Can Cochlear Implant surgery cause schizophrenia?

Buffalo said:
Didn't HearAgain became bipolar after CI surgery? I don't recall if it is because of the surgery or one of the meds following the surgery.
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No. Her CI surgery was after her bipolar diagnosis. Way after.
 
Banjo said:
Not speaking on her behalf since I know nothing about her health history. Plus, I was recently told that she is banned at the moment. So it's not really my place to assume anything about her.

However, I will say that it is common knowledge that bipolar disorder is hereditary in the majority of the documented cases.
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I agree. I do not feel a CI or the aftermath.. causes it. It was already there. Just not as profound.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
CIs does not cause Schizophrenia. Your friend may have developed Schizophrenia on her own without CIs - there may be a different cause but the timing just happened to happen AFTER the CI surgery which may have made her think that the CI surgery caused the Schizophrenia.

Some people with Schizophrenia or other mental illnesses do not like to share with others the fact that they have a mental illness because they feel VERY embarrassed and there is a HUGE stigma linked to mental illnesses. A lot of non-mentally ill people look at mentally ill people as if they have leprosy and either are afraid of them or think they are strange or whatever. But they are not strange (they may act strange when off meds, but on the proper meds they can function pretty well). They would appreciate some support and open mindedness and understanding and some patience. Once you get to know them, they can turn out to be pretty cool and interesting people, and they often have a deeper understanding of things because they understand what it is like to have a mental illness. The only times they may become too strange or scary is most likely due to not being med-compliant or not on the proper meds (not one medication will work for ALL Schizophrenics - each person's brain is DIFFERENT and responds DIFFERENTLY to the same medication). Once the right medication combo/cocktail has been found, usually there is a big success in gaining back function of life and activities and stuff and they can live pretty much normally as long as they take their medication religiously. Mentally ill people who are off meds and those who are on meds, the differences are like night and day, trust me. I know a couple of people with Schizophrenia and I have seen a huge difference in them once they have been on the proper meds for a long period of time (it can take a while for the medications to have full effect - it cannot just happen overnight). Mental illness is no one's fault - it is because there is a problem with the chemicals in a Schizophrenic or other mentally ill person's brain. There is a huge stigma because people see someone acting very bizarrely off of meds and end up painting the entire mentally ill population with a very broad brush just because of that. That's not fair to do that.

I have a very dear friend who has both bipolar and Schizophrenia...but she has been off of her meds so she has been behaving very bizarrely lately, to the point of scaring other people and doing very inappropriate things. Someone is taking care of her (as in making sure she has a home and food) but no one is doing the right things to make sure she gets the proper care she needs. She's been in and out of the hospital. I am extremely concerned about her but unfortunately I am 6 states away so unfortunately I can't really do anything about it. She's someone I grew up with ever since I was 4 years old, so she is a very dear friend, and it makes me VERY sad to hear that she is NOT doing well. I cried when I got this news about her from another friend. Fortunately I might have a way to help her, I have an idea, but I have to discuss this with my other friend first.

Anyway, it is NOT possible for CIs to cause Schizophrenia. That's a fact.
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Lucy nailed it here
 
I agree with others that there is no cause and effect having a CI and that of schizophrenia. We are talking about an chemical imbalance type illness that affects the brain. A CI has no such impact as all it does is stimulate the cochlear nerve. There is no direct connection of the CI to the brain whatsoever.

To try to correlate the two, one would have to argue that hearing causes schizophrenia which would be an insane proposition say the least.
 
Maybe let CaliSunshine denote his friend/acquaintance's experience as anecdotal or subjective to an answer?

While ruling out with majority logic can give a general answer, what if the case presented here happened to be one of those one in a million chances that could happen to anyone? (Not saying that it is). Maybe some medicine or some psychological effect that isn't related during the CI surgery, but some kind of chain of events that resulted as an aftermath may have caused the schizo, or made it more noticeable?

Some food for thought.
 
I doubt it! CI is not cause like this. I agree with Lucia, Banjo and other. Hear Again knowledge about Schizophrenia. Honestly I have no idea about her symptom cause by this.
 
naisho said:
Maybe let CaliSunshine denote his friend/acquaintance's experience as anecdotal or subjective to an answer?

While ruling out with majority logic can give a general answer, what if the case presented here happened to be one of those one in a million chances that could happen to anyone? (Not saying that it is). Maybe some medicine or some psychological effect that isn't related during the CI surgery, but some kind of chain of events that resulted as an aftermath may have caused the schizo, or made it more noticeable?

Some food for thought.
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Try again. A CI DID NOT cause schizophrenia as it usually manifests around the late teens to 20s. Also, there is research that suggests that schizophrenia is an organic brain disease. In other words, there is something wrong with the brain of a person with schizophrenia. CIs absolutely, cateogorically, unequivocally DO NOT cause schizophrenia!
 
Oceanbreeze said:
Try again. A CI DID NOT cause schizophrenia as it usually manifests around the late teens to 20s. Also, there is research that suggests that schizophrenia is an organic brain disease. In other words, there is something wrong with the brain of a person with schizophrenia. CIs absolutely, cateogorically, unequivocally DO NOT cause schizophrenia!
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That's some interesting info you have put into the thread. I agree that there's just something that doesn't connect with the CI being the ultimate instigator behind the cause of it.

What I was implying was, either some weird nominal probability occurred manifesting what lead to the development of the schizo, or a chain of events post-op that lead to it becoming noticeable: that was the latter part of my previous paragraph. I just now realized this is what Lucia also described.

I was thinking for reasons to why the "schizo" developed during the downturn of CaliSunshine's relationship, despite completely ruling out the CI operation of his acquaintance, the schizo's still there!

Anyway, I have no medical profession to reinforce my thoughts, as I am not one. I still feel nothing is ever a 100% or 110% guarantee, I always feel there's a slight chance for anything to happen - that's my outtake on things. (By this I am not inferring on postop induced schizo, more like something else that led to its development)
 
naisho said:
That's some interesting info you have put into the thread. I agree that there's just something that doesn't connect with the CI being the ultimate instigator behind the cause of it.

What I was implying was, either some weird nominal probability occurred manifesting what lead to the development of the schizo, or a chain of events post-op that lead to it becoming noticeable: that was the latter part of my previous paragraph. I just now realized this is what Lucia also described.

I was thinking for reasons to why the "schizo" developed during the downturn of CaliSunshine's relationship, despite completely ruling out the CI operation of his acquaintance, the schizo's still there!

Anyway, I have no medical profession to reinforce my thoughts, as I am not one. I still feel nothing is ever a 100% or 110% guarantee, I always feel there's a slight chance for anything to happen - that's my outtake on things. (By this I am not inferring on postop induced schizo, more like something else that led to its development)
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More than likely the person was delusional and THOUGHT the CI caused her schizophrenia. The person with schizophrenia has a very faulty thought process including paranoia, so its likely that this person blamed the CI for the cause erroneously.
 
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Drug abuse is a possible factor in some cases since many people with schizophrenia are drug abusers.
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Yes, and not just hard drugs......in some people it can be triggered by pot smoking. one reason why i have never smoked pot!
 
A good friend of mine developed late onset schizophrenia, early 30's I think it was. Sorry to hear of your friend, mental illness sucks. As echoed throughout this thread, I doubt it was caused by the CI implant.
 
VamPyroX said:
It's true... everyone here who has CI are schizophrenics! :Ohno:









Just kidding. I've never heard of anything like that. :dunno:
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That was a good one ! LOL! I had some clients that were husband and wife. The wife had a lot of ear wax and her husband said that was how his wife got dementia!
 
What about HAs? (I know it's impossible but I dunno)

I don't have schizophrenia
in me. (I do have gay in me)

Peace
 
deafdyke said:
Yes, and not just hard drugs......in some people it can be triggered by pot smoking. one reason why i have never smoked pot!
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Yes! It does hard drug like many different control substance, PCP, METH, marijuana and alcohol abuse. The most common is marijuana. I have a friend's ex wife has bipolar/schizophrenia. She does use drug too much. That is why my friend left her for good! She is hearing. Anyways :topic:

I doubt about CI caused Schizophrenia.
 
My father, who was born deaf, received his cochlear implant when he was 37 years old. For the first few years, he took speech classes and tried to learn how to use it. Eventually he became frustrated, decided he didn't like it, and for years did not wear it. When he was 48, he tried it on again, for the first time in years, to see if it still worked. While wearing it, he passed an EMF (electromagnetic field) detector by his head on the side where the implant was and received what he felt was an "electric shock" to his brain. Almost immediately after, he began having symptoms of what I believe was schizophrenia (he was never formally diagnosed, at least not in time): memory loss and altered personality; he became very religious, thought he was talking to God, or aliens, he wasn't sure (he never acted like this before). He could not remember his childhood. He described his memory as flashes of "pictures" instead of the "video" memories he once had. He felt what he described as tingly after shocks to his brain and it kept him awake all night. He could not get an MRI done, because of the implant, so he underwent surgery to remove it and was scheduled to get an MRI done shortly after. However, he passed away in a self-caused car accident on July 11th, 2011 before he was able to get his MRi done. This all happened within a month of the electric shock he experience. I feel lost, sad, anger, despair, confusion. I was very close to my father and I was, and still am, devastated. I want to know why this happened. But I believe that the implant and the EMF detector had some factor in what has happened.
 
Cochlear Implants basically involve neurosurgery, anything can happen if the surgeons or staff make a mistake. It'll be hard to pinpoint the CI or the surgery (in the terms of malpractice) itself being the cause of the schizophrenia post-op, but I wouldn't be surprised if it there is any possibility of it happening. On the other hand it is obviously a rare consideration since many people who undergo CI surgery seldom turn out schizophrenic in the end.

Condolences about your father, it must have been painful to see someone you once knew and loved suddenly change without time for you to process it - I hope that you may find peace.
 
Since the above discussion took place 4 years- not much has happened to confirm the original hypothesis.
Since I have had my Cochlear Implant only 6 years- no one has mentioned the alleged risk of "getting schizophrenia". No sure which variant of schizophrenia was "developed"?
 
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