“Schizophrenia is a disease of emotion and thinking, not of intelligence,” said Professor Steve Pollack.
There wasn’t an open chair to be found, or a spot on the floor.
For this year’s Multicultural Day, the mental illness panel, consisting of Dr. Jazmir Herandez, Professor Steve Pollack and volunteer for the National Alliance of Mental Illness, Candace Jackson, discussed the studies of schizophrenia. According to Pollack, one percent of the world’s population is diagnosed with schizophrenia. The term schizophrenia was coined by a German psychologist, Eugen Bleuler, in 1911.
Hernandez, a professor at Moorpark College, described the biological aspect of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
“Cells function a certain way [and] problems in the cells cause mental illness,” she said.
Hernandez showed students a mock display of a human brain and the cerebral cortex.
For more information on schizophrenia or N.A.M.I visit www.namiventura.org or call (805) 641 2426.
