The Prognosis of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia usually begins just as young adults are learning to become independent and productive. Because the illness typically strikes people when they are between the ages of 17-28, relatively few celebrated people have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. There are a handful of well-known exceptions. Nijinsky, the Russian dancer, made his mark as a genius before the disease struck. Meera Popkin, known for her entrancing performances in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats, Starlight Express, and Miss Saigon, went from a show-stopping star to a Wendy’s french-fry flipper until small doses of Haldol and supportive psychotherapy returned her to the stage (Schizophrenia.com).

            For a significant group, medications, compassion, and receptivity allow the schizophrenic to become independent again. Some return to work, cultivate friendships, and marry. Occasionally a remarkable remission occurs. Often, though, treatment is ineffective. Even with the best of medications, most schizophrenics almost never return to their previous level of function.

Mindless Behavior

Last summer my wife gave me a dozen handkerchiefs. Now they are gone. Disappeared. Not in the handkerchief drawer or the sock drawer. Not in the clothes hamper. 

I began to wonder—“Do I have Alzheimer’s disease?” Probably not. The better explanation for the disappearance of my handkerchiefs—THE HIDERS. The hiders are sneaky. They put pencils behind my ear. They hide my car keys in the refrigerator. They have the audacity to slip my eyeglasses on my face at the very time I’m looking for them. The Hiders are ubiquitous. In every household they do their dastardly deeds. They are responsible for everything, from lost airplane tickets to the Bermuda Triangle disappearances.

Rather than resulting from The Hiders or from Alzheimer's disease our tendency to lose things is more likely due to mindless behavior. Forgetting why we entered a room, saying hello to mannequins, misplacing items—these activities reflect a brain on automatic pilot, a brain that acts without thinking. Almost all of us have seen this mindless behavior in others. A department store clerk will ask you to sign the back of your credit card. After you have signed the card and then the receipt, the clerk holds the receipt next to your credit card to see if the signatures match. Mindless behavior? Did the Hiders climb into the clerk’s skull and conceal her brains? Or does she have Alzheimer’s disease? Doubtful, but these little memory gaps and mindless actions make us wonder, especially as we reach the “senior moments” stage.