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Dr. Lieberman explains if schizophrenia is the same as multiple personality disorder.
Dr. Lieberman:
There are many misconceptions about what schizophrenia is and isn’t, and maybe the biggest is that it does not mean split or multiple personality. That’s completely wrong, and it’s just sort of out there in our culture unfortunately, and somebody says, ”Oh, when you act one way one time and another way another time, oh, you are acting schizophrenic,” that’s completely untrue.
Multiple personality is something that’s very rare and does not involve delusions, hallucinations, thought disorganization, negative symptoms, cognitive impairment, all of the cardinal signs of schizophrenia.
Another common misconception is that schizophrenia is some kind of exalted or unusual creative condition or liberated state of mind. So, people who are inclined towards artistic or bohemian lifestyles will think, “Oh, you are labeling them having schizophrenia when they are really expressing their individuality and their creative powers.” That’s really totally untrue. If anything, schizophrenia is destructive and devastates somebody’s creative abilities. So there are many misconceptions about schizophrenia.
About Dr. Lieberman, M.D.:
Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D. currently is the Lawrence E. Kolb Chairman of Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He also holds the Lieber Chair and Directs the Lieber Center for Schizophrenia Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia.
Visit Dr. Lieberman at his website