Schizophrenia

Welcome to Brevis Talk. The talks you are about to hear will be honest, revealing, and unfiltered. Join us as your host. Pastor Wayne Whiteside lifts the lid of silence and has conversations about mental illness and health in the church. The goal here is simple. It is to help someone along this journey of life who is struggling. It is to tell the truth to the unsuspecting, and it is to lighten the load of a fellow traveler. This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as medical advice or to replace consultation with your physician or mental health professional.

If you are experiencing a medical crisis, call 9 1 1 or go to the nearest Emergency Room. Now, here's your host, pastor Wayne.

Speaker 1 (42s): Welcome to another brevis talk. Today we want to talk about something very, very sad and very challenging, And. that is the disease or malady of Schizophrenia, hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech. That's how it's defined according to the experts, but it is a terrible and tragic malady of the brain. Very rarely are those with this diagnosis able to live lives totally independent of outside help.

There's a great deal that is unknown about Schizophrenia. The treatment is to treat symptoms and to try to minimize them. I'm sure that most people in churches have never encountered someone who suffers from this disease because little is known. By most, there's a great deal of fear and hesitation surrounding Schizophrenia. Several years ago, a young man with this disease began to visit our church.

He was a very quiet and a very insecure person. Many of our people befriended him and it was obvious that he felt like he belonged and had found a family, but paranoia is often a feature of this disease. He went through a season where he thought everyone in the church was talking about him and out to get him. He believed that we were going to have him committed to a medical facility and try as we did.

We could never convince him that he was loved, accepted And, that no one had any intentions of turning him into or having him committed to an institution. He quit coming to church, and I do believe that we tried every means of making it known to him that he was a part of our community. I try to keep up with him, and over the last few years, he's had many episodes that have caused him great harm.

It is a tragic, tragic story. Many who suffer from this disease are not compliant in taking their medications and without the meds. It becomes a train wreck that is going to happen because so many don't know anything about this disease. Oftentimes, they are fearful and standoffish to someone who has this diagnosis. We must educate and in this area to help stop the stigma.

Knowledge is powerful and necessary. My heart hurts for those who are living with this disease. They truly are damaged souls. If You know someone who suffers from this or You know a family who has a loved one, who suffers, please pray much for them. Speak to them. Let them know that you care. Talking about it goes a long way with them knowing that they are not an island.

And as we say often at brevis talk, be kind. Always be kind.

And that concludes our broadcast today. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Plus, check us out at our Facebook page or at brevistalk.com and take a look at our blog and remember - Be kind. Always be kind.