Hi! I thought I'd introduce myself after some posting. I kinda joined yesterday or of the sort and I have been having "non-organic psychosis" for a while as a diagnose. I don't like to call it schizophrenia but it's in the same spectrum to be honest. I haven't talked to a psychologist to get a diagnosis (over here the psychologist are the ones that sets it in printing).

I'm a female, soon to be 37, is having mild to no symptoms daily. But I know I'm not completely back to normal but like 99% recovered for sure. I do get fatigue faster since I got these symptoms even with medication but being able to function for 10h before I need to crash in bed is still considered a huge win for me. Especially considering where I came from mentally.

Prior schizophrenic episodes I was a project manger in IT, I had a career and was well liked. Then the mental issues started to pile up. Fast forward I had crashed my old life and now living a new life. Just started studying to become a nurse and is working part time as caretaker for seniors.

Hopefully I get to know all of you. Although I did notice I can become triggered by seeing drawings and reading certain stories but I'll try to avoid those posts.

23F, Finally came to realization about my manic episodes and Rage and starting to learn more. Typical life of party when people are around(mirroring )but I rather be alone and I’ve been looking into isolation and how it causes Psychosis.. Any tips or advice. Motivation and kind words are welcomed. I’ve been wondering wtf was wrong with me for years?

I know this medication stops the distribution of dopamine but man, I’ve been so depressed/angry. 😔 they put me on it mainly for my mania because that’s what typically happens with me. Sometimes I have small symptoms of paranoid thoughts, delusions etc but not too often. I feel better OFF this medication. Do I need to try something new?

I’m undiagnosed and just kind of waiting for my psych eval at the end of February. But I struggle with daily delusions like there are cameras watching me and just always feeling like someone is behind me watching. I also struggle a lot of thinking bugs are in my food and I’m just worried that if I do get a diagnosis and get put on meds for my delusions and stuff that it won’t help. I’ve been put on many medications that help with things like migraines/depression/adhd and stuff like that but after a while they just don’t do anything. So I guess I’m just hesitant that if I do get put on medications for my delusions and stuff that they won’t work or things won’t get better and I’ll just keep living everyday feeling like I’m being watch and someone is out to get me.

So I guess my question is just like…do the medications help with those delusions for anyone who experiences those ones? Like do they make them not as frequent or feel not as intense?

I got diagnosed five years ago. I'm taking a antipsychotic and medication to help me sleep. I'm currently not struggling with any side effects from medications that I'm aware of. I struggled with medication side effects for a long time. I have no friends the only friend I had left I think he ghosted me. I sent him an email and he hasn't replied. I struggle with social anxiety or discomfort in social situations so it makes it hard for me to start working or find new friends or contact old highschool friends. I sometimes get depressed. I feel stuck and like my life is not moving forward. I'm going to start therapy in February and work with my doctor to see if medications are right for me for the social anxiety. Sometimes I wonder if this is all even worth it, I'm not doing anything with my life and it's been five years since I developed schizophrenia. I guess it's good that I'm not currently experiencing side effects.

I am struggling with this right now. Like I have nothing to say during conversations

I have become convinced that an online friend, whom I have not met in person, is AI. He is very repetitive in his speech. I tried out one of the META AI chats out of curiosity and it was eerily similar to this "friend".

Could it be scanning and mimicking our chats? Or perhaps it is possible this person I've been talking to is actually a bot?

I find that schizophrenics are very honest, truthful and more empathic in conversation.

compared to most people who are obsessed with trying to make a point, look clever or impress people

So do you yall like the mood swings goes like a roller coster

So mine is like there's this one time i was crying because of stress but then in and instance my face turn into the "flat effect" and it just when away like nothing happens and it other cases i was happy as ever but because of one word my mood change and i could happy but in an instant my face just turn dull

Has anyone found anything that helps with social anxiety or discomfort in social situations? I'm starting therapy in February and my doctor is open to trying out meds. I think the therapy will help. If anyone has had anything help them with social anxiety or discomfort in social situations please let me know.

I feel like an absolute POS. I haven’t worked in a month. I’ve been using PTO. Thankfully I still have my job. I worry of being fired. I’m trying to finish the day out and I’m thinking I’ll call off. I can’t handle this

Schizophrenia is by far the most strange “disorder”. Unmedicated. I’ve completely mastered being fully observant of this whole thing and it’s just like why is this still happening? I’ve analyzed every single part of all of my hallucinations and “psychoticness” delusions etc. and have became a complete observer of it all and it’s still there. It’s just all absurd. I don’t believe in any of my delusions or hallucinations besides maybe for a split second but it’s always still there after that split second has past. Like okay whatever i have a feeling someone is standing outside of my door saying random shit that half of the time correlates with my thoughts, but I know that feeling isn’t real and that no one is actually there. Or that i know no one is inside of my head or telepathically communicating with me but I still have that sense and those implanted thoughts of someone else coming through. And why are there just random screams popping up here and there? I know it’s not real and no one is actually screaming but it just happens. Same with seeing patterns, faces etc. in random things especially seeing weird shit when i close my eyes or looking at something black for too long. It’s just annoying and pointless when there’s no true belief and complete observation. Complete peculiarity and strangeness with absurdness. I only enjoy how people morph into different figures in the corner of my eyes. Im also autistic.

So, today I went to extrasense with my parents and I lost my voices.

I had these voices since 21st of October and now I find it weird not having those voices with me.

I don't know what to do now. The thing is that I don't really remember what it was like not having voices and now I'm worried. I do wish having them back. I really hope I didn't cause trouble to the woman we went to.

I have no real support system. I don’t even know about therapy. I can’t find a therapist near me specializing in these issues. It’s a terrible feeling.

Ever since my psychosis I've just felt awful and it's been some time now and I do not know if I will ever feel good or atleast comfortable again. Sorry I just needed to vent this, hope you guys are holding up.

I’m new here. I don’t have an official diagnosis but I’m waiting for a psych eval at the end of February. My therapist thinks I’m likely to have schizophrenia or a delusional disorder because I deal with daily delusions and hallucinations for the past like five years or so and I have a small family history of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder.

I feel like I will never go into remission because I’m schizoaffective.. to be honest I’m losing hope. Every time I think I’m getting better bipolar or schizophrenia symptoms come back worse than before. I’m medicated, I go to therapy, monthly psychiatrist appointments. What can I do to go into remission? My therapist told me that I can only do it with medication but even that doesn’t make it happen. Any advice? How was it for you?

I was officially diagnosed and given some meds a month ago but I’ve been hearing and seeing things for over 2 years now. The voices I hear have eased up but they still like getting their say in. I’ll keep it vague cause I’m not entirely sure how things work here yet. That’s the bare bones of it and I hope everyone here stays safe.

Is it normal to get "implanted thoughts" that I feel like are not my own that tell me to do things? Or implanted thoughts that I think come from a God or higher being, that only I can "hear" because I'm sent by this God Himself? I mean, I once saw a person made of mist running at me and then disappearing. But I don't think I'm schizophrenic. I was never diagnosed. I told my therapist that I did things because "this God planted thoughts in my head telling me to do them", and she told me she had a "theory" but that she is a psychotherapist and not a psychiatrist or psychologist so she can't diagnose me with anything. I think I just made her think I'm a schizophrenic by telling her that. I drew a few amateur drawings of what I experienced, like faces and "voices" which symbolize the thoughts telling me to do things, like shout at people, and a shield of faces around my head repelling fun things from my mind, causing an inability to feel enjoyment or entertainment, which is something I feel quite often. What is this? Is it normal, or am I just kinda tweaking? I don't want to claim to have or think I have a mental illness without a proper, professional diagnosis.

My son will be 13 in a couple of weeks, and disclosed to me he’s been hearing voices. We talked it through a bit, but he told me as he was falling asleep, and he had school this morning so the talks were brief/sleepy as I didn’t want to overwhelm him too much. He said the voices are not mean, at times they argue with each other but nothing mean towards him. He struggled to remember specific things, but said it’s stuff like “Give me my Apple!” He said it’s usually random stuff like them talking about their day. Other than that he said he will hear random songs. He said he heard a song from Moana recently. I told him I’m so glad he shared this with me, and asked him what caused him to do so now, he said because it’s gotten worse-more distracting with school work and sleep. I did a bit of reading and therefore reassured him it’s actually very common, and we will look into things.

I am honestly concerned for my baby and am open to any advice, information or experiences. Is it always schizophrenia? My brother has schizophrenia, but only after a lot of drug use. I am going to call his doctor but I don’t want him to just immediately prescribe my son medication, or frighten my son without truly looking into the cause. He does have a history of migraines… which I’ve read can cause auditory hallucinations?

I’m wondering if it’s a coping mechanism, as I feel my son does bottle up a lot of his feelings. I’m a single mom, we went through a lot with a break up recently, and I try so hard to encourage my son to know it’s alright to not be okay, but have worried he bottles up his feelings not wanting to “add more to my plate” or “stress me out.” I’ve noticed this as he’s gotten older. Which is absolutely not how I feel. I want to support him, I want him to be able to be a kid. Thank you for listening!

So I saw a psychiatrist and she told me they can't diagnose both schizophrenia and szpd. Indeed, she told symptoms of szpd were mild symptoms of schizophrenia. What do you think about that? I saw a video of Tracey Marks where she says szpd can co occur with schizophrenia thats why I am mixed

Im starting finally antipsychotic, aripiprazole and i have escitalopram 20mg, i have OCD (bad symptoms) and psychotic symptoms/schizotypal, so i heard aripiprazole would help for psychotic symptoms and OCD. Do u anyone have experience about that med combo or does that new med aripiprazole w escitalopram help also OCD?

Everything smells fishy and rotten. Does anyone relate ? I feel like most ppl think of visual or auditory hallucinations (which I still experience), but the smells are surprisingly (almost) just as unpleasant

Do your voices ever say that they're going to torture you? This is a safe space so you can like or leave a comment if so. Please do. I feel like I'm going crazy.

What are the least sedating meds in your opinion? I'm currently on Abilify, and I can't take Invega.

Attached below is todays video link to my “On Conquering Schizophrenia” YouTube channel. Today entails functioning while psychotic. Like all, todays video is ever brief and can be viewed amid rational behavior.

https://youtu.be/twXnthYtiCw?si=TNSAyQ0gINh3z2y5

Say you see a person multiple times, And each time their behaviour towards you is different - maybe hairstyle, emotions, or how they talk.

Do you hallucinate that there are multiple people with the same identities?

Someone had asked in this forum or a related one (I can't find it now haha) whether paranoia about people disliking you or talking about you and that sort of thing is typical of the disorder. It was heavily endorsed as definitely being a common aspect by people responding.

I feel I need to preface my question with this disclaimer: I am not questioning the validity of people's experiences or their diagnosis. Not at all! I am merely trying to understand the messaging out there as it compares to what I have been told over the years by clinicians. I also feel it is important to note that I don't necessarily believe in the concept of "personality disorders" as they exist today.

Now, onto the question: I was always told that paranoia in disorders on the Schizophrenia spectrum related to more bizarre circumstances, and if the paranoia was more focused on people in your everyday life and their feelings and thoughts towards you, it was indicative of the paranoia in personality disorders?

My paranoia has always been more in the bizarre realm when I have experienced it. Like if it was people I knew in my everyday life, I thought they were conspiring with the government or with some higher power to watch me, or take notes on me, or to see if I would be able to figure out the experiments they were running or something along those lines. This actually went away for many years so I have no idea if it was related to psychosis or not, but I did bring it up with a team of mental health doctors when they asked if I felt anxious around people or thought they talked about me, and I replied in the affirmative. They never asked the context, and there were a lot of queries around personality disorders because they assumed it was more about like whether I thought people liked me or not.

Anyways, eventually a clinician did ask more questions about those experiences (years too late haha), and I provided the extra context, and this clinician said that this was important information because paranoia in personality disorders generally revolves around the direct interpersonal, where as paranoia in psychosis is more big picture like organizations, systems, governments, etc. out to get you, or some other kind of bizarre scenario. Basically the paranoia in psychosis is pretty obviously insane to everyone, but the paranoia in personality disorders is possible (even if it isn't probably).

Was this clinician out to lunch and just sharing their own theories, or is there something to this in the literature? And if you have experienced more of the interpersonal paranoia versus the more bizarre, how did clinicians still identify the root cause was the schizophrenia?