Why The Myth That Psych Patients Are Gentle And Nonviolent When That Is Far From True

Why are people with schizophrenia compared in some aspects to people with psychopathy?

I've worked in mental health since 1991 and my first job out of college was in an inpatient locked psychiatric unit working with chronically ill patients, many with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. I was in my early 20s and because I had never been exposed to a person with schizophrenia, it was a bit frightening at first because I did not know what to expect. It didn't take me long to realize people with schizophrenia are some of the most kind, gentle and non-violent people in the world.Jack Nicholson and the movie, One Flew Over the Cuckko’s Nest” was probably the movie which gave schizophrenia and mental illness the stigma is still carries today. Of course we can go even further back to a time when anyone with a mental illness was institutionalized for life. There were no medications to help people with schizophrenia really until the 1990s, when the drug Clozaril was discovered. It wasn't long after when newer and much improved medications, such as Seroquel, Zyprexa, Abilify, etc came along. These psychotropic medications allowed people with schizophrenia to begin to live normal lives, and for the first time I saw patients enroll in college, get jobs, get married and accomplish many things people with this brain disease could never do before.We can thank television, movies and the media for giving people with schizophrenia the label “crazy”. Movies that show killers locked in insane asylums only to escape and go on a killing rampage have embedded in our minds that people who have severe mental illness are dangerous, and that simply is not true.The media continues this myth every time there is a shooting somewhere, one of the first questions people ask is “was the person crazy”? Do people with schizophrenia or other psychiatric illnesses occasionally become violent and hurt people? Yes. But how many people without any psychiatric illness commit violent crimes? Only a very small percentage of someone with a chronic psychiatric illness would be capable of hurting anyone.What we don't understand scares us. The more educated people get about mental illness and learn the facts, the less people will compare schizophrenia with social pathology. I hope my answer is helpful.

Why are intrusive thoughts so scary?

Every highly anxious person has to cope with intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are frightening thoughts about what might happen to you or someone you care about, or what you might do to yourself or another person. They seem to come from outside of your control, and their content feels alien and threatening.For some people, intrusive thoughts are part and parcel of panic or intense anxiety. In these types of intrusive thoughts, it feels like the thoughts come about as a result of the anxiety, and they function to add more fear to the anxiety you are already experiencing. The intrusive thoughts keep the anxiety going, and maintain the fear-producing spiral. So, for example, you might think, "what if I have a heart attack?" in the midst of an anxiety attack. You are already in the altered state of consciousness that I call anxious thinking, and your thoughts feel likely to happen.However, there is another class of intrusive thoughts that I call intrusive obsessive thoughts. These thoughts seem to come from out of nowhere, arrive with a distressing whoosh, and cause a great deal of anxiety. The content of intrusive obsessive thoughts almost always focus on sexual or violent images. Here are typical examples of intrusive obsessive thoughts: "Killing someone. Torturing a pet animal. Stabbing a child. Throwing someone (or yourself) out of a window. Jumping onto a train track as the train comes into the station. Molesting a child. Raping someone. Taking off your clothes in public." This is not a complete list, but it gives you a good feeling of the content of these thoughts.People who experience intrusive obsessive thoughts are afraid that they might commit the acts they picture in their mind. They might imagine hurting someone or committing an act of sexual violation. Intrusive obsessive thoughts can be very explicit, and most people are embarrassed and frightened of them.There are a number of myths about intrusive obsessive thoughts. The greatest myth is that having thoughts of a sexual or violent nature mean that you want to do the things that come into your mind. This is not true. You do not want to do the things that enter your mind when you have intrusive obsessive thoughts. In fact, the opposite is true. People with intrusive obsessive thoughts are gentle and non-violent

What lessons does Ramayana teach us?

Great Question Dear, Glory of Ramayan is infinite, Words will fall Short.Ramayana teaches the duties and responsibilities of each relationship. It portrays ideal relationships like the ideal son, the ideal brother, the ideal husband, the ideal wife, the ideal king and the ideal devotee.Lord Rama is the epitome of Dharma .He embodies everything that is good, positive and divine.He is known as the Maryada Purushottam.The teachings of Ramayana are relevant .in all ages and for everyone to follow a path of righteousness.Most Important Lesson of Ramayana are :Ideal Son Like Lord RamaIdeal Brother Like BharataIdeal Brother like LakshmanIdeal Husband Like Lord RamaIdeal wife Like SitaIdeal Deavotee Like HanumanIdeal Friend Like RamaHere are some other lesson :To be humble and treat everyone with respectTo maintain a calm and peaceful mind devoid of anger.To maintain good company, It is not enough to have a good heart, we need to be careful while choosing friends.Lord Rama portrays a persona of ‘eternal optimist’.The lesson here is to be an optimist and respond positively even in adverse situations.Hanuman represents devotion, determination, courage and single-minded focus to accomplish a task.Another very important point is that Hanuman’s focus is only on his duty and not the reward.Similarly, we are supposed to focus on our respective duties and not fix our minds on the rewards or benefits.The Ramayana’s glory is endless. It is a true goldmine of knowledge.The principles of Ramayana are beyond any boundaries of time or place. By following these precious principles of life, we can uplift ourselves from ignorance to light.Jai Shree Ram