I was able to watch two pre-screenings of Psych Week. These two episodes were Born Schizophrenic: January’s Story and My Strange Addiction.
In Born Schizophrenic, the episode focused on January, a young girl who was diagnosed with child-onset schizophrenia. This is considered a rare and unusual disorder. January had several symptoms, like imaginary friends who told her what to do. She would also kick, hit and bite, try to choke herself and even tried to throw herself out of the window.
A psychiatrist talked a little about schizophrenia, though there was more of a focus on the rare disorder. Hers also appeared to have a low prognosis, and there didn’t seem to be much hope for her to have a normal life.
In my opinion, there could’ve been more of an emphasis on the fact that people with a later onset are more likely to show improvement with treatment. However, there was some talk of the possibility of January improving, even with her early onset.
In My Strange Addiction, there were four different people who had different types of addictions. Some of them were considered to have obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The focus on addictions seemed more relevant, since these are more common than child-onset schizophrenia.
The addictions were shopping, tanning, running and chalk-eating. The first three seem almost logical, since society puts a lot of emphasis on materialism and outer beauty. However, these people obviously took these behaviors to a more obsessive level and many were in danger financially or health-wise.
I think the addiction episode was more useful than the child-onset schizophrenia episode, since at least people can relate to addictions and might be compelled to seek help if they think they have a problem. Only one person in the episode seemed compelled to stop the addiction by seeing a psychologist, so there could have been more of an emphasis on how people with mental disorders or borderline mental disorders need to be invested in their mental and physical health more. Most of the people didn’t seem to think they had a problem and continued their harmful behaviors.
Comment Reply
I was able to watch two pre-screenings of Psych Week. These two episodes were Born Schizophrenic: January’s Story and My Strange Addiction.
In Born Schizophrenic, the episode focused on January, a young girl who was diagnosed with child-onset schizophrenia. This is considered a rare and unusual disorder. January had several symptoms, like imaginary friends who told her what to do. She would also kick, hit and bite, try to choke herself and even tried to throw herself out of the window.
A psychiatrist talked a little about schizophrenia, though there was more of a focus on the rare disorder. Hers also appeared to have a low prognosis, and there didn’t seem to be much hope for her to have a normal life.
In my opinion, there could’ve been more of an emphasis on the fact that people with a later onset are more likely to show improvement with treatment. However, there was some talk of the possibility of January improving, even with her early onset.
In My Strange Addiction, there were four different people who had different types of addictions. Some of them were considered to have obsessive-compulsive behaviors. The focus on addictions seemed more relevant, since these are more common than child-onset schizophrenia.
The addictions were shopping, tanning, running and chalk-eating. The first three seem almost logical, since society puts a lot of emphasis on materialism and outer beauty. However, these people obviously took these behaviors to a more obsessive level and many were in danger financially or health-wise.
I think the addiction episode was more useful than the child-onset schizophrenia episode, since at least people can relate to addictions and might be compelled to seek help if they think they have a problem. Only one person in the episode seemed compelled to stop the addiction by seeing a psychologist, so there could have been more of an emphasis on how people with mental disorders or borderline mental disorders need to be invested in their mental and physical health more. Most of the people didn’t seem to think they had a problem and continued their harmful behaviors.
May 1, 2010 - 7:31pmThis Comment
Reply