Is Cognitive Decline Something You're Concerned About?

Is there a connection between intelligence and schizophrenia? Are people with schizophrenia more likely to have higher or lower IQs than the general population?

In today’s episode of Inside Schizophrenia, host Rachel Star Withers, a diagnosed schizophrenic, and co-host Gabe Howard explore the current views around the connection between intelligence and having schizophrenia.

Author Steven Paul Lansky joins to share his new book “The Break,” a memoir about one of his schizophrenic breaks from reality.

To learn more -- or read the transcript -- please visit the official episode page.

Guest Bio

Steven Paul Lansky was raised by a loving family in Cincinnati, Ohio. He grew up sailing and bicycling and was unaware of how he would become an artist, harmonica player, and world traveler. First diagnosed with schizophrenia after his freshman year at Harvard, where he had been admitted at age 17, Lansky found art in psychiatric hospitals. He discovered his alcoholism in psychiatric treatment with the help of a generous writer with whom he apprenticed in his late 20s. By then, he had regional notoriety for his urban poetry. At 30, he began a career working with people with mental health conditions, at first as a vocational rehabilitation supervisor and later as a field-worker. During this time, he hosted a weekly radio show on a local NPR affiliate where he shared spoken word and music. In his early 40s, he earned an MA from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in creative writing. Since then, he has taught writing, traveled, and published six books, including the audio novel “Jack Acid,” available on Spotify and Apple Music. As he was retiring, he earned an MFA from the low-residency creative writing program at the University of Tampa. 

“The Break” is Steve Lansky’s harrowing and comic account of his descent into madness after he changed the medication he took to keep his schizophrenia in check. Written with a poet’s eye for detail and great sensitivity and insight, it follows his quixotic quest to find love and literary success while trying to navigate a world that was not designed for people like him.

Inside Schizophrenia Podcast Host

Rachel Star Withers creates videos documenting her schizophrenia, ways to manage and let others like her know they are not alone and can still live an amazing life. She has written Lil Broken Star: Understanding Schizophrenia for Kids and a tool for schizophrenics, To See in the Dark: Hallucination and Delusion Journal. Fun Fact: She has wrestled alligators.

To learn more about Rachel, please visit her website, RachelStarLive.com.

Inside Schizophrenia Co-Host

Gabe Howard is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author.

Gabe makes his home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio. He lives with his supportive wife, Kendall, and a Miniature Schnauzer dog that he never wanted, but now can’t imagine life without. To learn more about Gabe, please visit his website, gabehoward.com.

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