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Understanding Mental Illness and Schizophrenia

I’ve been reading The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn R. Saks…and it has truly helped me better understand mental illness and the issues I face with my own psyche.

So, Saks is an associate dean and Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School. Back in 2007, she wrote a book about herself, and almost no one who knew her knew she has schizophrenia.

Why? Because we allow ourselves to have these preconceived notions about mental illness. We assume once a diagnosis of a severe mental illness is made that we are left to work dull jobs, need constant care, and be a “risky” relationship.

She’s a dean. So, our bias steps in and assumes she cannot possibly lead a “normal” life with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness in which people abnormally experience and interpret reality. And this can manifest in a combination of ways, such as hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking.

Here are a few quotes from Saks book that left me something to think about, enjoy!

“My good fortune is not that I’ve recovered from mental illness. I have not, nor will I ever. My good fortune lies in having found my life.”

Mental illness, not just schizophrenia, does not define an individual. When we, as a society, perpetuate that idea that they’re inevitably lost, we allow that made-up and untrue narrative to take hold. So, an individual with mental illness cannot allow it to define them, and we as a society cannot allow ourselves to define them through their mental illness.

“But explaining what I’ve come to call “disorganization” is a different challenge altogether. Consciousness gradually loses its coherence. One’s center gives way. The center cannot hold. The “me” becomes a haze, and the solid center from which one experiences reality breaks up like a bad radio signal.”

In this, Saks is describing the state of mind she faces during one of her psychotic episodes. However, I think this can provide insight into our experience of consciousness as a whole. So, consider a time that you’ve had a nightmare, one where you’ve felt lost, as though you’re losing yourself in the dream. You may have had this feeling of chaos come over you, with a lack of four, or by a lack of coherence in your thoughts.

A dream that created the feeling of completely losing yourself. However, in a dream, you wake up, take a moment, and then you go about your day. But for someone that has schizophrenia? Sometimes they cannot escape the dream.

“Or try this: Place yourself in the middle of the room. Turn on the stereo, the television, and a beeping video game, and then invite into the room several small children with ice cream cones. Crank up the volume on each piece of electrical equipment, then take away the children’s ice cream. Imagine these circumstances existing every day and night of your life. What would you do?”

I highly recommend her book!

I’ll leave you with this bonus quote that sums things up beautifully, “the humanity we all share is more important than the mental illness we may not.”

What is Semiotics? — And How Symbols Influence Our Thoughts and Desires

“We think only in signs.” — Charles S. Peirce

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“Smile and others will smile back. Smile to show how transparent, how candid you are. Smile if you have nothing to say. Most of all, do not hide the face you have nothing to say nor your total indifference to others. Let this emptiness, this profound indifference shine out spontaneously in your smile.” — Jean Baudrillard

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“The poet…is the man of metaphor: while the philosopher is interested only in the truth of meaning, beyond even signs and names, and the sophist manipulates empty signs…the poet plays on the multiplicity of signified.”— Jacques Derrida

What is the study of semiotics?

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their relationship to our psyche’s creation of meaning. So, semiotics is an investigation of how symbols motivate our sense of meaning and our methods of communication.

I find semiotics so valuable because it helps us to understand how we use language, symbols, and narratives to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Also, how those symbols influence our thoughts, feelings, and desires. It’s the ladder I’m more fascinated by if you could not tell from the quotes chosen in the beginning.

You see, semiotics becomes an investigation into how we perceive the world, thus, how symbols influence our understandings of our culture, our values, and our sense of ethics.

The symbols of the external world influence our inner worlds!

Why do we use symbols?

We use symbols to build inter-subjective connections with the myths we share with other humans around us. So, these symbols become mechanisms to place ourselves in a society, which then helps us formulate relationships based on the formulated identity we made for ourselves.

Thus, we must consider how these symbols impact us unconsciously, because if you take the study of semiotics to be a valuable endeavor, you must acknowledge the role symbols play in influencing our desires and actions.

Think of every ideological group you can think of? What do they use? Some symbol, flag, or slogan to symbolize your membership to a group.

We use and buy goods to represent our belonging to a group, such as purchasing a luxury vehicle to symbolize wealth. Consider how thrifting for clothes and used items is an act of defiance that also puts you in a group with certain values.

Companies and brands do this! Just look back at the BLM movement, companies were quick to alter their slogans, social media, and branding to symbolize their membership or allegiance with a cause.

Also, go look at viral Tiktoks, brands are now quick to symbolize their membership of being “hip” by hiring an intern to make clever comments.

And if you don’t buy certain clothing, if you don’t buy certain products, or if you act in a way that society deems out of the norm — you’re ostracized.

So, semiotics helps us analyze and become aware of how symbols are influencing our thoughts and desires! I find this essential for examining our unconscious desires and for examining the symbols that might be influencing our desires in a problematic manner.

The Labyrinth of Lies

Design for Set Curtain for Labyrinth I, 1941 - Salvador Dali — Salvador Dali

Okay, so I’ve been working on a fantasy novel that looks to create a surreal dark fantasy world while telling an interesting and engaging story. I also want to use this artistic avenue to explore the presentation of thought-provoking ideas through the lens of fictional worlds and stories (obviously making those two based on some realism). My goal is to not only explore my own beliefs but have the reader, whether directly or indirectly, question their own!

So, part of developing this book, I’ve been sharing some insight into my process…

And today, I’m sharing a method I’m using to help me develop one of my main protagonists. This is essentially a journal entry/letter written from the perspective of this character, so I try to write and think as they would. I’ve found this method to be helpful in developing an impactful story around their more personal perspectives, enjoy:)

And let me know your thoughts!

The Letter…

You know it, you've seen the truth, and yet you've come away still building your lies, your labyrinth of lies. But that's what it is to be human, isn't it? To convince yourself of things greater than the truth. To fill the world with lies and hope, because if we didn't have hope, what would we have?

A Philosopher's Stone (Brenden's Labyrinth)

Mental Illness and Schizophrenia | What is…

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