Schizophrenia: Thought and Poem Jim Stevens
"Schizophrenia"
By Jim Stevens
"Schizophrenia" by Jim Stevens is a poem depicting the way a schizophrenic person 's brain works. In the first line of the poem Jim Stevens says "It was the house that suffered the most". Although he is using the visualization of a house, I believe that he is really just using imagery to portray a human. I believe that each stanza portrays a different symptom of Schizophrenia.
Through my studies of this poem, I was unable to find any documentation of the poet, Jim Stevens; therefore I was unable to assess his life and his reasoning behind writing this poem. Because of this I have had to make my own assumption that Jim Stevens might be writing this poem about himself. His lack of publication leaves a rather eerie air to the poem. All I found was purely speculations, of what the poem could mean or why it was written, no assurance.
The second stanza tells of slamming doors, angry feet, and slamming dishes. This portrays the behavior of a schizophrenic person. It is reckless for no reason. This is a symptom called "catatonia" CITATION Psy14 \l 1033 (Psych Central), which is when the subject moves excessively and has violent behavior. The greasy stains spreading on the cloth is imagery for disease spreading over the body.
"Certain doors were locked at night, feet stood for hours outside them" this depicts paranoia; this is another symptom of Schizophrenia. Many people will have delusions that there are other people around; therefore the writer felt that he needed to lock the doors in order to keep people out. He believed that people stood outside for hours. "Dishes were left unwashed; the cloth disappeared under a hardened crust." Many people with schizophrenia are not concerned with their hygiene or their own well being CITATION Psy14 \l 1033 (Psych Central). The writer didn’t care about his home being clean or even the state of his home in general.
"The house came to miss the shouting voices, the threats, the
By Jim Stevens
"Schizophrenia" by Jim Stevens is a poem depicting the way a schizophrenic person 's brain works. In the first line of the poem Jim Stevens says "It was the house that suffered the most". Although he is using the visualization of a house, I believe that he is really just using imagery to portray a human. I believe that each stanza portrays a different symptom of Schizophrenia.
Through my studies of this poem, I was unable to find any documentation of the poet, Jim Stevens; therefore I was unable to assess his life and his reasoning behind writing this poem. Because of this I have had to make my own assumption that Jim Stevens might be writing this poem about himself. His lack of publication leaves a rather eerie air to the poem. All I found was purely speculations, of what the poem could mean or why it was written, no assurance.
The second stanza tells of slamming doors, angry feet, and slamming dishes. This portrays the behavior of a schizophrenic person. It is reckless for no reason. This is a symptom called "catatonia" CITATION Psy14 \l 1033 (Psych Central), which is when the subject moves excessively and has violent behavior. The greasy stains spreading on the cloth is imagery for disease spreading over the body.
"Certain doors were locked at night, feet stood for hours outside them" this depicts paranoia; this is another symptom of Schizophrenia. Many people will have delusions that there are other people around; therefore the writer felt that he needed to lock the doors in order to keep people out. He believed that people stood outside for hours. "Dishes were left unwashed; the cloth disappeared under a hardened crust." Many people with schizophrenia are not concerned with their hygiene or their own well being CITATION Psy14 \l 1033 (Psych Central). The writer didn’t care about his home being clean or even the state of his home in general.
"The house came to miss the shouting voices, the threats, the
Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Oxford Dictionaries. Schizophrenia. 2014. Psych Central. (2014). Schizophrenia Symptoms. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 25, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/disorders/schizophrenia-symptoms/