B.Design Exhibition 2023

Schizo-obsession disorder is a rare, misunderstood, and one of the most stigmatized mental health conditions due to the lack of awareness and discussion around it. It develops when an individual begins to simultaneously develop symptoms of schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder, primarily including intrusive thoughts. It affects a significant population of individuals with schizophrenia. Such individuals are often dehumanized, ignore, misunderstood, and face an absence of empathy. Due to such circumstances, they may also not be able to get diagnosed or reach out due to embarrassment. In some cases, they are unable to comprehend their emotions due to a lack of awareness within their surroundings and within themselves, which can be very mentally exhausting and traumatizing. This thesis explores the benefit and power of art expressionism to close the bridge between schizo-obsessive individuals and other individuals. It explores how one can generate empathy, engage, evoke emotions, and raise awareness by targeting societal misconceptions and reducing stigma around SOD through art expressionism. Since art expressionism stems from one’s personal experiences and thoughts, it can help to strongly communicate the experiences of individuals with SOD. It can enable visualizing obsessions, intrusive thoughts, and hallucinations connected to SOD through vibrant colours, patterns, and direct or abstract depictions. Using such a method will also make individuals with SOD feel seen, heard, and not alone since, in many cases, such individuals feel desperate for a community or someone to relate and talk to with similar experiences, which is a great way to improve one’s mental frustrations surrounding their experiences. Therefore, there is a need to increase awareness and understanding among mental health professionals, patients, caregivers, and the public to provide better mental health and care for individuals fighting schizo-obsessive disorder.

Keywords: Schizo-obsessive disorder, Schizophrenia, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Intrusive thoughts, Stigmatization, Art expressionism