Here's a simple idea. How about they just wear a device on say their wrists That visually displays sounds?
So whenever they hear a voice they can make sure the display matches up. If they hear a voice but the display doesn't show anything then they know it's not real.
Uh, this is actually a pretty good idea, if you could implement it. It would have to filter out background noise, and would be tough to make it work in a crowd, but it seems like a decent aid, at least for those who are lucid enough to understand that they have a disorder.
As SoftwareMaven explains below, many schizophrenics experience visual hallucinations in addition to aural hallucinations, but this doesn't seem like a huge stumbling block.
Bigger, I think, is the paranoia aspect. If you really, truly believe the plants in and outside your house are vampires who are waiting to kill you (true story, unfortunately) I can't imagine you're going to put too much faith into your wristband.
Auditory aren't the only types of hallucinations. It isn't hard to imagine a hallucination that includes sound and a visual on the band.
Having somebody close to me who is affected by schizophrenia, I am hopeful that new, different treatments can help. The worst part is the lack of objective measure of reality for the suffer. It can be horribly frightening for them.
Yes, based on the article, there were the application was already used to two schizophrenia and the result is promising. I hope this will work out well.
According to psychology field, there is no medicine for this kind of problem. So I hope that this new discovery will help.
There are medicines, but the effectiveness is very hit-or-miss and the side effects can be horrid. Schizophrenia also is often accompanied by feelings of paranoia, which, combined, can make it difficult for patients to stay on medication.
What I meant by medicine is that it cannot help person to get well. Drinking medicine should be maintained, or else the patient will hear again the voice that is only in his mind. Not like flu or fever, a patient can get well if he drinks the prescribed medicine.
Ahh, I see. "There is no cure" is the phrase we would generally use. And, yes, unfortunately, there is no cure. We don't remotely understand what causes it, much less how to fix it. :(
So whenever they hear a voice they can make sure the display matches up. If they hear a voice but the display doesn't show anything then they know it's not real.