Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Schizophrenia

Today was interesting. In Psychosocial Clinical Conditions (which I believe will be one of my fav classes, I looooove psych), we got to be schizophrenic! We learned some of the basic etiology, incidence (did you know the onset of symptoms is usually in the 20's? Ah!), diagnosis and next week we're going to cover methods of treatment, and the OT's role in intervention.

We had a guest speaker come in from Atlantic County mental health and she gave us a taste of what it feels like to be schizophrenic. We had to wear earphones and listen to tapes made by schizophrenic patients with recordings of their actual auditory hallucinations. We had to do different activities (play a game of pictionary with a group, go on a scavenger hunt around the school which included asking people for directions, etc, and taking a few IQ/brain teaser type of tests). I found the tests incredibly hard to do, and I probably reread each question 5 times before it made any sense. Hearing voices (particular ones telling you to push someone into traffic) really isn't something you can zone out while trying to focus on another task. What a horrible disease. I can't wait to see the types of OT intervention we can offer to these patients.

We also had our first SOTA meeting today.

I have a lot to get done tonight and i'm beat. Power naps have become an essential part of my life this week. . . and coffee and green tea.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So far...I'm ok! I think ill be a lot better once i turn in my applications in December, then after that it will just be an anxious waiting experience, lol. Thanks For checking on me, How is everything going for you?