Schizophrenia

This week You Can't Ask That takes viewers inside the minds of people living with schizophrenia.

With 1 in 100 people worldwide living with a form of schizophrenia, interviewees open up about their symptoms and diagnosis, the voices in their heads, delusions, hospitalisations and treatment. Largely misunderstood, with a lot of negative stereotypes and stigmas, schizophrenia is a complex but treatable mental illness - this episode provides a platform for eight unique Australians to set the record straight about what living with schizophrenia means to them.

"I'm very deeply affected by the question of why it happened to me" explains Richard when asked if his diagnosis was a result of smoking too much weed. He explains that a diagnosis can be attributed to a variety of things, "As with all illnesses there are genetic factors and there are environmental factors. The environmental factors that they look at are things like trauma at birth, drug taking and periods of high stress". He explains that one of the most negative stereotypes about schizophrenia is the idea that everyone living with it is violent, "It's really important to understand only a very small percentage of people with schizophrenia are violent. People who suffer the illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence. Do I want to kill anyone? No. All I want for the world is peace and love."