After Noemi Guzman cut 3-year-old Cyler Hillman, her mental health history resurfaced, including her schizophrenia diagnosis. There’s a lot of stigma around the disorder, creating complications for patients.”Schizophrenia really is a thought disorder first and foremost,” Nebraska Medicine psychiatrist Melissa O’Dell said.READ MORE: What we know: Omaha police shoot, kill woman who slashed child during attempted kidnappingO’Dell said the disorder has a range of symptoms that can manifest early in life. She said it can happen sooner in men, possibly in the late teens or early 20s. In women, it could develop later in life, possibly into their 30s.”Positive symptoms, which is what we think of as kind of classic: hearing voices or hallucinations or delusions,” O’Dell said.They also experience what O’Dell called negative symptoms — side effects where something is “taken away” from a patient’s life.”Everything’s kind of flat and maybe it’s hard to feel good,” O’Dell said. ” not necessarily depression per se, but just kind of a flat mood and lack of motivation.” None of those symptoms includes violence.”The dominant cultural narrative is people with schizophrenia are prone to violence, and we really have to work on educating the public that that’s not accurate,” O’Dell said.In fact, O’Dell said the exact opposite is much more true.”People with schizophrenia are much, much more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of violence,” O’Dell said.She blamed stereotypes from the media for creating this narrative. These stigmas then have a greater fallout on her patients.”We have this very difficult problem where the only time we talk about schizophrenia as a society is in relation to some tragic event,” O’Dell said. “Then people who may be experiencing things that they suspect warrant treatment, maybe they at some level know that they should seek help, but naturally are very reluctant to do so, knowing that’s going to be the connection people make, is to these sort of tragic events.”Delaying their care until it’s too late and they are involuntarily committed to the hospital.”The common pathway to enter care for the first time is inherently traumatic. Being involuntarily hospitalized is adding a terrifying experience to people who are already terrified, and then that makes it difficult to start the real work of recovery,” O’Dell said. For treatment, O’Dell said medication is not enough — care must go beyond pills for recovery and management.”Therapy helps, individual therapy, family therapy, peer support, which is essentially just talking to a friendly person who’s had similar experiences, can be very healing,” O’Dell said.O’Dell said there is still a lot we don’t know about the disorder, including who can develop schizophrenia. There are genetic factors, but that isn’t the only possible cause. “Certain illnesses their mother had when they were pregnant could be a risk factor,” O’Dell said. “There’s a lot of different factors that can weigh into it that are genetic, environmental, social environment, life experiences.”If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or disorders like schizophrenia, you can get help from Nebraska Medicine’s Behavioral Health Connection or by calling 402-836-9292 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week.Schizophrenia can make people more susceptible to psychosis — a state where someone experiences reality differently. O’Dell explains the signs and treatments for psychosis on NebraskaMed.org. O’Dell also runs the ASPIRE program, which helps those in active psychosis.Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
OMAHA, Neb. —
After Noemi Guzman cut 3-year-old Cyler Hillman, her mental health history resurfaced, including her schizophrenia diagnosis. There’s a lot of stigma around the disorder, creating complications for patients.
“Schizophrenia really is a thought disorder first and foremost,” Nebraska Medicine psychiatrist Melissa O’Dell said.
READ MORE: What we know: Omaha police shoot, kill woman who slashed child during attempted kidnapping
O’Dell said the disorder has a range of symptoms that can manifest early in life. She said it can happen sooner in men, possibly in the late teens or early 20s. In women, it could develop later in life, possibly into their 30s.
“Positive symptoms, which is what we think of as kind of classic: hearing voices or hallucinations or delusions,” O’Dell said.
They also experience what O’Dell called negative symptoms — side effects where something is “taken away” from a patient’s life.
“Everything’s kind of flat and maybe it’s hard to feel good,” O’Dell said. “[It’s] not necessarily depression per se, but just kind of a flat mood and lack of motivation.”
None of those symptoms includes violence.
“The dominant cultural narrative is people with schizophrenia are prone to violence, and we really have to work on educating the public that that’s not accurate,” O’Dell said.
In fact, O’Dell said the exact opposite is much more true.
“People with schizophrenia are much, much more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators of violence,” O’Dell said.
She blamed stereotypes from the media for creating this narrative. These stigmas then have a greater fallout on her patients.
“We have this very difficult problem where the only time we talk about schizophrenia as a society is in relation to some tragic event,” O’Dell said. “Then people who may be experiencing things that they suspect warrant treatment, maybe they at some level know that they should seek help, but naturally are very reluctant to do so, knowing that’s going to be the connection people make, is to these sort of tragic events.”
Delaying their care until it’s too late and they are involuntarily committed to the hospital.
“The common pathway to enter care for the first time is inherently traumatic. Being involuntarily hospitalized is adding a terrifying experience to people who are already terrified, and then that makes it difficult to start the real work of recovery,” O’Dell said.
For treatment, O’Dell said medication is not enough — care must go beyond pills for recovery and management.
“Therapy helps, individual therapy, family therapy, peer support, which is essentially just talking to a friendly person who’s had similar experiences, can be very healing,” O’Dell said.
O’Dell said there is still a lot we don’t know about the disorder, including who can develop schizophrenia. There are genetic factors, but that isn’t the only possible cause.
“Certain illnesses their mother had when they were pregnant could be a risk factor,” O’Dell said. “There’s a lot of different factors that can weigh into it that are genetic, environmental, social environment, life experiences.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or disorders like schizophrenia, you can get help from Nebraska Medicine’s Behavioral Health Connection or by calling 402-836-9292 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week.
Schizophrenia can make people more susceptible to psychosis — a state where someone experiences reality differently. O’Dell explains the signs and treatments for psychosis on NebraskaMed.org. O’Dell also runs the ASPIRE program, which helps those in active psychosis.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |