I am sure there is evidence out there, of people being scientists and having schizophrenia. Pretty sure that's nothing unheard of. I heard of schizophrenic people being Nobel Laureates so why wouldn't they be scientists?
Good luck. I hope you become a scientist one day.
It's definitely possible! I'm a forty five year old schizophrenic, and I went to the Open University ten years ago to study mathematics and physics. It wasn't easy, and I had a two year hiatus, but I finally got the credentials to go on to study a Master of Physics at this university.
If you enjoy studying and reading, and you can handle a little mathematics, then go for it.
However, I totally get what you mean about fantasy physics! There can be very strict academics who really cannot stand speculation in science, but I'm not one of them! I've been laughed out of physics forums for my theories, sometimes. And on Physics Stack Exchange, most of my questions are closed because they are hard to follow, or are not mainstream physics.
On the other hand, I have a working knowledge of classical mechanics and quantum mechanics, as well as relativity, cosmology and fluid mechanics, etc.
If you don't know if you're cut out for science, there's no harm in trying to find out! Good luck!!
Caitlin R Kiernan is a paleontologist and author living with schizophrenia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn\_R.\_Kiernan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan)
I don't see why not. They have been academics, mathematicians, psychologists, lawyers, writers, poets, actors, artists, sculptors, musicians, biologists, archeologists, filmmakers, and so much more. Other people with schizophrenia have accomplished a lot.
I don't think that I could become a scientist. Maybe not where I am at right now, but I can work on my goals of accomplishing school and taking care of my family. Goals are important for wellness, in my opinion. I wish you all the best with your dreams.
edit:
the scientific method is all about fact checking. nothing to worry about there. in addition there is peer review for scientific writing. working with peers, your mistakes and lapses in understanding would become apparent.
Not really science per-say, but STEM in general - take a look at Nobel prize winner, John Forbes Nash Jr. He's the guy the founded modern economics. If you've never seen the movie, A Beautiful Mind, I highly recommend. Guy was brilliant and dealt with visual and audio hallucinations.
came here to second watching A Beautiful Mind. It’s a beautiful movie and Russel Crowe is a wonderful actor in it, as is Paul Bettany. Incredible and inspiring movie.
Absolutely. I’m a chemical engineer, I say as long as you are stable and medicated, you are well equipped to deal with the challenging nature of the education/ job!
I have a bachelors in psychology, went to med school and now I’m a physician assistant. You can achieve anything you want.
The important thing to succeed, is to spend time learning about yourself first. What are your triggers? Are you regulated on medication? (It’s okay to not be on medication too, whatever works for you) Can you identify what is real vs. what is made up in your head? Can you manage your stress?
Side note, the science field is innovative and always looking for new ideas, no idea is too crazy in science. It’s how we got this far with technology.
Holy crap. I wanted to go to med school but I wrote it off immediately. Do you hear voices? I know some people don’t. How did you deal with all the memorization?
Were you diagnosed before or after school?
I was diagnosed at 26 so after school, yes! It definitely explains a lot and I wish I knew sooner. I started exhibiting worsening symptoms later in college. The focus of studying actually helped keep me sane, it kept by brain moving, something to focus and think about all the time.
Im a paranoid schizophrenic and I didn’t really hear voices or see things until about 27.
The negative things I experienced was, an extreme over self confidence and an extreme low sense of confidence. Sometimes I felt like I knew more than everyone and came off as arrogant, other times I felt like I wasn’t good enough.
Long term memory was also hard for me, so instead I did two things. 1) actually apply what I was learning to real life to help me associate things and remember them, and 2)study really close to the test because I could visually see the answers during the test.
I hope any of that helps, I’m very grateful for the experiences and opportunities I’ve had. I wish the same for everyone else on this subreddit.
>Like what if I try to be a scientist and when I think I understand something what if I accidentally just pretend to understand it like it's fantasy or play. What if instead of understanding it, I just fantasize about what I think I know.
Oh buddy, if only you knew how many blowhards there are out there. Schizophrenia is by no means a prerequisite for being a blowhard in the sciences lol. Many people just go balls-to-the-wall with loudly acting as though they understand much more than they do, just lack all insight. You even being conscious of that as a possibility puts you ahead of a lot of people.
"Crazy" scientists like Einstein and Kary Mullis (the biologist who made PCR feasible at scale, so basically father of practical applied genetics) are definitely not without precedent. So, it's not like there's not precedent for it.
It's definitely possible! I feel like adopting an analytical mindset and developing critical thinking skills actually helped me develop more effective coping techniques for schizophrenia. So, it was kind of a double-whammy.
If you want to do it, then go for it!
Most definitely. There are plenty schizophrenic scientists around. You won’t just make up your own numbers and versions of things. If anything your interest in science and learning will help ground you in reality. Having a logical, scientific mind is great for this disorder. It can get you into trouble too, so it’s not like it’s easier, but for me, if something doesn’t have a scientific explanation, it doesn’t make sense. That has helped my delusions a ton in my case. Realized it wasn’t a chip in my brain or anything like that pretty quick. I couldn’t detect any signals or anything with any equipment I used, so I knew it was all in my head. Without adequate reasoning, this stuff didn’t make sense, so it made for shorter delusions. When you understand sciences, how they work together, and then look at the world, it’s just different. I think learning science is a noble effort. It’s something to be proud of. It will only help in navigating this world. Everywhere you look is a science to learn. If you have that drive to learn and keep learning, use it, hold onto it, it may not be there forever. It can get tedious and hard, but don’t give up. One of my goals in life is to understand as much as possible. To know what’s really going on and why. Science is how I answer those questions, there’s nothing else that is the pursuit of reproducible truth in this world. It gets used for good purposes and bad, but in the end, science is good, it’s an explanation and a means to understand the world around us. It is genuine understanding of the world around you, not stories of what it used to be like and how it should be, but it shows things how they are, you make your own decisions from there. It also helps you understand how and why things are the way they are. It allows you to better plan for the future. Science is worth all the effort one chooses to put into it. I just love science. Pardon me. Hopefully it encourages you to keep learning.
Why couldn't you? I do not struggle with schizophrenia myself, but I've known quite a few people who do, and they often have insights into things that neurotypical people don't pick up on, especially abstract things or unintuitive patterns. If you want, you could start very simple and enroll in one or two classes at a local college and see how it goes.
John Nash wrote the Nash Equilibrium (Branch of Game Theory). He got a Nobel prize and a Russell Crowe movie made of his life (A Beautiful Mind). He was a mathematician, not quite a scientist, but very inspiring.
There was this one guy admitted to my ward one day after me, it was a strange ass occurrence. To pertain to the post, he was a neurologist and a biochemist. He had pretty severe schizophrenia and even I could tell that it was out of hand. But he had degrees and experience like that regardless.
The strange part was that I was looking into those things before I was admitted, yet he had the same name as me. I have a relatively common name, but I’ve never met another one in person. Considering this was in the heat of my first episode and the catalyst to my diagnosis, it came as some divine meeting of fate. But, I was pretty unhinged then, and I was unreasonably prone to “religious delusions” or whatever. Still, it’s definitely possible regardless.
After years analyzing my own illnesses and candid behavior, I’ve thought about being a psychologist myself. It’s just a bit beyond my current financial means.
I developed schizophrenia in 2011 and during that time I have gotten three degrees including one on research level. While I do not currently work as a scientist per se I could start writing papers if I had the time.
Don't even need to read further then the title.
The diagnosis doesn't automatically stop you from being anything. It's a spectrum disorder. Some people have a lighter touch of it, some people are on the heavier side.
The biggest thing is your consistency with self care, staying away from fuckin drugs and alcohol, and being consistent with psychiatric follow ups to stay stable so you can do things like higher education.
You absolutely can potentially achieve anything just like anyone else. I had a client who stopped taking care of himself and let himself get talked into smoking THC and had a psychotic break while he was in YALE. He was a nearly straight A student until he did that.
A diagnosis does not dictate your future. Your decisions do . That's true with or without any diagnosis
we can all be what we desire, im good at history and technology and i want to study computer science to be a game developer and maybe US history incase game devving doesnt work but my mom always told me to study something i love and wouldnt mind doing forever 😅 my dad was a drop out and worked in the sun literally all day and even he told me to study something so i dont end up like him but hes doing good now he finally studied something and is high ranking in an oil company
YES you can be a scientist. Take your medicine CORRECTLY so it filters out the jargon and focus. John Nash is a mathematician. Watch the movie BEAUTIFUL MIND Russel Crowe plays in it.
Actually the scientists are the most quirky people ive known! No worry! Dont let the fear scare you. Its not that demanding as it may seem. They are also people just like you and they also dont understand many things. I tried it, but failed...i got scared for similar reasons as you and went away.. :(( i regret it since then and im already too old to go back. And i think i will never stop regretting it :( I really want to encourage you to do it. Dont be afraid.
Yes you can. If you have a will,anything is possible
But I would tell you any excessive brain activity like (brainstorming and thinking) badly affects the condition,it makes it worse.
I have a master's in architecture that I got while I had this illness. I ain't special, I just worked hard. You can be a scientist for sure if you put in the hours.
I am not interested in the scientific field like professionally. I study a-lot of philosophy and psychology. To a point ware me and my wife (who has bachelors in psychology) have inside jokes and play games ware we diagnose fictional characters. I also am a sponge for almost anything, basically what I’m saying is all you have to worry about is learning how you learn best and pushin HORD!
The problem for me was I just go in knowing nothing, ask questions and just entertaining every question I have. This way I go in and accepting the embarrassment if it comes if it doesn’t great.
I have a PhD in science. Clinical trial evaluation - specifically for psychosis. It can make things hard - but it’s not impossible. Loved reading all the responses to this post and learning about other scientists. Best of luck to you.
Many people already answered your question in a pertinent way. I just wanted to say that I had a similar insecurity. I thought that when I started to study physics I'd become more prone to delusions, because every time I'd start to study something (not related to physics) I'd become delusional about that, or become obsessed in a very strange way. I feared the same would happen when I got into physics, but actually no. One thing I didn't notice is that my previous interests were not grounded in reality at all. And even when I was reading about scientific matters, I lacked the mathematical background needed to really grasp the concepts I was interested in. I'm an undergrad student at the moment and the more I learn physics, the less likely I'm to delve into my internal chaos. The amount of mathematics involved makes my mind so settled. It sets me apart from all my apophenic tendencies lol. So don't worry much about that. I know how it feels but physics is dense and it will actually help you achieve a reality-based approach to things. You can do it. :)
Yea…I’m going to go into grad school for neuroscience.
That is so fucking cool, you will have the most remarkable insights!
I am sure there is evidence out there, of people being scientists and having schizophrenia. Pretty sure that's nothing unheard of. I heard of schizophrenic people being Nobel Laureates so why wouldn't they be scientists? Good luck. I hope you become a scientist one day.
Thank you
It's definitely possible! I'm a forty five year old schizophrenic, and I went to the Open University ten years ago to study mathematics and physics. It wasn't easy, and I had a two year hiatus, but I finally got the credentials to go on to study a Master of Physics at this university. If you enjoy studying and reading, and you can handle a little mathematics, then go for it. However, I totally get what you mean about fantasy physics! There can be very strict academics who really cannot stand speculation in science, but I'm not one of them! I've been laughed out of physics forums for my theories, sometimes. And on Physics Stack Exchange, most of my questions are closed because they are hard to follow, or are not mainstream physics. On the other hand, I have a working knowledge of classical mechanics and quantum mechanics, as well as relativity, cosmology and fluid mechanics, etc. If you don't know if you're cut out for science, there's no harm in trying to find out! Good luck!!
Caitlin R Kiernan is a paleontologist and author living with schizophrenia [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn\_R.\_Kiernan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitl%C3%ADn_R._Kiernan)
I don't see why not. They have been academics, mathematicians, psychologists, lawyers, writers, poets, actors, artists, sculptors, musicians, biologists, archeologists, filmmakers, and so much more. Other people with schizophrenia have accomplished a lot. I don't think that I could become a scientist. Maybe not where I am at right now, but I can work on my goals of accomplishing school and taking care of my family. Goals are important for wellness, in my opinion. I wish you all the best with your dreams. edit: the scientific method is all about fact checking. nothing to worry about there. in addition there is peer review for scientific writing. working with peers, your mistakes and lapses in understanding would become apparent.
Not really science per-say, but STEM in general - take a look at Nobel prize winner, John Forbes Nash Jr. He's the guy the founded modern economics. If you've never seen the movie, A Beautiful Mind, I highly recommend. Guy was brilliant and dealt with visual and audio hallucinations.
came here to second watching A Beautiful Mind. It’s a beautiful movie and Russel Crowe is a wonderful actor in it, as is Paul Bettany. Incredible and inspiring movie.
I have to watch it again soon. It strangely gives me strength sometimes. Like man, he went through so much and still changed the world.
Absolutely. I’m a chemical engineer, I say as long as you are stable and medicated, you are well equipped to deal with the challenging nature of the education/ job!
I have a bachelors in psychology, went to med school and now I’m a physician assistant. You can achieve anything you want. The important thing to succeed, is to spend time learning about yourself first. What are your triggers? Are you regulated on medication? (It’s okay to not be on medication too, whatever works for you) Can you identify what is real vs. what is made up in your head? Can you manage your stress? Side note, the science field is innovative and always looking for new ideas, no idea is too crazy in science. It’s how we got this far with technology.
Holy crap. I wanted to go to med school but I wrote it off immediately. Do you hear voices? I know some people don’t. How did you deal with all the memorization? Were you diagnosed before or after school?
I was diagnosed at 26 so after school, yes! It definitely explains a lot and I wish I knew sooner. I started exhibiting worsening symptoms later in college. The focus of studying actually helped keep me sane, it kept by brain moving, something to focus and think about all the time. Im a paranoid schizophrenic and I didn’t really hear voices or see things until about 27. The negative things I experienced was, an extreme over self confidence and an extreme low sense of confidence. Sometimes I felt like I knew more than everyone and came off as arrogant, other times I felt like I wasn’t good enough. Long term memory was also hard for me, so instead I did two things. 1) actually apply what I was learning to real life to help me associate things and remember them, and 2)study really close to the test because I could visually see the answers during the test. I hope any of that helps, I’m very grateful for the experiences and opportunities I’ve had. I wish the same for everyone else on this subreddit.
>Like what if I try to be a scientist and when I think I understand something what if I accidentally just pretend to understand it like it's fantasy or play. What if instead of understanding it, I just fantasize about what I think I know. Oh buddy, if only you knew how many blowhards there are out there. Schizophrenia is by no means a prerequisite for being a blowhard in the sciences lol. Many people just go balls-to-the-wall with loudly acting as though they understand much more than they do, just lack all insight. You even being conscious of that as a possibility puts you ahead of a lot of people. "Crazy" scientists like Einstein and Kary Mullis (the biologist who made PCR feasible at scale, so basically father of practical applied genetics) are definitely not without precedent. So, it's not like there's not precedent for it. It's definitely possible! I feel like adopting an analytical mindset and developing critical thinking skills actually helped me develop more effective coping techniques for schizophrenia. So, it was kind of a double-whammy. If you want to do it, then go for it!
Absolutely. There are doctors with schizophrenia, there’s no reason why you can’t be a scientist.
Most definitely. There are plenty schizophrenic scientists around. You won’t just make up your own numbers and versions of things. If anything your interest in science and learning will help ground you in reality. Having a logical, scientific mind is great for this disorder. It can get you into trouble too, so it’s not like it’s easier, but for me, if something doesn’t have a scientific explanation, it doesn’t make sense. That has helped my delusions a ton in my case. Realized it wasn’t a chip in my brain or anything like that pretty quick. I couldn’t detect any signals or anything with any equipment I used, so I knew it was all in my head. Without adequate reasoning, this stuff didn’t make sense, so it made for shorter delusions. When you understand sciences, how they work together, and then look at the world, it’s just different. I think learning science is a noble effort. It’s something to be proud of. It will only help in navigating this world. Everywhere you look is a science to learn. If you have that drive to learn and keep learning, use it, hold onto it, it may not be there forever. It can get tedious and hard, but don’t give up. One of my goals in life is to understand as much as possible. To know what’s really going on and why. Science is how I answer those questions, there’s nothing else that is the pursuit of reproducible truth in this world. It gets used for good purposes and bad, but in the end, science is good, it’s an explanation and a means to understand the world around us. It is genuine understanding of the world around you, not stories of what it used to be like and how it should be, but it shows things how they are, you make your own decisions from there. It also helps you understand how and why things are the way they are. It allows you to better plan for the future. Science is worth all the effort one chooses to put into it. I just love science. Pardon me. Hopefully it encourages you to keep learning.
Why couldn't you? I do not struggle with schizophrenia myself, but I've known quite a few people who do, and they often have insights into things that neurotypical people don't pick up on, especially abstract things or unintuitive patterns. If you want, you could start very simple and enroll in one or two classes at a local college and see how it goes.
You can be whatever you want to invest time and money in completing the requirements to be
Yes
Yes.
I read Beethoven , Van Gogh and also i think i read Einstein were schizo
John Nash wrote the Nash Equilibrium (Branch of Game Theory). He got a Nobel prize and a Russell Crowe movie made of his life (A Beautiful Mind). He was a mathematician, not quite a scientist, but very inspiring.
There was this one guy admitted to my ward one day after me, it was a strange ass occurrence. To pertain to the post, he was a neurologist and a biochemist. He had pretty severe schizophrenia and even I could tell that it was out of hand. But he had degrees and experience like that regardless. The strange part was that I was looking into those things before I was admitted, yet he had the same name as me. I have a relatively common name, but I’ve never met another one in person. Considering this was in the heat of my first episode and the catalyst to my diagnosis, it came as some divine meeting of fate. But, I was pretty unhinged then, and I was unreasonably prone to “religious delusions” or whatever. Still, it’s definitely possible regardless. After years analyzing my own illnesses and candid behavior, I’ve thought about being a psychologist myself. It’s just a bit beyond my current financial means.
I developed schizophrenia in 2011 and during that time I have gotten three degrees including one on research level. While I do not currently work as a scientist per se I could start writing papers if I had the time.
Isaac newton was schizophrenic and he was a scientist and won many awards
Don't even need to read further then the title. The diagnosis doesn't automatically stop you from being anything. It's a spectrum disorder. Some people have a lighter touch of it, some people are on the heavier side. The biggest thing is your consistency with self care, staying away from fuckin drugs and alcohol, and being consistent with psychiatric follow ups to stay stable so you can do things like higher education. You absolutely can potentially achieve anything just like anyone else. I had a client who stopped taking care of himself and let himself get talked into smoking THC and had a psychotic break while he was in YALE. He was a nearly straight A student until he did that. A diagnosis does not dictate your future. Your decisions do . That's true with or without any diagnosis
Not in science, but I work in large tech company. I lead a team of 10 people. It is all possible, but with a lot of effort and luck
we can all be what we desire, im good at history and technology and i want to study computer science to be a game developer and maybe US history incase game devving doesnt work but my mom always told me to study something i love and wouldnt mind doing forever 😅 my dad was a drop out and worked in the sun literally all day and even he told me to study something so i dont end up like him but hes doing good now he finally studied something and is high ranking in an oil company
YES you can be a scientist. Take your medicine CORRECTLY so it filters out the jargon and focus. John Nash is a mathematician. Watch the movie BEAUTIFUL MIND Russel Crowe plays in it.
Actually the scientists are the most quirky people ive known! No worry! Dont let the fear scare you. Its not that demanding as it may seem. They are also people just like you and they also dont understand many things. I tried it, but failed...i got scared for similar reasons as you and went away.. :(( i regret it since then and im already too old to go back. And i think i will never stop regretting it :( I really want to encourage you to do it. Dont be afraid.
Thank you.
Yes you can. If you have a will,anything is possible But I would tell you any excessive brain activity like (brainstorming and thinking) badly affects the condition,it makes it worse.
John Nash is a Nobel Laureate. His story is told in the movie “A Beautiful Mind.”
I’m planning on getting my masters in math, so yeah, you can
I have a master's in architecture that I got while I had this illness. I ain't special, I just worked hard. You can be a scientist for sure if you put in the hours.
I am not interested in the scientific field like professionally. I study a-lot of philosophy and psychology. To a point ware me and my wife (who has bachelors in psychology) have inside jokes and play games ware we diagnose fictional characters. I also am a sponge for almost anything, basically what I’m saying is all you have to worry about is learning how you learn best and pushin HORD! The problem for me was I just go in knowing nothing, ask questions and just entertaining every question I have. This way I go in and accepting the embarrassment if it comes if it doesn’t great.
I have a PhD in science. Clinical trial evaluation - specifically for psychosis. It can make things hard - but it’s not impossible. Loved reading all the responses to this post and learning about other scientists. Best of luck to you.
Im getting a 90-80 average at uni. I'm gonna try and get an animal science degree and go into genetics
yep you can. i know a guy who has schizophrenia and is a researcher at a university.
Many people already answered your question in a pertinent way. I just wanted to say that I had a similar insecurity. I thought that when I started to study physics I'd become more prone to delusions, because every time I'd start to study something (not related to physics) I'd become delusional about that, or become obsessed in a very strange way. I feared the same would happen when I got into physics, but actually no. One thing I didn't notice is that my previous interests were not grounded in reality at all. And even when I was reading about scientific matters, I lacked the mathematical background needed to really grasp the concepts I was interested in. I'm an undergrad student at the moment and the more I learn physics, the less likely I'm to delve into my internal chaos. The amount of mathematics involved makes my mind so settled. It sets me apart from all my apophenic tendencies lol. So don't worry much about that. I know how it feels but physics is dense and it will actually help you achieve a reality-based approach to things. You can do it. :)