Schizophrenic Behavior

All Jokes Aside About “What is Normal, Anyway?”

Photo by Chris Yang on Unsplash

I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia later schizoaffective disorder for about 15 years. There are definitely aspects of my living that would not fall into the thickest part of the bell curve for neurotypical people.

However, some of my schizophrenic delusions are very commonly held.

Recently, I listened to the podcast “Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast”. The episode was entitled: “180: Psychotherapy for Psychosis with Dr. Michael Garrett”. It was a fascinating episode and I made several notes.

Dr. Michael Garrett said, and I’ll paraphrase, that people with schizophrenia hold the very common belief that there are agents in the neighborhood.

I almost saw humor in this.

This bizarre belief that there are agents (CIA / FBI / who knows what?) in the neighborhood surveilling you is a very common belief if you’re ill with schizophrenia.

Per my understanding of Dr. Garrett, this belief is in the thickest part of the bell curve for neurodivergent people with psychosis.

I will share the delusions from my illness.

I believed there were special forces agents camped out and living in the wooded creek by my parent’s house. They were there for surveillance. They also were dog trainers and they had a kennel full of dogs that looked similar to my own.

I, of course, would interpret coded messages from these dogs. That’s how the agents communicated with me.

The reality is very different, but for my neurodivergent mind, this all made sense.

The point of my article today is to just run down some common delusions that I have come across in my own history and from my readings on schizophrenia.

I wish I could say that I can laugh at them today. I can’t. I know they’re false, but I don’t find humor in it.

I read in one book that a patient in a ward was convinced that there were electronic systems in the ceiling that had her under surveillance. The author of the book went on to say that her suspicions were confirmed when the following week the ward was torn apart to work on the fire detector system. There were wires everywhere. The author said, “this person's delusions were confirmed in perpetuity.”

It’s almost comical. I had the exact same scenario when I was in the hospital.

I was convinced there was a whole system of surveillance and antagonistic systems in the ceiling. I was just sure the aches and groans of an old building were an antagonistic system harassing and surveilling me.

Wouldn’t you know, at one point in my stay, they worked on the fire system. My enemy strikes again!

Okay, so I can joke about it.

Hyper-religiosity seems to be common among those with schizo-spectrum disorders.

I know it hit me hard. Thoughts about God and religion would dominate my thinking when I was in psychosis. I have read accounts of people thinking they are God or agents of God or prophets.This delusion seems like it is pretty common.

Casual web research indicates the connection between schizophrenia and religion is not well understood.

In this article, I have tried to point out some thoughts and beliefs that while completely irrational for neurotypical people are quite common for those with schizo-spectrum disorders.

I would love to hear some comments on other delusional beliefs that you have heard or know of for persons suffering from schizophrenia and related disorders.