Society and Behavior

Schizophrenia /skItse’fri:nie/ noun [U] a mental illness in which a person becomes unable to link thought, emotion and behavior, leading to WITHDRAWAL from reality and personal relationships. (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 7th Edition)

It is a phenomenon that can be explained without the notion that it’s caused by witchcraft as is the predisposition of most Nigerians who see a schizophrenic and conclude a spiritual problem is underlying. Most persons adhere to this norm with disregard to a more reasonable understanding of the condition and then; there are the sufferers themselves, the schizophrenics who walk the streets, most of them oblivious of their immediate surrounding. In their own opinion, if they were still conversant, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them and it is my belief in reason (not medical) that they just might be stuck in another reality (world) that exists solely in their head; the essence (i.e. people, places and time) of which is on a loop, replayed over and over. Scientifically and medically, I believe there is a better explanation for schizophrenia and I do not wish to take credit away from practitioners in that field who have studied tirelessly the machinations of the human brain. I only base this on my own understanding as a person with no medical degree or affiliation whatsoever unless except being raised by a mother who doubles as a nurse which I’m sure also does not qualify me for medicine. Today’s fashion trends, fancy automobiles, gadgets, cell-phones, houses and all things material have come to be things that occupy the minds of virtually almost anyone who mingles with society who just aim to satisfy personal wants (not needs). When was the last time you saw a schizophrenic and had a thought lasting more than just a few minutes as to why and how he/she became that way? Or is it too much of a waste of time? Has materialism chanced humanitarianism to the detriment of our empathy for the disabled? Have most of us concluded it is not our business to know these things? In the country we live in, anytime a person strays into his mind, his unconscious consciousness begins to materialize and form 3-D images of wealth and the good life which in itself is not a bad thing because of its classification under ‘ambition’, but how often do we think of a way to better the state of our immediate environment which is the starting point to a better country and the world at large. The human species is the greatest and most sophisticated machine that will ever be built and if it was ever for sale, it would be the most expensive item that could ever be purchased by human currency (disregarding the slave trade era of course). We have the capacity to love, to hate, to let go, to learn, to imitate, to be passionate, to have ambition, to do and undo, to cause and to end. In animals, the predominant instinct is for survival and they kill for it, in humans we have the exact same instinct but what we also have is the ability to tell right from wrong, the ability to choose. Why don’t we make use of this gift and touch the lives of others positively. If you believe you have been blessed in some way regardless of measure, I mean even waking up from a semi-comatose (sleep) state every single day is a blessing in itself, then we must affect in anyway we can the lives of our less privileged neighbors.

“True wealth is measured not by how much we own but by how much is sown. “