I think this article is important because it states that there is not a true connection between schizophrenia and the hallucinations cased by LSD. Thus at the current moment there is no way to truly experience what it like to be schizophrenic; only those who have schizophrenia know what it is like. I believe this is one of the main reasons mental illness is so hard to understand for those who have never had any exposure to them. People enjoy doing drugs for the sole purpose of getting high and the rush of euphoria that comes with it, but for those who experience hallucinations on a daily basis it is an entirely different experience. They assume the high they get because of drugs is similar to those with mental disorders. Furthermore, those who take drugs not only enjoy it but they also have the ability (unless they're addicted) to choose when they can get high. This is the complete opposite to those with mental disorders. So much like like this article states, one can never truly experience a vision similar to that of a schizophrenic person and thus this is one the reasons it is so hard for the general public to understand mental disorder.
This article does offer informative distinction between two separate causes for hallucinations. Kesey may have used LSD to have some experience with the idea of being Schizophrenic, but apparentely the only way to experience schizophrenia is to be a person with schizophrenic. Drugs may offer a vaguely similar experience; however, mental illness can only truly be understood, not necessarily explained, by those who have these disorders. Getting high willingly, for fun, for the euphoria, or even for an "educational" experience cannot offer the same type of "high" one recieves through a wildly active mental illness. The use of drugs being an expereince which one enters themself willingly, and mental disorders, which one just happens to experince, make the two expereinces completely different.
I think this article is important because it states that there is not a true connection between schizophrenia and the hallucinations cased by LSD. Thus at the current moment there is no way to truly experience what it like to be schizophrenic; only those who have schizophrenia know what it is like. I believe this is one of the main reasons mental illness is so hard to understand for those who have never had any exposure to them. People enjoy doing drugs for the sole purpose of getting high and the rush of euphoria that comes with it, but for those who experience hallucinations on a daily basis it is an entirely different experience. They assume the high they get because of drugs is similar to those with mental disorders. Furthermore, those who take drugs not only enjoy it but they also have the ability (unless they're addicted) to choose when they can get high. This is the complete opposite to those with mental disorders. So much like like this article states, one can never truly experience a vision similar to that of a schizophrenic person and thus this is one the reasons it is so hard for the general public to understand mental disorder.
ReplyDeleteThis article does offer informative distinction between two separate causes for hallucinations. Kesey may have used LSD to have some experience with the idea of being Schizophrenic, but apparentely the only way to experience schizophrenia is to be a person with schizophrenic. Drugs may offer a vaguely similar experience; however, mental illness can only truly be understood, not necessarily explained, by those who have these disorders. Getting high willingly, for fun, for the euphoria, or even for an "educational" experience cannot offer the same type of "high" one recieves through a wildly active mental illness. The use of drugs being an expereince which one enters themself willingly, and mental disorders, which one just happens to experince, make the two expereinces completely different.
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