So in this next interview with an actor, you're going to see someone who's displaying really an absence of symptoms. That is an example of someone who has suffered with full blown schizophrenia, has met DSM-5 criteria or ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia, but is now in complete remission. That is their symptoms are something of the past, and they now have fully managed their symptoms. Hi, my name is Dr. Kurtz. It's good to meet you. >> Hi, I'm Rachel. >> Good to see you, Rachel. I'm the clinical psychologist at this community mental health center. And I wondered if it'd be okay if I asked you a few questions. >> Yeah, that's fine. >> Okay, great. Could you tell me a little bit about your reasons for being here, why your doctor referred you to me? >> So, I'm in my late 20s now. And when I was 21, I started to hear these voices in my head. And that's when I got diagnosed with schizophrenia. >> Mm-hm. And could you tell me a little bit more about that experience with voices, what that was like for you? >> So at first, they were just really occasional. I would just hear, for example, the voice of my aunt like an hour or so before I went to bed. But then over a course of the year, they started to get a lot more persistent, louder as well. I thought that they were the voices from God or from Jesus, and they would just comment on what I was doing. So for example, if I was going to my dresser to get a glass of water I would just hear these voices saying, don't drop it, you're such a cluts, be careful, stuff like that. And that's when I had to go to the hospital. I mean, they're not all bad though. Sometimes they help like remind me to get my laundry if I forget them, forget it, yeah. But sometimes I'd also just be walking around the neighborhood and I'd hear just this voice saying, you bitch. >> Mm-hm. >> And I wasn't sure whether it came from the people around me or it was just from my head. >> Mm-hm. Would you say these voices were as clear and as loud as my voice? >> Yeah. >> Okay, and thinking about it now, like looking back at that time, where do you think these voices were coming from? >> Well, now, I know that they're from my brain and my old illness, but back then I thought they were from God. >> Mm-hm. And would you say, in your own opinion, do you have a mental illness now? >> I mean, now, I don't think so. >> Mm-hm. But back then, yeah, I had it, I used to. >> Mm-hm. Do you still have any symptoms? >> Sometimes at the end of the day I would hear this like swoosh sound, like a voice. But it's only if I've been really stressed at work or if I had a fight with my mother. >> And tell me also a little bit about your life now, what are you doing on sort of a day-to-day basis? >> So, I work in IT at a local company just 20 hours a week. >> That's great. >> I'm good with computers. >> Yeah. >> I have an apartment, I have a boyfriend, and a bunch of good friends who are really understanding when I get overwhelmed or if I'm showing some mild symptoms, and that's nice. >> Wow, it's really fantastic. And what do you think is your recipe for success? I mean, that's a very impressive life you're living now. >> So, I make sure to manage my stress levels. I work with a therapist. I try to keep my work schedule really light. I never take work home with me. Sometimes medication was really helpful, but I'd also get these like really annoying side effects like dry mouth or like I gain a little bit of weight. >> Mm-hm, Mm-hm. >> But now I'm just like, I make sure I manage my diet, I get my B12. >> Great. >> Yeah, and I also work with a psychiatrist. >> Wonderful, wonderful. Do you mind if ask you some more structured questions? >> Yeah, that's fine. >> Okay. Could you tell me, a table and chair, how are they alike or the same? >> They're both furniture. >> Great. Poetry and painting, how are they alike or the same? >> They are both art. >> Great. Too many cooks spoil the broth, what's the deeper meaning of that phrase? >> So sometimes if too many people work on one project it gets complicated. >> Yeah, great, great. That's really good. I"m very impressed with your recovery. And thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. So now that you've seen examples of four very really vastly different patterns of symptoms of schizophrenia, you can get a sense of just how heterogeneous the disorder is and how it just displays so differently in different people. I want you to very carefully keep in mind the symptoms that you've seen. As we go to the next part of the course, we're really going to delve into the neuroscience of the disorder, the psychology of the disorder, and the ways in which the disorder is treated, the manner in which these symptoms are treated. You should also think a little bit about how the value that a category like schizophrenia has. That is to say, we're calling this disorder a single disorder, and yet from one person to the next you can see vastly different patterns of symptoms.
