Schizophrenia V. Bipolar
Kierrah Thomas
Mr. Hamilton
English 1020
17 September 2014
Schizophrenia vs. Bipolar Disorder: How to Cope With Diagnosed Family Member
What is a psychiatric disorder? When you ask many people what a psychiatric disorder is, the first thing they associate it with is mental hospitals, psychopaths, and crazy, dysfunctional people. But in all honesty, the only people who understand what psychiatric patients are dealing with are doctors, psychologist, and the family members that have to interact with these patients on a daily basis. Even in some cases, the patient themselves are not totally aware of what is happening to them psychologically. Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder are two psychiatric disorders that I personally learned to cope with. My oldest brother, Terrill, was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder at the age of thirteen. At the age of two, my mother, Nichole, was introducing my brother how to hold writing utensils, and how to write. He started to learn the concept pens, and pencils were used for writing, but at the same time he was only two; so every now and then he would perform normal two-year old behaviors and try to eat them. Ill-advisedly, one day when Terrill was drawing his version of cars, he began to eat the ball tip of the pen, ingesting the ink of the pen. Within a few days, my brother had become very sick, and had to become hospitalized.
Terrill’s hospital stay had become a long agonizing wait for family, especially my mother. She just wanted answers and for her son to be alright. My mother started to become depressed because Terrill was her first living child, after going through a miscarriage six years prior to this incident. My brother’s conditions started to get worse. The doctors realized that this unknown illness was affecting his brain. Soon, doctors decided that Terrill had developed ink poisoning. By this time, Terrill had already experience brain damage, and doctors told my mother that her son would live,
Mr. Hamilton
English 1020
17 September 2014
Schizophrenia vs. Bipolar Disorder: How to Cope With Diagnosed Family Member
What is a psychiatric disorder? When you ask many people what a psychiatric disorder is, the first thing they associate it with is mental hospitals, psychopaths, and crazy, dysfunctional people. But in all honesty, the only people who understand what psychiatric patients are dealing with are doctors, psychologist, and the family members that have to interact with these patients on a daily basis. Even in some cases, the patient themselves are not totally aware of what is happening to them psychologically. Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder are two psychiatric disorders that I personally learned to cope with. My oldest brother, Terrill, was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder at the age of thirteen. At the age of two, my mother, Nichole, was introducing my brother how to hold writing utensils, and how to write. He started to learn the concept pens, and pencils were used for writing, but at the same time he was only two; so every now and then he would perform normal two-year old behaviors and try to eat them. Ill-advisedly, one day when Terrill was drawing his version of cars, he began to eat the ball tip of the pen, ingesting the ink of the pen. Within a few days, my brother had become very sick, and had to become hospitalized.
Terrill’s hospital stay had become a long agonizing wait for family, especially my mother. She just wanted answers and for her son to be alright. My mother started to become depressed because Terrill was her first living child, after going through a miscarriage six years prior to this incident. My brother’s conditions started to get worse. The doctors realized that this unknown illness was affecting his brain. Soon, doctors decided that Terrill had developed ink poisoning. By this time, Terrill had already experience brain damage, and doctors told my mother that her son would live,
Cited: "A Brief History of Bipolar Disorder." A Brief History of Bipolar Disorder. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. "About Schizophrenia." SARDAA. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. "Bipolar Disorder." Symptoms. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. "Schizophrenia." Treatments and Drugs. Web. 17 Sept. 2014. "The History of Schizophrenia." The History of Schizophrenia. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.