Madness, a film.

We saw this film about schizophrenia in class last week. I wrote my review of it last night. This is such a devastating disorder that always begins in late adolescence to early adulthood, usually at college. And they know almost nothing about why it happens, except that it may be genetic, and is exacerbated by stress. I hypothesized (gee, I love that word) that these were individuals that could not deal with the "real" world, you know, that cruel and ugly one out there, once they were cut loose from their parents. They become disjointed emotionally and mentally, so that their conversations are with themselves regardless of who is with them at the moment. There is a scary look about their eyes, a Charlie Manson look. And they are really angry most of the time, frustrated that no one can understand them. About 1/4 do not respond to any treatment. This is an improvement. It used to be 1/3. Prolonged disease causes real physical damage to the brain, especially the hippocampus, a center for emotion. And isn't it interesting that most of them smoke. Nicotine actually has an effect of clearing pathways to make connections easier in the brain. I still miss it, you know, after 16 years. My brain cells could use a little rubber cement, too. Anyway, I came away after this film (we never call them movies in school) feeling very grateful that my family dodged this very horrible bullet. No matter what is going on with me and mine, it could be worse. It could be terrible.