SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – As Mental Health Awareness Month enters its final week, one woman is using her experience with schizophrenia to help others and challenge common misconceptions about the illness.
Sam Glaubitz was diagnosed with disorganized schizophrenia at 25. She now volunteers with the Ozarks Area Crisis Intervention Team and leads the National Alliance of Mental Health Southwest Missouri’s schizophrenia/schizoaffective peer support group.
Glaubitz said one stigma she encounters most is the assumption that schizophrenia means violence.
“I can say that the condition is highly stigmatized. We’re portrayed in horror movies and, you know, featured as violent characters. When actually, people on the schizophrenic spectrum are 14 times more likely to be the victim of assault than the perpetrator,” Glaubitz said.
Schizophrenia varies by individual
She said schizophrenia can look different from person to person, so symptoms, needs, and recovery don’t follow one script.
“More positive symptoms are paranoid schizophrenia. More negative symptoms are catatonic schizophrenia. And then disorganized schizophrenia is more cognitive symptoms. And then affective is like schizoaffective disorder. And then there’s even schizotypal and schizoid disorder. And those are personality disorders,” Glaubitz said.
Even while working in mental health, Glaubitz said stigma made it hard to be open about her own diagnosis.
“Working in the field, I felt that I had to hide my diagnosis. I thought that it would undermine my credibility,” Glaubitz said.
Peer support aids recovery
Glaubitz said connecting with others who understand the experience has been a key part of her recovery and a reminder that people with schizophrenia are living full lives.
“To be surrounded by people with the same diagnosis was very reassuring for me. It was a big piece of my recovery because we’re all living our lives,” Glaubitz said.
NAMI has resources on its website about schizophrenia that can help understand the illness better or find support.
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