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Anonymous, Video and Poor Insight in Persons With Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 42, Issue 2, March 2016, Pages 262–263, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbv006
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This paper contains a personal anecdote that may help in resolving the insidious problem of persons with schizophrenia lacking insight about their illness and thus falling back into a psychotic state.
My younger brother suffers from schizophrenia. He and my family have battled this illness for more than a decade. His condition deteriorated to point of losing complete control. He was delusional, aggressive, and completely divorced from reality. And despite our best efforts, he ended up homeless, roaming the streets dirty, smelly, and in tattered clothes. He was as bad as a person with schizophrenia gets. More importantly, over this more than decade long period, he was in and out of many inpatient and outpatient programs (often several times to each program) within our city and county. He was placed on conservatorship 3 times and forced to take medication. As a result, each time his condition improved and he regained control and mental clarity. Unfortunately, he never believed there was anything wrong with him. More importantly, he believed schizophrenia was a bogus disease that did not afflict him. As a result, he would inevitably get off the medication and resume the cycle of psychosis and homelessness.
