Treatment for schizophrenia is a tough journey for people with the illness but also for caregivers and loved ones. Due to cognitive symptoms, hallucinations, and delusions, a person with schizophrenia may not be able to make decisions on treatment or take care of themselves. When should caregivers step in to legally take control over a person with schizophrenia? What are the types of involuntary treatment? What are the other options available to people with schizophrenia and caregivers? Host...

People with schizophrenia have a 10% rate of suicide compared with the general population population’s 1.3% rate of suicide. Suicide is the biggest reason for the decreased life expectancy of people with schizophrenia. Around 40–79% of people with schizophrenia have reported having suicidal thoughts. Why is the rate of suicide higher among people with schizophrenia? Are there specific risk factors that have been identified for our population? And most important, how can we prevent suicide and...

There is a huge gap in how people with schizophrenia are expected to recover and then integrate back into society. Many of us are in active treatment and managing symptoms. Now what? How do we function in life? How do we fit into society? We all want friends, to have a purpose, to belong. These desires fall under community involvement. Integration into the community is recognized as an important component of recovery for those with severe mental illness. It is also one of our biggest...

Impulsive thoughts to harm yourself or others, confusing delusional thoughts, thoughts commanding you to do things — all of these are terrifying to experience. A breakdown in the thought process is a hallmark of schizophrenia. When does an intrusive thought become delusional and something a person might act upon? If a person has disturbing violent thoughts, are they dangerous?  Host Rachel Star Withers, who has schizophrenia, shares her personal struggles with disturbing, intrusive, violent...

Living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia means that you and those around you will experience multiple losses as you navigate the disorder. It can take away relationships, employment, education, performance, independence, and sense of self.    Will I keep getting worse?  What happens if I have another psychotic episode?  What will my life look like in 10 years?  What if I can’t take care of myself?  It’s normal to grieve the life you or a loved one lost to schizophrenia. But, what does that...

When a mental health crisis hits, it can catch everyone off guard—the person experiencing the crisis and those around them. For many with schizophrenia, this is a person’s first psychotic episode. As a caregiver, friend, or loved one, how do you get help for them? And how does the system work? Today, host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard are discussing navigating schizophrenia as a caregiver. Their guest, Scott Joffrion, father of an adult son with...

The LGBTQIA+ community and psychiatry have had a very troubled past, especially when it comes to schizophrenia. Some of the first theories for the causes of schizophrenia actually centered around bisexual desires. There were even theories that people living with schizophrenia were all asexual due to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. And those are just two examples.   In this episode, we discuss LGBTQIA+ issues in relation to schizophrenia, what psychiatry got wrong, and what current...

When managing schizophrenia, many of us have come to accept that there is a stigma around the disorder. But what happens when the stigma is from the medical professionals who are supposed to be treating, diagnosing, and helping you? Mental health professionals can even turn away people with a schizophrenia diagnosis. When we've been turned away by a therapist, psychologist, what happens next? Where do we end up? Studies have found that mental health professionals have a tendency to view...

Up to 80% of people with schizophrenia aren't aware they're experiencing early schizophrenia symptoms. Most people with schizophrenia go through a prodromal stage, where there's subtle changes in mood, thinking, and behavior. It's an evolution of the symptoms to come. Early indicators vary based on the age they start. An adult who develops schizophrenia will experience different signs than a child who develops the condition. Host Rachel Star Withers and cohost Gabe Howard explore the early...

True crime TV shows, podcasts, and books love to explore the minds of serial killers. To perform such heinous acts a person must be “insane,” “crazy,” and “mentally unstable.” Over time, the “schizophrenic serial killer” became the monster behind many of these crimes. But is it true? Where did the stereotype of serial killers having schizophrenia come from? When was schizophrenia first considered to be a violent mental illness? What's the truth to the myth of the schizophrenic serial...

Are you having trouble with mental illness or are you really good at managing it? Humor can heal or hurt. Is schizophrenia something to joke about? Should you make jokes about mental illness? Schizophrenia is a very serious topic, but it can be exhausting to be serious all the time. Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard find the humor in having schizophrenia in this episode of Inside Schizophrenia.  TikTok star comedian Kody Green joins to share his...

Schizophrenia affects approximately 24 million people worldwide. But does schizophrenia present the same way in every country? How do culture, religion, tradition, or even politics influence the presentation of schizophrenia? Cross-cultural awareness of psychiatric symptoms helps us to understand our ever-changing global society. In today’s episode, hosts Rachel Star Withers and Gabe Howard explore studies and cases across the world and throughout history to discover how culture influences...

One of the scariest things about schizophrenia is the very beginning, getting that diagnosis and learning that you — or a person that you love — has a lifelong serious mental illness. Especially in the beginning, it can be a difficult thing to accept. In fact, many people reject the idea that they're sick at all, often choosing to think, “Hey, I have a problem, but I don't need help” instead. However, accepting a diagnosis of schizophrenia is the first step to getting treatment, which is the...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for people with schizophrenia, especially those with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. However, it’s not often brought up as an option for treatment. Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard explore Rachel’s own past treatment with ECT, the intense side effect of memory loss, and why ECT is not being offered to more people with schizophrenia. Today’s guest is “Ashley” who is...

Why are some people with schizophrenia able to live alone and others can’t? Why do some seem to recover while others have symptoms that persist for their entire lives? Why is suicide the leading cause of premature death in people with schizophrenia? Many people say the answer lies in psychological resilience. So, does that mean some people have more psychological resilience than others? Does having a mental disorder mean your brain is less resilient to start with? Hosts Rachel Star Withers...

When a family member receives a schizophrenia diagnosis, it can dramatically change the dynamics of your family. For example, one-third of people with schizophrenia live with a family member. Families can provide emotional support, financial support, and advocate for better treatment options. Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard explore how schizophrenia can affect family dynamics in this episode of Inside Schizophrenia.  Guest Elfy Scott joins. She is...

Coping techniques used by people with schizophrenia account for a 25% variance in their quality of life. Unfortunately, people who have psychotic disorders tend to use predominantly harmful or ineffective coping techniques.  Hosts Rachel Star Withers and Gabe Howard are seeking to change that by sharing coping techniques for managing schizophrenia and help people understand why effective coping techniques can be life changing.  Guest Michelle Mariscal joins who blogs about her journey with...

Is there a connection between intelligence and schizophrenia? Are people with schizophrenia more likely to have higher or lower IQs than the general population? In today’s episode of Inside Schizophrenia, host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard explore the current views around the connection between intelligence and having schizophrenia. Author Steven Paul Lansky joins to share his new book “The Break,” a memoir about one of his schizophrenic breaks from...

Peer support is an often ignored option in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, connecting with people who have lived similar experiences and are trained to share their knowledge, mention the things that they've gone through, and offer emotional, social and even practical support can be inspiring to someone learning to manage their schizophrenia. Sometimes it is as simple as knowing you are not alone. Hosts Rachel Star Withers and Gabe Howard explore ways that peer support can help people...

Can art be used in the treatment of schizophrenia? What about martial arts? Yoga? Horses? Therapy options like music therapy and sand play therapy are not meant to be main forms of treatment for schizophrenia. But, they are add-on therapies, also known as adjunctive therapies, that can be incorporated as a part of your treatment strategy. One of these therapies that has become more popular in recent years is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for post-traumatic stress...

Like anyone, people with schizophrenia want to make meaningful and romantic connections — but many have trouble meeting and interacting with people.  As a diagnosed schizophrenic who’s single, host Rachel Star Withers has plenty of experience dating with the condition. She shares her top tips on navigating romance with schizophrenia. From harnessing your personal style to treating your condition with humor, she’s got your back. She also throws in her favorite pickup lines that squeeze in the...

News coverage of murders and mass shootings often puts a spotlight on the perpetrator's mental health, claiming they may be mentally ill with something like schizophrenia. Yet, in 2018, the FBI found that only 5% of active shooters had a mental disorder that includes psychosis. In today’s episode host Rachel Star Withers, who has diagnosed schizophrenia, and co-host Gabe Howard have a frank discussion about whether there’s a connection between having schizophrenia, mass shootings, and mass...

“High functioning schizophrenia” is not a clinical diagnosis, but it is a term that is heard often when describing how someone is managing life with schizophrenia. So what exactly does that mean? What criteria do you have to meet to be considered “high functioning”? Host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard delve into these intense subjects in this episode of Inside Schizophrenia.  Dr. Matthew Smith joins us who is a Professor of Social Work at the...

Since May is Mental Health Awareness Month, our hosts decided to dedicate an episode to the frequently asked questions surrounding schizophrenia. Questions include “What is having a hallucination like?” and “Why won’t my loved one get help?” We also welcome photographer Whitney Yeager, creator of The Sammy Project, which highlights stories of people with serious mental health conditions. She began this endeavor after her son was killed while experiencing an episode of psychosis. To learn more...