Post #2385561

2026-05-09 01:28 UTC

Meh... Schizophrenia is really fucking hard to diagnose, someone whose never been able to see, can't experience visual hallucinations, they just can't. And that's the main symptom, the one that people not only experience but can *usually* eventually figure out aren't real. They can experience auditory hallucinations, but are likely to have not only an inner monologue, but a richer one with more variation due to no vision. Creating narratives even subconsciously would help navigate figuratively and literally. With relaying on hearing so much, "false positives" would also likely be common, a study on how often blind people think they may have heard something may shed light. "Did someone say something" moments may mask auditory hallucinations. It's entirely possible there's blind schizophrenics, and they're either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. One thing that is weird, people born deaf also can't experience auditory hallucinations, so instead they experience "floating hands" visual hallucinations that angrily sign at them. So I'd be curious into research if schizophrenia in someone whose never experienced sight is exhibited in a radically different way. The symptoms are still just symptoms, they're not what's causing the issue. So it would make sense when such fundamental systems as vision and hearing are interrupted, symptoms may manifest in radically different ways, or even unnoticeable ways

Replies (4)

@Hegar@fedia.io 2026-05-09 03:19

I work with a deaf schizophrenic person and they talk (write, sign) about their "mind being quiet" or being "way out of my mind". When clearly experiencing symptoms they'll often look, sign, yell or kick at a specific area but can't really detail what exactly's happening in those moments. In my experience the behavioural elements of schizophrenia would be hard to miss, i doubt visual vs non-visual hallucinations would change that. My understanding is it can be hard to narrow down schizophrenia vs other diagnoses, but it's usually obvious that something is going on. I'd think if people were looking for blind schizophrenia cases they'd at least have a pool of likely candidates to look into. I'm instantly skeptical of "no blind schizophrenics" but it's just gut. I can't think of any explanation.

Open ##2385598
@Murse@slrpnk.net 2026-05-09 05:12

> someone whose never been able to see, can’t experience visual hallucinations, they just can’t. That would be really hard to assess. Hallucinations happen in the brain, so even if the eyes were nonfunctional or literally absent, that chunk (occipital lobe) of the brain isn't necessarily just turned off, so it's not a huge leap to conclude that that chunk could still crank out the sensation of sight in some way during a hallucination. But without the context of actual sight, that sensation wouldn't carry much meaning, and would probably be really hard for that person to describe. Interesting thought!

Open ##2385599
@ushmel@piefed.world 2026-05-09 15:38

Visual hallucinations is not the main symptom of schizophrenia though. You have all sorts of positive and negative symptoms, plus cognitive. Most patients do not "see" things that aren't there, in the way people commonly believe.

Open ##2385604
@CultLeader4Hire@lemmy.world 2026-05-09 07:19

My understanding was hallucinations didn’t specifically have to be visual, aural hallucinations were are sufficient to check the hallucinations box, is this incorrect?

Open ##2385607