Decisions and deliberations: how schizophrenia is more than psychosis | James Kesby | TEDxUQ

People with

schizophrenia

? I think we can, but it will take some time to figure it out. These are just some examples. It is important to know that no matter what test you do, I cannot know if you have

schizophrenia

. Many people with schizophrenia perform above average, and many people without schizophrenia perform below average. When we look at differences between groups, we see this shift toward making different

decisions

in people with schizophrenia. Our brains constantly compare current and past outcomes to try to predict what a future option will give us in return. When you make millions of small

decisions

every day, the small differences add up.

It makes things like staying productive at work

more

difficult for people with schizophrenia. Even the simple traffic analogy from before. Poor planning for delays means the possibility of

more

rushing or delayed work. These cognitive changes in schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses currently have no cure, so problems are always present in the lives of these people. This is the end of our brief tour of behavioral neuroscience. I hope you learned a few things. Psychosis is only one part of schizophrenia and may not be the most problematic. But our brain is also amazing at navigating this complex world without us realizing it.

The next time you have an opportunity I ask you to slow down and focus on all the little decisions you may be making without even realizing it. The next time you're getting ready for work or school, or any outing, evaluate every little decision and choice and every possible outcome. When you realize that you are behind, you will appreciate how well our brain works in the background, you will realize how difficult it can be for some people, and you will narrow down the choice useful or not so quickly. We should all appreciate that people with schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses experience symptoms that make their daily lives difficult.

Understanding how our brain makes decisions and how this is affected in disorders such as schizophrenia. I am confident that the neuroscience community can and will find ways to overcome these problems. I hope to work toward this goal through my research. But in the meantime, we can all be more aware, understand and better support the different challenges people face. We can all help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. (applause)