Look Again: Mental Illness Re-Examined

Throughout this season, we have taken a deeper look into serious mental illnesses, like schizophrenia, and dived in headfirst to talk to professionals and family members about the subject. But what if I told you that symptoms of schizophrenia are also experienced by people with autism? Even more revealing, people with autism are at a higher risk of developing schizophrenia...

People learn from personal experiences. 1 out of 100 live with schizophrenia and until host Faydra Aldridge's sister was diagnosed with it, she thought it was something that only happened to others. But it isn’t, it's something that happened to and affected her family and affects almost every one of us in some way either directly or indirectly...

Researchers have estimated that about 80 percent of the risk for developing Schizophrenia is hereditary and yet that doesn't mean people with that genetic component in their family history will actually develop the disorder. Sometimes Schizophrenia risk increases through a random mutation that is not passed from parent to child. In this episode, we'll be looking at the role genetics plays in the development and onset of Schizophrenia...

Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at some of the symptoms of schizophrenia. In particular, the cognitive losses that can be associated with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Anosognosia is a medical term meaning 'to not know a disease.' This occurs for people with brain injuries as well as mental illness, and means someone is literally unaware of their own mental health condition or they can't see it accurately...

Mental illness touches everyone's lives, whether we want to admit it or not. And yet, mental illnesses like schizophrenia are rarely discussed publicly. That lack of conversation is what our guest is hoping to change. Meet Michelle Hammer, a mental health advocate, entrepreneur and graphic designer. She challenges the idea that schizophrenia should be hidden and hush-hush with bold eye-catching designs...

Brought to you by the BC Schizophrenia Society and supporting BC Partner organizations, "Look Again: Mental Illness Re-Examined” returns for a second season this fall beginning October 27. This time the podcast goes deeper with the subjects we tackle, the guests we talk to and the research we dive into — we're pushing you to really look at what it's like to live with mental illness...

It's not easy to live with a serious mental illness, like schizophrenia, and the future sometimes seems daunting and hopeless. But many people living with serious mental illnesses, like schizophrenia, are able to lead full and rewarding lives. It may not be what one imagined, but then life never is...

Serious question: Why is it that when people show signs of serious mental illness or psychosis -- calling the police for help is often viewed as a "last resort" by families and loved ones? Historically, when law enforcement and mental illness intersect, the results have been patchy. But Sgt. Cara Thomson of Surrey RCMP's Police Mental Health Outreach team wants to change that...

It's a hard reality that mental illness and substance use often coincide. Combine these factors with poverty and social marginalization, and you have the snowballing problem known as "concurrent disorders." Dr. Bill MacEwan has spent the last 20+ years working with patients in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, a neighbourhood that is home to around 20,000 people with almost 25% of the people suffering from mental illness...

On this episode of Look Again we’re asking: what’s at the root of the hesitation around using medication to treat mental illness? How do the medications actually work on the brain? And what other treatments work in combination with medications? Host Faydra Aldridge speaks with Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia...