“There are no  ‘schizophrenics,’ there are people with schizophrenia.” -Elyn Saks, law professor, University of South Carolina.

 Symptoms of schizophrenia generally appear in both men and women during their twenties (NIMH). Our twenties are a crucial and formative period of our lives. You may be a student in university; you may have one of your first jobs; you may even have begun to form a new family. Elyn Saks was like many other people in her twenties— a student. It was during her time at Yale Law School that Saks began to first move into her professional field of choice—until she was hospitalized for the first time for a schizophrenic episode.
 

Unlike most readers of this blog, Elyn Saks suffers from schizophrenia. Her hospitalization during her time at Yale Law School was amongst the first of a series of hospitalizations that have occurred throughout her life  (TED) .  As seen in Saks, symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations and delusions often appear during the early twenties to the late thirties of an afflicted person’s life. It is these symptoms and the possibility of numerous hospitalizations that disrupt the crucial and formative years of a schizophrenic person’s life—with 73% of schizophrenic people in a survey reporting little to no employment activity (Robert et al.  411).  However, despite the negative publicity generated by it is through the life of Elyn Saks and other recognized people with schizophrenia that we see the myriad of possible lifestyles that can be led by people affected by the disorder around the world.

In her 2012 TED Talk, Saks mentions how there is no such thing as a “typical” schizophrenic episode. Saks takes this sentiment and expands upon it in in her New York Times piece where she details some of the experiences of other professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, with schizophrenia along with her own. She goes over how each person had their own method of coping with their disease.  According to the National Institute of Mental Health, medication is instrumental in treating the symptoms of schizophrenia and when used in conjunction with therapy, most people with schizophrenia saw vast improvements in the quality of their mental health and everyday life (National Institute on Mental Health). In her piece, Saks observes the efficacy of medication through several of the professionals interviewed and also touches upon the use of therapy to effectively cope with their symptoms of the disease. However, Saks continues and discusses how each member surveyed had personal methods of dealing with the disease, such as turning towards religion, trying to reason through their delusions, or even just identifying and dismissing their hallucinations.

Elyn Saks is a living example of heights a person with schizophrenia can reach.

With her work in law, psychology, and psychiatry, Saks is able to give voice to the myriad of possible lifestyles led by other schizophrenic people who may be lost in societal assumptions and stigma.

To hear more from Elyn Saks and her life with schizophrenia, check out her TED talk linked below: http://www.ted.com/talks/elyn_saks_seeing_mental_illness

References:

1) http://www.ted.com/talks/elyn_saks_seeing_mental_illness

2) Schizophrenia. The National Institute of Mental Health  (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml? utm_source=publish2&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=www.kpbs.org). Retrieved April 11th, 2014.

 3)Saks, Elyn. January 25th, 2013. Successful and Schizophrenic.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/opinion/sunday/schizophrenic-not-stupid.html?_r=0Retrieved April 10th, 2014.