Political Quotes

“This week, the largest ever study of schizophrenia reported that the condition is tied to more than 100 genes. This discovery shows more evidence that schizophrenia is a clinical condition just like other medical conditions. Severe schizophrenia, therefore, must be treated with a medical approach, using evidence- based therapies that work. We know 50 percent of persons with schizophrenia suffer from a neurological impairment that makes them incapable of understanding that they are ill. This lack of awareness, termed ``anosognosia,'' is the leading cause of noncompliance with psychiatric treatment. This neurological problem helps to explain why 40 percent of Americans with a serious mental illness do not receive treatment, and it explains how our system fails to help those most in need. Anosognosia occurs most frequently when schizophrenia or a bipolar disorder affects portions of the frontal lobe, resulting in impaired executive function. The patients are neurologically unable to comprehend that their delusions or hallucinations are not real. This is different than denial; this is a change in the wiring of the brain. These individuals don't recognize they are ill. When they don't meet the 200-year-old definition of being in imminent danger to harm themselves or others, their friends and families are powerless to help them.…”