A BRIEF LOOK AT SCHIZOPHRENIA AND PSYCHOSIS

In third world countries, 64% of people having a psychotic breakdown fully recover, compared to only 18% in developed countries. Let us remember that the developed countries are those with 'treatments', particularly anti-psychotic drugs. Why is there such a difference? A network of community support is crucial to recovery which is lacking in the developed countries which is suffering from a complete breakdown of community.
"Schizophrenia" can be seen as the dream state applied to everyday life. It has been noted that those undergoing a 'psychotic' episode spend greater time in REM sleep. When people are distressed, they often repress certain thoughts and feelings that later become expressed in dreams and nightmares. In the cases of severe trauma and the 'psychotic' episode, this dream state becomes activated while awake, and the process of hallucination and delusion becomes evident, with a struggle to be able to differentiate between the two 'realms'.
As it is indeed possible to control the dream state, people undergoing a 'psychotic' episode can be helped to manange their experiences that are distressing. This does not require them to become lifelong consumers of toxic drugs, it merely requires us to seek to connect with the person's experience and provide them a safe, supportive environment.


-Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D.
202 W. Tioga St.
Tunkhannock, PA 18657

www.humanepsychiatry.com