Ask a schizophrenic anything

>>17743609
post doctor diagnosis or you're a self diagnosing 12 year old.

File: 1473842309463.jpg (35KB, 531x788px) Image search: [Google]

35KB, 531x788px

Why did you see "/adv/- advice" and assumed we would care at all about you being schizophrenic, let alone enough for you create a thread just for yourself

>>17743614 i was diagnosed
>>17743616 move along with your happy life :)

File: DSC_0270.jpg (2MB, 5984x3366px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 5984x3366px

>>17743614
Not a diagnosis but close enough?

what are your symptoms?

>>17743762
Mostly positive symptoms, auditory hallucinations, and the feeling of being watched constantly

How old were you when it all started? What were your first symptoms? Were you completely normal before or did you experience unusual things before the actual onset of the illness?

Thanks.

>>17743812
I was 17 when it started, I was under constant abuse by my parents, in the the 7th grade I wanted to hang myself, tied a belt to my neck, jumped off a chair but the only thing that really happened was that I got really bad whiplash and just went on like nothing happened. My sadness was unnoticeable to my peers I kept it hidden and was basically a class clown. My parents expected perfection from me and when I wouldn't deliver they'd shame me, tell me no one wanted me, my mother told me kill myself and I was frequently told to drop out of highschool. This is how my symptoms started, in sophomore year of Highschool I got sadder then i've ever been, I didn't even feel agony I felt nothing for around 2-3 months. I couldn't hide it people could tell something was up but i'd smile and laugh whenever they talked to me. It's very hard to describe I felt completely empty at times and under extreme emotional pain during others. Slowly I started to become obsessive about my fears. My mother touched my dick when she thought I was asleep and would frequently bend over in front of me all the time, I become extremely scared of looking at other peoples private parts and i'm sure some people caught on. I had a unrealistically strong desire to stick needles in my eyes or just gouge them out completely. I eventually started looking up cognitive therapy and remember squirting lemon in my eyes when ever I thought I saw someone looking at my groan or me looking at theirs I was probably around16 at this time. Wether it was the self exposure therapy or the conditioning I was doing or just plain luck my paranoia of private parts went away when ever I wasn't around my mother and eventually subsided completely(thank god I wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in my head if I had to go through that ever again). By this time i'm a topic at school people are legitimately worried for me and some people just think I needed attention, I felt ashamed >cont?

>>17743812
of my self and my dad was coming down hard on me for getting D's and C's my g.p.a went from a 3.3-2.4 by senior year and I was cutting class daily. Alright so this is how the voices came about, I became EXTREMELY insecure about myself and anxious all the time, I could barely sit in class without getting a panic attack and random people would look at me either with sadness, pity, sometimes smugness. This really got to me, I wasn't really close to anyone but I had some childhood friends that treated me like everything was normal, if not for them i wouldn't even show up to school desu. Fuck this is such a disorganized mess i'm sorry i'll green text this shit and actually make it readable later. Over time (I think junior year) I began to feel like I had eyes on my constantly and for some reason I felt like people where talking about me when ever I was around them (I recognized this was unrealistic) and woiuld try to ignore it. A few months into this I remember sitting in my room amillion worries on my mind and I thought that people had followed me home and where talking outside my backyard, I went around my yard looked around and there was no one there. This started to happen more and more till I always felt like I had eyes on me when I was alone and started to hear actual sentences directed towards me or about me. To answer your question yeah I was a normal kid with a abusive family but I assimilated pretty well into society.

>>17743812
anyways i'd say the symptoms came about from extreme amounts of stress over a prolonged period of time aswell as a predisposition to it genetically (my dads sister is schizo). i'm 21 now though and have little to no symptoms w/o medication but I still take the minimal dose to be on the safe side

>>17743895
>>17743951
>>17743964
Got it. I'm curious about anything involving this illness because I think I'm in my way to develop it as well. I'm going through so much stress lately because reality is showing me that I'm not as smart as I thought I was, and I relate to some parts of what you're telling me, like:
>I felt like people where talking about me when ever I was around them (I recognized this was unrealistic) and would try to ignore it

Now tell me, if you could go back in time and talk to your old self, what would you say? Do you have any advices to someone who's in his way to get schizophrenic? Again, thanks man.

>>17743609
So lately my mind has been acting weird. Colors have been changing every so often. I keep thinking I am seeing people out the corner of my eye. Also my memory has been horrible. Are these the early signs of schizophrenia?

>>17744087
well i'd try to eliminate the source of stress as fast as possible.
I'd take e.p.a fish oil (nordic naturals) http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/849865
I'd take N.A.C to help protect the brain from oxidative stress
i'd go to a psychiatrist and ask to be put on 2.5mg zyprexa for a month should have no side effects at that dose.
i'd go to therapy for anxiety and take a minimal dose of an antidepressant
tell my parents what's happening (didn't tell them till I was 19 and living away)
Had i'd done all that i'm confident I would never have developed schizophrenia or atleast not for a few more years.
look up schizotypal disorder that may be what's happening to you
any ways best of luck and take those supplements! I swear by them and think it's one of the main reasons I can go w/o medication.

>>17744158
sounds like your under alot of stress and have a shit diet to me senpai.
>>17744087
oh yeah feel free to contact me when ever you want if you ever need advice or just someone to talk to

>>17744158
Basically try to get rid of things that increases risk of schizo for example the average american diet is a risk factor and so is untreated depression

>>17743769
thats not schizphrenia. its when u can see and hear a make believe person talking to you.

>>17743951
desu if you look that depressed, people really are looking at you. because you look like shit, no offense. its not all in your head. people will stare at you if youre ugly or pretty. if you dont want them to stare, dress neutral. you dont need those meds. what happened with your mother and friends are unfortunate, but its not schizophrenia. its some other sort of psychosis they shouldve put you into rehab if youre gauging your eyes.

>>17744207
Goooooooooooooooogle is your friend
well since this is a AMA thread i'll enlighten you
In the medical community it was believed that there where 8 ypes of schizophrenia(8) now this is no longer the case and the community has adopted a spectrum diagnostic, but just keep this in mind.
Paranoid schizo type was the most common one and was characterized by auditory hallucinations and delusions.
So you see anon use fucking google and use your fucking noggin every now and then

>>17744211
>if you look that depressed, people really are looking at you. because you look like shit, no offense. its not all in your head. people will stare at you if youre ugly or pretty

I know they where looking at me because I looked like a walking zombie, the issue was I felt their stares in my bedroom and heard them talk to me through my window.
W/o my meds i'd have been tragedy, trust me some people really do need them even if briefly

Man since I started smonking the 420 I've been kind of worried about developing shizophrenia. I haven't heard that it would run in my family, and I guess most of what spooks me sometimes is the way I think while Im high and if I'm alone. I also tend to talk to myself while I'm sober and alone. I dunno, I feel like this is silly and I don't mean to not take your situation seriously or anything but I guess I jsut wanted to know if any sort of signs are almost a guarantee I might develop something. I've been self-diagnosed depressed before due to an obsession with a girl but I am pretty confident in myself right now and I never had serious thoughts of suicides. I just fear hallucinations and delusions, and I wonder if talking to myself is a normal thing to do. I'm probably being paranoid for no reason (I've always been kind of an anxious person in general).

>>17744312
From what I can tell you should be A OK buddy and likely have some form of anxiety or mild paranoia. Then again you weren't very specific hue hue

Also I can't smoke weed at all it leads to hallucinations galore

That talking to yourself thing is seems very common with the premed students I know, I wouldn't worry about it.
Be aware periods of depression cause lasting brain changes and increase your risk for pretty much everything you don't want, it is suggested that people who have had 3 major episodes of depression will need to stay on antidepressants indefinitely to function well. I personally don't believe this but then again it's my opinion vs the medical community. Either way please seek help for that.
Go easy on the ganja bro heavy use is associated with psychotic symptoms in a small portion of the population

>>17744312
as for sure signs that your schizophrenic it would have to be more so then just auditory hallucinations and the nature of the auditory hallucinations is also important they should be overall negative. As for the other signs disorganized thinking and unrealistic perceptions(i'd describe it like having your intuition turn against you), keep in mind several red flags are symptoms of other disorders like anxiety and depression. psychosis is actually pretty common even some healthy normal fags can go through it if their on extremely stressful times.

>>17744348
>>17744368
Ok thanks for response. I'm probably just being overly paranoid about it. I used to use weed about 1-3 times a week (3 used to be pretty rare) and haven't done it in maybe 2 months now mostly because I'm too afraid of getting caught by my parents and also because the friend I used to smoke with moved away. However, I do plan on smoking for 4-5 days during thanksgiving because I'll be meeting up to him. But by heavy use I assume you mean like using it every day for a few months or something, right?

I also do tend to hallucinate on weed but it's more of mistaking things for being something else for a moment. I do greately enjoy ganja thought because under the right circumstances (parents being away and me being with friends or nice people) I do find that my social anxiety is lessened and I feel much greater satisfaction from having conversations and generally I feel a much deeper contentedness with people.

I don't know you but it does make me feel happy that you get little to no symptoms without medication. I'm glad you're doing well man and keep on going. Sounds like it's a good idea to take minimal dose of meds to be on the safe side.

>>17744434
meant to say "*connectedness with people"

>>17744434
aww ty anon
and if it helps with social anxiety your probably fine

>>17743964
>still taking medications
Good on you, anon. There's a woman named Elyn Saks who developed schizophrenia but seems to be doing well for herself.

>>17744728
ahhh nice lol much inspiring

Would you say hearing people, but ONLY when you are near sleep (specific people - they can describe themselves and have a convo) is a symptom? or sleep paralysis?

What are the emotions like? As scary as it is, I've never gone to a doc before and I'm extremely hesitant to for this reason

>>17743609
Does your skin constantly itch and do you have muscle spasms?

>>17743609
gonna hijack your thread, sorry
worried i might have schizophrenia, went to a therapist when i was ~14 because of psychosis issues, they said it was stress related and basically told be to fuck off. bit unprofessional, honestly
anyway, it's been 4+ years since then and i'm still having symptoms of it, just not the psychosis as much. realized i've been having delusions, persecutory thoughts/voices, etc. since i was 12, and i didn't realize that wasn't normal because i'm so used to it. i understand early onset shit is rare, so they were probably reluctant to diagnose me with anything, let alone schizophrenia. is it worth going back to get some sort of diagnosis?

>>17743756
Holy shit you have creepy hands

>>17746681
>i've been having delusions, persecutory thoughts/voices, etc. since i was 12
It's definitely not normal to keep experiencing these things for so long, anon. Isn't it obvious? You'd benefit from talking to a serious psychiatrist.