the last few syllables. As a result , our society has used this less serious form of the word to describe a mood, name a pre-workout supplement, insult a person's actions, etc. Today's post looks at how our new abbreve is minimizing the severity of schizophrenia.
Image from Facebook user's post. Name has been redacted for confidentiality purposes.
We will start today's post with a social media user's post about his "morning mood swing" and "feeling schizo." Now I'm assuming that this person probably doesn't actually have schizophrenia as they would probably not be posting emotional selfies and describing themselves as "feeling schizo." Similar to other posts on this blog, these social media posts send the message that 1) these disorders are a "mood" that can be turned on and off and 2) can be applied to anyone on any given day. This post in particular almost makes phrases like "feeling schizo" the newest witty quote to add to your everyday conversation. Posts like this anger me because it's just wrong. I personally can't imagine saying something like I'm "feeling schizo," as I find it to be so insensitive and just completely inaccurate. By incorporating phrases like this into our everyday language we are minimizing the severity of the disorder. We are also inaccurately portraying the actual symptoms of the disorder, making it even more difficult for our society to understand and feel compassion for those who suffer from schizophrenia. Therapists working with these clients will likely have to have extensive discussions about the myths and misunderstandings accompanying this disorder. Additionally, they will also have to discuss with their clients how to manage the severity of this disorder as they might not truly understand how serious it could be. Therapists in general will need to actively work to raise awareness about this disorder and how detrimental it can be to someone's life.
Image from Facebook user's post. Name has been redacted for confidentiality purposes.
This next post also uses the new abbreviation "schizo" to describe a company who's changing their mind about a movie release. We have now taken this disorder to a whole new level and applied it to an entire group of executives at a prestigious company. As we know, this adjective is completely inaccurate and insensitive. First, it would be amazing if someone who suffers from schizophrenia could be an executive of such a successful company like Sony. Second, it's unfortunate that the intention behind this post is to be insulting and take a stab at the company. We definitely should not add "schizophrenic" to the list of mental disorders that people insensitively use to insult others. Words like "retard," for example, are now taboo to use since various advocacy groups have raised awareness about the implication of these messages. The last thing we need is for "schizo" to replace "retard" into our repertoire of insults. Overall, I believe using this abbreviation and word in such an inaccurate way only moves our society further in the wrong direction of understanding mental illness. The more we use the name of these disorders inaccurately, the larger the rift becomes between those who do and those who do not suffer from mental disorders. With this divide in mind, therapists and psychologists working with patients with schizophrenia will likely need to discuss strategies for increasing awareness and understanding in their loved ones. It would be beneficial for these therapists to work closely with their client's family. To reiterate, it is important that therapists and psychologists continue to work on raising awareness of schizophrenia in our society.
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