What Schizophrenia Is Like

A new device offers better understanding of the brain disorder.

During a demonstration at the St. Johns County mental health department in St. Augustine on Thursday, Margaret Simon wears the schizophrenia machine, a virtual-reality device that creates the sounds and hallucinations experienced by  a person with schizophrenia. DON BURK/The Times-Union

(March 23, 2007) -- ST. AUGUSTINE -The pharmacist at the counter is staring at me, her eyes wide and flashing with annoyance.

 She's practically yelling.

"You can't just cut everyone in line, you know!"

I spin around, but no one's there. I turn back to her - she's still staring, angry - I look behind me again. Nothing.

Then the voices start up again, berating me. I can't concentrate.

When I take the goggles off and slip out of the schizophrenia machine, I'm left as disoriented as the others who took part in a demonstration offered in St. Johns County on Thursday.

Judges, counselors, sheriff's deputies and a Times-Union reporter were among those who stepped inside a virtual pharmacy Thursday, a machine that provides a five-minute window into a world others live in forever. Once "inside" the store, it's not clear who's talking, and why the woman behind the counter has suddenly vanished, only to reappear inches away.

The device, made by a New Jersey firm, creates the sounds and hallucinations experienced by persons with schizophrenia, a psychotic illness that afflicts about 1.1 percent of the population nationwide, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

The demonstration was held at the county's mental health department. Officials hope a dose of virtual reality will translate into more empathy and compassion toward those with the little-understood disorder.

Circuit Judge Wendy Berger described the experience as a roller coaster.

"You read about it [in psychiatric evaluations] but actually being able to experience it is very different," she said.

Despite years of working with people having psychiatric emergencies, Todd Berchen gained a deeper understanding of a disorder he thought he understood well.

"All of the sudden it wasn't so objective," said Berchen, the county's program manager for mental health and recovery.

Frequently, in law enforcement situations, persons with schizophrenia might appear as if they are not paying attention or react aggressively when in fact they are simply unable to pick up on common social cues, he said.

Other stressful situations can also trigger symptoms of the disorder, which can to the untrained eye be mistaken for drug abuse, said the department's medical director, Eneida Gomez.

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That's why understanding the experience of schizophrenics is so important for public workers, she said.

"The anxiety heightens their symptoms," she said, "and the reality in front of them changes."

By: Deidre Conner, The Times-Union
Source: The Times Union

Last updated: 03/07

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