Does anyone else struggle with engaging with fiction as a schizophrenic? I find that fiction easily influences my psychosis and symptoms, and it can make it difficult to enjoy any media when my psychosis latches onto things so easily; especially with media that's related to my other psychosis (such as religious media). Does anyone else experience this?

When a psychotic patient voices their concern about anxiety and panic, many doctors see it as being caused by psychotic symptoms. They will treat the patient with antipsychotics believing that this will relief the patient of their anxiety. While this works in some cases, it often does not.

When a patient can not remain calm, they lose their ability to perform reality checking technique. A patient that could otherwise snuff out their crazy thought process will instead begin to spiral downward into a delusional state of mind.

Panic can trigger hallucinations as well. A day full of panic attacks can easily result in a patient hearing voices even after being asymptomatic in this regard for long periods. It's rare that any doctor will try to treat anxiety as the root cause. They will undoubtedly prescribe the patient antipsychotics.

Looking at panic and anxiety as the root cause can have the potential for better patient outcomes. Patients are often already aware of this. If doctors would only listen to patients about how their thought process worked, they would succeed in ridding them of some rather nasty psychotic symptoms if the intervention was targeting the root cause.

While it is true that some patients develop addictions to the drugs, doctors tend to greatly overcompensate for this. Many doctors refuse to prescribe them for any reason.

They instead prescribe far less effective medications such as Buspar. Sometimes they prescribe SSRIs which have the potential to worsen panic attacks.

The bottom line is that, if there is an effective medication to solve panic attacks, it should be administered as long as the patient is warned of the potential side effects. That way the doctor and patient can make the best decision about the optimal course of treatment.

I've reached a point where I can think myself out of a psychotic state if I simply remain calm. As such, it seems the best treatment for my schizophrenia are benzos.

i am kinda only self diagnosed right now. last i asked about it it was 3,000 dollars. i hope to get one one day, but this economy is bad enough. i dont need a doctor to know what im experiencing anyways. its moreso for some kinda closure and also possible government help since i cant work full time without going crazy

It's a cliche meant to refer to a stroke of astronomically bad luck. Most people use it when they chance upon getting two flat tires or some other terribly inconvenient occurrence. They get frustrated. They move on. Something far far worse happens to those on the schizo spec.

Schizophrenics are constantly making loose connections which force them to conclude that something suspicious is afoot. Over time, they may learn to turn off the portion of their brains which make these associations. However, no level of discipline allows for the writing off of the proverbial double lightning strike.

Let's say that, in a moment of brief instability, that a nearby tv perfectly syncs up with the schizo's thoughts. Faster than any reality checking can occur, a passing car radio proceeds to do exactly the same. Incontrovertible proof of thought broadcasting.

In the face of such strong empirical data, many a schizo could understandably spend the remainder of the day in deep thought as to what this signifies. At worst, it could send them spiraling back into the delusional state which they fought so hard to escape from.

A set of coincidences is entertaining to the average person. To those caught up in the endless battle with psychosis, it amounts to their foe unleashing a WMD. There are no winners

I've seen many people say that they developed schizophrenia/psychosis after developing a mood disorder, but I don't often see people who had it the other way around. Is there anyone else who developed a mood disorder after their schizophrenia onset? If so, did your mood disorder have any effect on your psychosis and how it presents?

i still get flashbacks from my last episode sometimes. makes me want to freeze up. my brain doesnt distinguish "real" trauma and ones i hallucinated. sucks

Throughout the life of a psychotic person, they experience a myriad of symptoms. Some Terrifying. Some mania inducing. Some are even comical. Over time we learn to put those symptoms behind us and do not incorporate those notions into our way of thinking. That's true for most. For an unlucky few, there are events experienced within their personal reality refuse to fade away. That one piece of iron clad proof that your unshared beliefs are true.

This type of proof I speak of is air tight beyond all reasonable doubt. This would hold as proof in the schizo court of law. It often takes the form of an astronomical coincidence. It's if you won too unfortunate lotteries or were struck by lightning twice.

You can't write it off as coincidence. To do so would feel as though you were gaslighting yourself. The feeling of doing so while people in your life agree for reasons you can't fathom puts a beyond-uncomfortable pit in your stomach. It's psych torture. There is no therapy that can contend with your irrefutable proof. The best you can hope for is to allow so much time to pass such that the proof isn't thought about anymore.

One would think that a wacky notion conjured from nothing would be the most disorienting. In truth, it's the delusions that you have proof for in your mind.

I have bad schizophrenia. This is a site functionality test