Anyone have schizophrenia? (curious)

I don't have it, as far as I know. A friend's friend may be showing signs.
I'm very interested in this, I think there's more to it than "mental disorder" in some cases.
Does anyone here have it, and can you personally shed light on what's experienced? How do you handle it, and is it disabling or just something you can learn to live with normally?

 

My friend Tim was diagnosised w/ paranoid schizophrenia and depression. He had a hard time adjusting his medications. He moved back home after being hospitalized for being suicidal.

Yes, it is more than a "mental" disorder; it's a physical disorder. As far as I know, the brain still is a physical part of the body. Schizophrenia is caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters, like dopamine.

Peace and love

 

Schizophrenia can be a result of genetics or injury to the brain itself.

The ability to tell whats real and whats imagined are blurred. Delusions are a hallmark. Often related to God or religion, even among atheists.

I had a good friend to decended into full blown psychosis while she was living with me. She had never been properly diagnosed. She now lives in a halfway house and has a greatly diminished life.

Good medications out there, but some people are beyond them. Others can live pretty normal lives. Its a very individual illness.


x

 

Holy crap I love that damned pic. LOL

 

A friend of mine has schitzophrenia. She's doing really well though they're still trying to find the right meds for her voices. It's a physical illness (ie. it's caused by something physical with the brain). It's considered a "thought illness" where it affects the person's thought patterns mostly. At least that's my understanding of it.

It's different for everyone. I suggest that if your friend is starting to show signs then she needs to see a doc asap! It's not the sort of thing that can just be ignored.

I wish you and your friend the very best!
Jess

 

Yeah... first showed around 16, 17.

I chose to stop taking medication. It's tough...at times really tough... but I find a lot of release in my music and writing.

I live alone and have a great relationship with my girlfriend...but have a tendency to live a really off-beat lifestyle. Spent a while traveling on foot...vagabond sorta deal, sleapin' on the beach and in the outdoors etc.

I don't expect to live long and often feel suicidal, but having a goal to aim for...which for me is music and poetry... and that makes all the difference to me...that and love and being there for my girlfriend.

~Amadeo
www.myspace.com/thevagabondtroubadour

 

And your family has a history of this somewhere, I suspect?



x

 

umm... yeah I think so. Not officially diagnosed though...as far as I know an uncle of mine - who died really young - was also an artist and spent the last of his days lookin' for Jesus (litterally) and afterwards took the next train out'a hear. My grandfather was really off beat too and sometimes spoke of his "demons" though I never knew what that meant. He was a farmer painter and folk singer.

I dont believe it's all genetic though... I had a pretty abusive childhood and still feel like that had a big influence on it...thought there seems to be a connection between being "off-beat" (for lack of a better term) and the artists in the family. I feel like the 2 go hand in hand and dont see it as a defect, however difficult it sometimes is. Everything has it's price I suppose.

~Amadeo
www.myspace.com/thevagabondtroubadour

 

It is genetically related as well as environmentally related.

Peace and love

 

My friend that I spoke of earlier was also a victim of physical abuse in some bad relationships. She had also been in a car wreck.

This goes back to what I said about physical damage to the brain.



x

 

I dont feel like it's anything like that...it's not like a broken arm or a leg or something to me. At first I had a really really hard to comming to grips with things...

I came across a more Jungian approach to schizophrenia (often reffered to in those circles as "divine madness")... I dont think I could word it better myself.

Here's a link that discusses it a lot clearer www.jungcircle.com/SQuest.html

I took an abnormal psychology class once in college and my professor at the time my said there really isn't a clear defenition yet as to what really causes it. Some people lean towards the chemical explanation, the other to a psychological. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere inbetween, or perhaps even in the sub-concious.

~Amadeo
www.myspace.com/thevagabondtroubadour

 

When I was about 16 I dated this guy from school. He was very mysterious, extremely smart and kind, but quite odd as well. I really loved his quirks and thought he was "the one". Well, a short while into our relationship, he was diagnosed with "psychosis" and about a year later he was given the diagnosis of schizophrenia. My heart broke for him. He lost everything, school, friends, a future - except me. I couldn't bring myself to abandon him too, so being young and naive, I stayed with him thinking I could "help him".

His condition got progressively worse. He began with medications and it seemed he was doing well... He hated the way his meds slowed him down, made him gain wait, and made him feel "stupid". So he left for a trip, forgot his meds, and when he came back he completely refused them...

I was still trying to make it work. At times he would be "the old him" laughing and being silly, then out of no where he would get this, "serial killer" look in his eyes and flip out on me. He was paranoid, delusional and hearing voices. I couldn't go anywhere without him following me. He would park outside of my house at night, follow me to school, wait outside the school for me, make me come to his house afterwards all day, then follow me home at night and repeat the process the next day. And although he watched me 24/7 I would still have to answer his 20million paranoid questions... But, "I loved him".

If that all wasn't bad enough, I ended up getting pregnant - which he admitted to doing on purpose because according to him, "he's a selfish bastard". That way, "I was his property now and no one else could touch me or the baby would tell him". I was really confused by this point. Did I still love him? Did he still love me? Do I stay with him and try and make it work for the baby, or do I run as far away as possible?? I stayed... (like I said, young and naive).

At this time he was suffering pretty bad. He was looking for codes in everything from newspapers to food wrappers, taking everything apart, throwing all his food away because he thought he was being poisoned, staying up for days, hearing voices, thinking he was God, thought he had special powers - the list goes on...

There came a point when I knew I had to seperate from him. He obviously didn't like it. He called my parents and threated to kill me, smashed bottles on our house and continued to stalk me. So one day I come home to find my tv missing. For some reason, I knew it was him. His mom was one of those types who always stuck up for him, even lying for him if need be. She denied he took it, but my dad drove over there and sure enough, she brought it out. Needless to say, my parents were pissed and pressed charges. He was given probation (because I begged my parents to not lock him up - I still felt really bad for him). Turned out, he violated probation and has now served about 4 years of a maximum 15 year sentence. *home invasion is a felony.

So here I am, 6 years later, with a beautiful, smart and sweet daughter. I still dream about him and I still think of him often. What I went through was quite traumatic. It's scary how someone can transform before your eyes like that. He was such a great guy - and it hurts knowing he's in there somewhere, but will probably never come out...

Now, I'm struggling with feelings of guilt for him being locked up. I know he's not getting the help he needs in there - and he'll likely serve all 15 years because he's out of his mind. And although I didn't press charges on him, my parents did, I still feel to blame.

So anyway, to make a LONG story short, schizophrenia is scary for everyone involved and should be taken very seriously. I have friend that laugh and joke about him and make fun of the things he's done, but I don't think it's funny - at all. Someone once said to me that they "envied" him. That he was probably "enlightened" and was able to step into another "better" reality and that couldn't be further from the truth...

 

interesting thread, at first i wasn't going to reply for a variety of reasons There are different types and an no one person experiences the same thing a person can have one episode and it never happens again. Women tend to get it much later, even ito their 30's i smoke weed and occasional X. the disease came first and i find weed to be calming. i try to keep stress at bay Yes, i have learnt to live around it when it comes to work etc the stigma that surrounds it shits me

 

At the age of 22 I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. I can't smoke weed anymore like I used to because it makes me paranoid and yes I was diagnosed with the paranoid type. If it were not for my meds I would be having paranoid delusions 24/7. I thought my brother was plotting against me. I thought my family was going to kill me. At one point I told my family they were all spiders because I was hallucinating and I even mentioned snakes on the walls. I'd talk to the television for hours swearing at it and the like. I thought my food was poison and later thought people were putting cocaine in my food.....
I smashed my dad's windsheild while parked at shop and save or somewhere because I saw someone walking towards my dad's car and I was just so sick of people. I called 911 in a paranoid fit, not knowing what to say but thinking my dad and someone else was out to get me. I was hospitalized in the psychiatric ward 4 times. Wow was that a rant. I'm just glad I don't have delusions anymore and can eat an itallian sandwhich without wigging out.

 

I have OCD, but some of the symptoms of schizo and OCD are pretty similar, and often one is mistakenly diagnosed for the other. One time I had what I would call "marijuana induced psychosis" where I was hearing voices and was extremely paranoid. It sucked. There was also a period of time where I thought I was being followed by the italian mafia (while traveling through Europe) and they were planning to kill me because I knew too much about their drug running operation. Looking back, I still can't disprove that one to myself, but at the same time it sounds very much like schizo. I just don't know...I dont like talking about it, and I actually feel like shit right now having typed it out, but as long as other people are opening up I might as well do the same.

Anyway, I'm not at all paranoid anymore thank God. I hope whatever that was never comes back. I do still struggle with OCD, but thats a life long battle that Ive learned how to deal with pretty well.

Im sorry to hear your story "Accepting Tranquility." Mental illness is serious and does not just effect the sufferer. Not even close. I am, however, glad to hear that you got a beautiful baby out of the whole thing. Your story does scare me though, because everytime I get close to a girl (since my episode) I back off and of course never let them onto the reasons why. Its basically because I cannot stand the thought of "losing it" and putting that burden on someone that I love. But at the same time, I get very loney, and loneliness/isolation are not good for my mental health. WHOO...I guess Ill figure something out in time.

 

I see that a few people are talking about marijuana here so I will say this...for a long time marijuana helped me (short term) to deal with my OCD. When I was high my anxiety was low and I didnt feel the need to entertain my compulsions. But in the long run, I am POSITIVE it has only made things worse. I don't smoke weed anymore, and I would seriously reccomend anyone with mental illness to consider quitting themselves.

 

I have A.S.S., A.nother S.tupid S.yndrome......My Dr said my A.S.S. might get better, So I just give my A.S.S. a rest.. Really my A.S.S. was out of control for a while and no drug could help my A.S.S... I just had to start to deal with my A.S.S. on my own...
Nobody else could understand my A.S.S....I thought my A.S.S. would get worse again but thankfully my A.S.S. is doing pretty well now..

 

And yes, there are many different theories as to how schizo develops. But most that I have heard, and what I tend to believe is that there has to be a genetic predisposition and a childhood trauma. Even then, it generally only develops in adulthood if something sets it off (drug use, death of a loved one, head trauma etc...)

I am pretty sure my great grandfather was psychotic. He was a great artist, and made a decent living doing commercial art. Some of his work is in the Smithsonian now, etc..He was really gifted. But from what I hear from my nana, he was totally insane. And shes not the most well balanced person either (although she is incredibly artistic, very loving and is still alive and kicking at the age of 100) I also have a first cousin who has schizophrenia and was hospitalized for some time. Hes doing better now though. So I know there is some genetic predisposition for mental illness.

The funny thing is, I have heard that in many cases, mental illness can be a sort of evolutionary advantage. Or rather, some of the qualities (creativity, artistry etc...) that accompany the mentall illness in a lot of sufferers can actually be beneficial in their finding a mate. Don't know if thats true, but its pretty interesting if it is.

 

This could only come from someone who has no experience with mental illness. And believe me, even though your mocking is pretty insensitive, I am glad that you don't know what its like. I would never wish mental illness on anyone.

 

The prison system in this country is horrible. Especially if you need psychiatric help, which many prisoners do. We need a complete overhaul of the system. People come out worse off than they were going in. Same crime, same perpetrator over and over again. That being said, I wish you wouldn't feel guilty because at the end of the day, he is still responsible for the things he did.