Today I had a discussion with a friend of mine about schizophrenia (he’s a social worker, I told him about that other friend of mine I suppose he has sz)…and what’s happened? He tried to aware me that ALL the sz people are dangerous, killers and (exact words) “they would try to assault you with pencils during the night shift”!..
Well, I told him the opposite. that the people I met on this forum seem to me ALL good persons, that I’m also sure that the sz friend of mine in real life won’t be capable of harm nobody…
Now I’m sad…why do people always talk shit about people with mental illness? 
it seems like schizophrenia is a synonymous of violence!!
Has he had a bad experience?
Yes it is saddening. Hopefully one day it won’t be like that.
Fear and ignorance. Those two have been around for a long time…
The media… that hasn’t done us any favors… I’m beginning to think that the media likes to only show the psychotic breaks. I want to see a movie or read a book where the person is in Negative symptom… the poor fictional person wouldn’t hurt anyone. But that part isn’t glamorous.
It really scares me that a social worker had this attitude. The men in my family are more prone to violence when we’re drunk then when we’re mentally ill. Seriously… my Dad, My Uncles, my male cousins, my brothers and I… all raised to be gentlemen. But we are NOT nice when we are drunk. This family can not handle it’s alcohol well.
I’ve been sober for 6 years… My Dad and Uncles… much longer then that. A belligerent drunk is more dangerous to others then I could ever be.
I am so very sorry your Social worker friend doesn’t know better. The one person who should too… Good luck and keep educating those around you as you can.
Barbie, he works with sz and he told me that talk to them is impossible and dangerous…he depicted them only like violent people and when I told him “I talked with sz people, they are like normal persons” he answered “Come to the clinic with me, I assume all the responsabilities but you’ll see how normal they are” with sarcasm of course…
I never had directly experience with drunk people so I can’t compare them. But I know a man who’s always drunk and I know how violent he can be.
After talking with my social worker friend I thought “how is a sz during a psychotic break?” I don’t wanna think he is right, I just can’t believe it.
By the way, would you mind tell me the difference between negative and positive symptoms?
The web site that might be able to answer that in a less rambling and meandering fashion then I can is these two
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Delusions are firmly held erroneous beliefs due to distortions or exaggerations of reasoning and/or misinterpretations of perceptions or experiences. Delusions of being followed or watched are common, as are beliefs that comments, radio or TV programs, etc., are directing special messages directly to him/her.
Hallucinations are distortions or exaggerations of perception in any of the senses, although auditory hallucinations (“hearing voices” within, distinct from one’s own thoughts) are the most common, followed by visual hallucinations.
Disorganized speech/thinking, also described as “thought disorder” or “loosening of associations,” is a key aspect of schizophrenia. Disorganized thinking is usually assessed primarily based on the person’s speech. Therefore, tangential, loosely associated, or incoherent speech severe enough to substantially impair effective communication is used as an indicator of thought disorder by the DSM-IV.
Grossly disorganized behavior includes difficulty in goal-directed behavior (leading to difficulties in activities in daily living), unpredictable agitation or silliness, social disinhibition, or behaviors that are bizarre to onlookers. Their purposelessness distinguishes them from unusual behavior prompted by delusional beliefs.
Catatonic behaviors are characterized by a marked decrease in reaction to the immediate surrounding environment, sometimes taking the form of motionless and apparent unawareness, rigid or bizarre postures, or aimless excess motor activity.
Other symptoms sometimes present in schizophrenia but not often enough to be definitional alone include affect inappropriate to the situation or stimuli, unusual motor behavior (pacing, rocking), depersonalization, derealization, and somatic preoccupations.
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Affective flattening is the reduction in the range and intensity of emotional expression, including facial expression, voice tone, eye contact, and body language.
Alogia, or poverty of speech, is the lessening of speech fluency and productivity, thought to reflect slowing or blocked thoughts, and often manifested as short, empty replies to questions.
Avolition is the reduction, difficulty, or inability to initiate and persist in goal-directed behavior; it is often mistaken for apparent disinterest. (examples of avolition include: no longer interested in going out and meeting with friends, no longer interested in activities that the person used to show enthusiasm for, no longer interested in much of anything, sitting in the house for many hours a day doing nothing.)
https://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=schizophrenia9
http://www.nami.org/factsheets/schizophrenia_factsheet.pdf
Hope this helps…
However… this is just a beginning… many on this site have different degrees of negative or positive symptoms.
Also there are different types too. I’m Undifferentiated Sz… that is what my label says… I take that to mean that I have a dose of Disorganized Sz and a dose of Paranoid Sz.
For more info…
Thank you very much 
One way to look at it is more/positive or less/negative then average rather then positive/good and negative/bad.
Very true… It use to confuse me when doctors were talking about me and they would say “a spike in positive symptoms” and I thought… see… I’m getting better. This is positive… 
I do remember telling my parents over the phone they could and should come get me from the hospital because my Dr. said I was having more positive symptoms again. So that had to be good. 
Your stories really do put a smile on my face and give me a chuckle. All I can say is priceless.
It’s because of media reports. Every time there is a mass shooting, people always assume that that person was schizophrenic, and sometimes they are. And yet, there are the majority of us who wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing, who are just struggling. He must not be a very good social worker, if that is what he thinks of his patients. How can he possibly help them if he thinks so badly of them?
I sort of laugh at that one too… Here I am… more head circus, more paranoia, more delusions, more voices… and telling my parents… NO the doc said this was positive. Come get me… 
I crack myself up.
I still get a little confused and have to stop and think about what positive symptoms mean and what negative symptoms mean. You would think the originators could have come up with something more logical and descriptive 
So you thought that positive symptoms meant you were feeling good, right? And your parents how reacted?
It’s good you can laugh thinking about it, it means now you feel really better! I also laugh thinking about my strange behaviours when I was at the beginning of my OCD, even if sometimes remembering that period brings me bad memories and I become sad
They were trying to tell me that positive symptoms didn’t mean good and they couldn’t get me out of hospital for that. We laugh about some stuff now. There are some sad things that I hate looking back on. But there were some very funny and odd things that we all laugh about… because truth be told… it is funny.
Some social workers are fools. That’s all I think is needed to be said.
So sorry about your friend’s ignorance about mental illness. He should know better if he’s a social worker. There are many people with mental illness who live productive lives. I’m not sure if you can convince this guy to change his mind. He may have to find out all on his own. Perhaps a family member of his will be diagnosed with a mental illness and he will learn that whatever his belief system was is wrong.
No, schizophrenia doesn’t mean violent. There may be some but there are plenty of violent people in the rest of society as well. Personally I don’t even squish mosquitos. I blow on them until they let go. I know plenty of good sz people too.
I’m not sure he will learn…he’s a strange guy himself. Infact, I try to not talk to him about sz because is pointless.
I believe your point of view most than his.
It disgusts me to see how much ignorance there is surrounding sz the last time someone was mocking my brother I broke my hand breaking there nose. What that “social worker” told you is disgusting and really makes me angry.