There are some people that will never have to battle with severe mental illness. But then, there are others that will. The reality is the majority of us will come in contact with mental illness at some point during our lives, whether it is our own or that of a loved one.
Having empathy toward mental illness is important. Sadly, it’s not always the easiest thing to do.
One of the most difficult mental illness to identify with is schizophrenia. It’s a tricky and dangerous illness. It’s one that requires a lot of love, support, and understanding to get through. Because schizophrenia can be so hard to identify with, doctors, and researchers take unique means to help people understand the struggles of this severe mental illness.
An example of such an undertaking is the video below. It is an artificial psychotic episode (as described by schizophrenic patients). The video is as informative as it is disturbing. To create the video, actual patients were interviewed and the video is a compilation of what they regularly experience.
(source: Youtube)
Just remember this video the next time that you see someone acting strange on the street. You don’t know what they’re going through, but it could be a psychotic episode. The world needs more empathy like this.