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Mental Health The Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective Disorder Mega Thread

Vaya

Vaya

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This thread is dedicated to the discussion of issues surrounding Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder.

It is also dedicated to the loving support of those members of our community struggling to live with these debilitating disorders of the personality and reality.

Please be open and do not be afraid to seek help from our community!

Reminder: Content posted in this thread must abide by both the

>Bluelight User Agreement and The Dark Side Forum Guidelines

Here are some helpful links users have posted:

>Can Nicotine Actually Have a Good Side? Health and Nutrition Magazine - India

>Nicotine May Help Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia

>New York Times - "Successful and Schizophrenic" Article

>NPR Interview with Elyn Saks Regarding Research on Schizophrenia and Work


You are not alone.

<3

~ Vaya
 
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they won't stop talking to me no matter what i do the only thing i feel like might help is if i did what they want but then i or other people would end up dead so thats not so much of an option
 
has anyone with schizophrenia found a cure to the lack of motivation/energy that anti psychotics give you? im having a hard time with lack of motivation and energy and thinking of lessening my anti psychotic dosage.
 
sam05 said:
has anyone with schizophrenia found a cure to the lack of motivation/energy that anti psychotics give you? im having a hard time with lack of motivation and energy and thinking of lessening my anti psychotic dosage.
Click to expand...
Hey,

I'm not schizophrenic (Well, I could be, was never given a diagnosis after a year of weekly visits to a psychiatrist) but I may be able to help. I've found that if you're taking a morning dose of antipsychotics moving it to the night works better (Discuss this with your psychiatrist first, though!) - i.e. if you take 100mg twice a day, take 200mg at night instead. Also I've found that mild doses of painkillers and stimulants every couple of hours works a charm. Unfortunately, I still have lower-then-normal motivation, and I have found that dropping my dose helps, but I think it's something that'll be there until you stop taking them. You really just have to try out different things and see what works best for you.
 
exercise and caffeine should help. if it's one thing that actually helps this illness in my experience it's sticking through some exercising. Also abilify instead of other atypical antipsychs doesn't have as many weight gaining issues and actually makes me restless instead of tired which is a plus.
 
How long have you been on antipsychotics? I found that things started to get better after the 12 month mark...
 
^ Yes nicotine is supposed to help, from what i hear. ACH, the chemical found in nicotine, produces effects of increased memory, mood and motivation.

Not that you guys care but i thought i was on the border of developing schizophrenia. I would hear a voice, get paranoid and all income stimuli got scrambled. I think i've finally dismissed it as a second line of thought (the part of me that observes myself) taking over and this line of thought was psychotic and i guess this part of me was just toying with me, yes i was playing games with my own mind and i was going crazy. Every now and then (like right now) the voice takes over again, but only if i'm focusing on it - it's like as soon as i start listening to my own thoughts this part of me takes over and my primary line of thought becomes background noise[and at the same time runs rampant because i'm not trying to control it], which is hopefully what i was percieving as voices? ... I stopped most of the drugs and the second line of thought has converged back with my first line of thought. I'm trying to control my paranoia via rationality, and i'm trying not to pay attention to what i'm thinking about anymore, it really fucks me up for some reason... My brain still gets scattered every now and then, i think it's a product of some other part of my brain malfunctioning...

Anyways, i just had a brilliant idea. Say what i was developing was schizophrenia and i somehow miraculously fought it off (unheard of) through will power and healthy living, perhaps i could theorize the cause of it all. It seems to me(if that were the case) that there is a seperation between two sides of the self. The self that observes the world through thought and the self that can observe your thoughts. I feel like if i hadn't quit the drugs, it would have gotten worse. The one annoying voice was turning into multiple and i was losing the ability to ignore it. Or maybe i'm just crazy and my mind was getting the best of me. Does it sound like a viable theory to you?
 
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Thanks for posting those helpful links, FnX.
If it's alright with you, I'm going to also place them in the very first post so that newcomers have immediate access to them and they don't get lost in a sea of responses.

There has been some really, really fantastic insight shared in this thread so far - and it's still in its infancy ;) Keep it up! You all are wonderful people. <3

~ Vaya
 
Today there was a very inspiring interview on the radio on my drive to work. It was an interview with Elyn Saks, a law professor living with schizophrenia. She and her colleagues have just done a study on schizophrenia and work. It was a great interview about the ridiculous stigma that still exists for this disease, about the many people who triumph over both the debilitating symptoms and that stigma to pursue work that feels meaningful to them.

Here is a link to listen to the interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=170667522&m=170667515
 
herbavore said:
Today there was a very inspiring interview on the radio on my drive to work. It was an interview with Elyn Saks, a law professor living with schizophrenia. She and her colleagues have just done a study on schizophrenia and work. It was a great interview about the ridiculous stigma that still exists for this disease, about the many people who triumph over both the debilitating symptoms and that stigma to pursue work that feels meaningful to them.

Here is a link to listen to the interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=170667522&m=170667515
Click to expand...

Great link! That interview was indeed inspirational. <3
 
herbavore said:
Today there was a very inspiring interview on the radio on my drive to work. It was an interview with Elyn Saks, a law professor living with schizophrenia. She and her colleagues have just done a study on schizophrenia and work. It was a great interview about the ridiculous stigma that still exists for this disease, about the many people who triumph over both the debilitating symptoms and that stigma to pursue work that feels meaningful to them.

Here is a link to listen to the interview: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=170667522&m=170667515
Click to expand...

Thank you, the message in this clip should be heard by so many more... I had a psychiatrist tell me that I would basically achieve NOTHING in my life and that eventually, I would have to rely on relatives to even do the most basic tasks. That was maybe 4 years ago, I can't remember when was the last time something made me so furious. Basically I walked out of that appointment with doors banging. It's like somekind of a death sentence when they say "you have schizophrenia". As if it was the point where the ones trying to help you conclude they no longer can help you, you're simply invalid. It's just not true! Because these people have difficulty seeing potential in you, it doesn't mean there isn't potential in you!

And that potential might be even greater than that of those without these issues...

The actual diagnosis of schizophrenia makes no sense to me either. I mean for gods sake, one of the criteria for schizophrenia is that the person in question doesn't feel ill... This basically means if somebody accuses you of being a schizophrenic and you deny it, it's just additional evidence that you are indeed a schizophrenic. Once you get the label, pretty much anything you do or say can be questioned because of it, which is total bullshit.

I know my own value and that's enough for me.
 
^^ i don't know for sure, but from what i've read CBT and psychotherapy are helpful to learn coping skills, i doubt the voices will go away, but may be less disruptive to your everyday life... i've also read suggestions about ECT and a newer form of ECT which is not ECT and has less side effects such as memory loss, but that stuff is a bit frightening...

you say you've "tried a lot", what exactly have you tried? and what diagnosis do you have, schizophrenia or schizoaffective? the latter is sometimes misdiagnosed as the former or a mood disorder like bi-polar....
 
As it relates to scizophrenia, there are certain drugs that should not be legally prescribed.

These are anti-psychotics.

I've met patients on these meds, and seen them deteriorate. I've taken them myself, and feel my life breaking down.

Not to hijack the thread, but neuroleptics are closely related to scizophrenia in contemporary medical practice.

http://hem.fyristorg.com/schizofreni/livets.htm

Here's an article on that topic, it's from 1990, so it's pretty old and forgotten but the punchline is this:

Anti-psychotics are not even specifically "anti-psychotic", they are "anti-mind". They have no "anti-psychotic" mechanism of action, they just shut down a human being, emotionally.

It's scary. Hope it's not regarded as spam although this might not be the best place for this post.
 
My Son will be coming to visit with me for a week or so when he gets out of hospital. He committed himself as he was freaking out with his hypochondria. He's been diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder/Schizophrenia and Asperger's Syndrome. He is harmless/naive and has never been violent and has no criminal record. He also has OCD and ADD which makes it hard to have a conversation with him as unfortunately he has the attention span of a potato. He is a good natured kid although he's quite innocent and gullible and because of this often gets taken advantage of. I feel that I have failed him as a parent I don't really know how to help him and need some help and advice and perspective please?
 
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