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posted by martyb on Friday October 25 2019, @06:09AM   Printer-friendly
from the didn't-see-that-one-coming dept.

A study carried out by The University of Western Australia has provided compelling evidence that congenital/early cortical blindness – that is when people are blind from birth or shortly after—is protective against schizophrenia.

The unusual discovery has fascinated scientists and may lead to a better understanding of what causes schizophrenia – a question that has baffled scientists for decades.

Schizophrenia is characterised by symptoms such as losing touch with reality, hearing voices and having visual hallucinations. However, despite numerous bodies of research, the exact cause still remains a mystery.

Lead author Professor Vera Morgan from the UWA Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Research Unit in the Schools of Population and Global Health and Medicine said they also found no one with congenital or early cortical blindness had developed any other psychotic illnesses.

Can being born blind protect people from schizophrenia?

British Psychological Society Digest Report

[Abstract]: Blindness, Psychosis, and the Visual Construction of the World

[Source]: The University of Western Australia

I didn't know about this nor did I make such a connection. Has anyone here observed this connection, that blindness prevents schizophrenia ??


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 26 2019, @06:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 26 2019, @06:27PM (#912148)

    I've lived with the condition since late teen/early adult age and for various reasons I went many year without treatment. I have an analytical mind and a very good memory, and I've spent lots of time observing and trying to make sense of the phenomena distorting my reality when I'm psychotic.

    I've come to basically the same conclusion as you from my first-person perspective. I think the signal, the hallucinations, while garbage, is still actual perceptual signal. Just distorted beyond recognition. I've described my conditions to others as being as like the whole world being turned on hi-gain. Amplified beyond what my hardware was designed to handle and with a horrible SNR. That's how I perceive it.

    I've been on meds for years now and luckily, they're very effective for me. I'm now leading a relatively normal life. But even without acute symptoms, I find that my gain having been trained by years of trying to make sense of shitty signal seems to have given me something. I have a very acute perception of the world around me.

    Make of that what you will. Maybe I'm just a blabbering AC psycho.