In my fourth year of my PhD on schizophrenia and I'm currently writing up my thesis. I'm procrastinating right now so thought I'd do something useful with what I've been studying.

And no, schizophrenia is not multiple personality disorder.

Edit: I have to get dinner and run some errands. I'm really enjoying this so I will definitely get back and answer the rest of the questions.

  • Melon [she/her,they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Do most schizophrenic people not have visual hallucinations? I remember reading that visual lapses in perception are far rarer than auditory lapses.

    Also, how may a deaf schizophrenic person experience auditory hallucinations? How could schizophrenia be identified in them?

    Additionally, does schizophrenia have a similar genetic presence to autism spectrum disorder?

    • Sidereal223 [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      You're correct in that visual hallucinations are much rarer than auditory hallucinations (although they do exist).

      I'm not familiar with how genetics work wrt/ autism. There is a genetic link with schizophrenia (if a relative has it, you're more likely to have it as well) but it is not really clear what the interaction is. For example, Huntington's Disease is caused by a single defective gene. As far as we know, there is no "schizophrenia gene".

      I've never encountered deaf schizophrenic people in my research, so I just did a quick Google search and found this:

      https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2007/jul/exploring-how-deaf-people-hear-voice-hallucinations

      • Melon [she/her,they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Participants born profoundly deaf reported non-auditory, clear and easy to understand voices. They were all confident that they did not hear any sounds, but knew the gender and identity of the voice. They reported seeing an image of the voice signing or lips moving in their mind.

        This is melting my brain, thank you!