What is it like to be Schizophrenic?

[Politico]

Abilify is another newer medication with small amount of sedation and can be taken at night and is a miracle drug. You need insurance for abilify and Geodon though. They have generic but it's still very expensive.

Abilify is a tack on drug to supplement a band aid regimen that is already not working.

 

[Judicial review]

Abilify is another newer medication with small amount of sedation and can be taken at night and is a miracle drug. You need insurance for abilify and Geodon though. They have generic but it's still very expensive.

Abilify is a tack on drug to supplement a band aid regimen that is already not working.

Normally they do prescribe another drug to compliment it, however, not always is another one needed.

 

[Politico]

No it is usually needed because the doctors have no clue what they are doing to begin with.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Medication saved my life, before geodon and celexa I was living a nightmare. I could not get out of bed some days because of the suicidal thoughts. The depression was crushing me. That you would claim that medication is worthless proves what a stupid person you are.

 

[Politico]

Hmm that explains a lot. Who claimed meds are worthless? If they keep the crazies out of my hair I am all for them.

 

[featherlite]

One of my sisters struggles with this (or something) Its been a constant ongoing question of...what is she responsible for and what isn't she responsible for. At this point all I know is its taken a huge toll on my mom and now her health is not good because all the stress. Sometimes I feel sorry for my sis that struggle so much, other times I think she should just get over all the insecure attention seeking bullshit.
I'm kinda glad they live in another state but I really wish my mom didn't have to deal with it.

 

[Dajjal]

Well I hardly like to admit it, because people will simply think all my beliefs are delusional, but I have had schizophrenia for fifty years. In that time it has changed as originally I heard voices that were banal but in later years they became more sinister and penetrating. In clinical terms that means I developed from a simple schizophrenic to a paranoid. The early voices talked a lot of rubbish and after a couple of years I learned to ingnore them so they became just background noise. For the first ten years I was on heavy medication and was like a zombie. So I embarked upon a search for other answers. I found those answers in spiritualism and the occult, and I discovered I could overcome the mental deterioration of schizophrenia by having healing and eventually by controlling my chakras. I got off all medication in the 1970s and studied to become an electronics engineer. I worked in the profession for ten years but then fell foul of middle aged deterioration and the onset of paranoid voices. I could hear voices of people coming through the walls and the floor and they threatened my life. It was worrying for a while but I got used to it. However I used alcohol to self medicate and behaved badly as a result. Eventually I accepted my brain was deteriorating so I went on the drug abilify and I have been on it now for some years. I take 15mg once in the morning and it stabilises me.

 

[Coyote]

One of my sisters struggles with this (or something) Its been a constant ongoing question of...what is she responsible for and what isn't she responsible for. At this point all I know is its taken a huge toll on my mom and now her health is not good because all the stress. Sometimes I feel sorry for my sis that struggle so much, other times I think she should just get over all the insecure attention seeking bullshit.
I'm kinda glad they live in another state but I really wish my mom didn't have to deal with it.

It's a very difficult disease to live with as a family member too. Several years ago when my brother essentially crashed, it took a huge toll on my mother and she ended up in the hospital with severe asthma. The disease, in my brother, is pretty clear cut schizophrenia, but when he's angry, he blames my mother for his loss of independence.

 

[featherlite]

My sister has a couple of dx. She blames my mom for everything!!! I know it sounds awful but Im glad they live in another state. If it wasn't for my mom ...my sister would be on the streets Im sure of it.
The problem that never goes away.

 

[Moonglow]

Many people and many families have to deal with mental illness. I think schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood because we're only aware of it when sensational crimes are committed (like mass shootings), or we see the dirty, shambling guy on the street talking to himself, or it's a family member. A lot of times, incidents of excessive police force end up being in encounters with mentally ill people - police aren't trained to handle it in ways that reduce escalation. Some police forces are adding a specially trained people to help in those situations and prevent them from becoming violent confrontations.

I came across some interesting videos, experiments where people volunteered to try to see - hear - exist in the world as it is for a person suffering from schizophrenia.

http://www.refinery29.com/2014/06/69318/schizophrenia-simulator-video

For most of us, mental illnesses are concepts we can comprehend in the abstract — but actually empathizing with someone who suffers from one on a daily basis is another story entirely. There are often no physical symptoms for conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. And, because there's still a stigma in this country that prevents us from talking openly about these disorders (and few accurate representations of them in the media), it's difficult to understand how they work in reality.

With that in mind, Anderson Cooper took part in an experiment designed to replicate the experience of someone suffering with schizophrenia. Cooper spent a day with a simulation of typical schizophrenia symptoms (i.e. voices) playing constantly in his ear; he was asked to perform simple tasks and go about his day. As you'll see in the video above, what begins as an annoying distraction devolves into something a bit more distressing as the voices start yelling — and the normally cool, calm, and collected Cooper fights the urge to yell back.

http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#

These videos show a simulation of both the visual and auditory effects a person with schizophrenia might encounter attempting to do an ordinary activity such as a trip to the pharmacy.





This one is a link about a virtual reality program used for training police and other professionals who may have to encounter a person with unmedicated schizophrenia. Virtual Schizophrenia

So people with schizophrenia only see things in stop action photos ??

 

[Coyote]

Well I hardly like to admit it, because people will simply think all my beliefs are delusional, but I have had schizophrenia for fifty years. In that time it has changed as originally I heard voices that were banal but in later years they became more sinister and penetrating. In clinical terms that means I developed from a simple schizophrenic to a paranoid. The early voices talked a lot of rubbish and after a couple of years I learned to ingnore them so they became just background noise. For the first ten years I was on heavy medication and was like a zombie. So I embarked upon a search for other answers. I found those answers in spiritualism and the occult, and I discovered I could overcome the mental deterioration of schizophrenia by having healing and eventually by controlling my chakras. I got off all medication in the 1970s and studied to become an electronics engineer. I worked in the profession for ten years but then fell foul of middle aged deterioration and the onset of paranoid voices. I could hear voices of people coming through the walls and the floor and they threatened my life. It was worrying for a while but I got used to it. However I used alcohol to self medicate and behaved badly as a result. Eventually I accepted my brain was deteriorating so I went on the drug abilify and I have been on it now for some years. I take 15mg once in the morning and it stabilises me.

Thanks for sharing that - both you and Anonymous77, I can't imagine it's terribly easy. You mentioned middle age deterioration and it made me wonder. My brother went through bad patch before he was properly diagnosed, but then was stable, on a fairly low does of medications for years until his mid 40's when things started to fall apart. He got very paranoid, and isolated himself to the point where at the end, he was almost barricaded in his house and continuously psychotic. He's stable again now but more fragile and he (understandably) does not want to talk about it. You sound like you have a lot of insight into yourself and your illness, something not everyone does.

Are the videos/audios in anyway approximating of the reality? My mother and I often talk about mental illness, and particularly the lack of knowledge in professionals (like police) who might have to deal with someone in a psychotic state. Some police departments are providing training programs that use videos, others working with a professional liason who can intervene. Too many times you hear of incidents that end up needlessly escalating.

 

[Roadrunner]

Many people and many families have to deal with mental illness. I think schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood because we're only aware of it when sensational crimes are committed (like mass shootings), or we see the dirty, shambling guy on the street talking to himself, or it's a family member. A lot of times, incidents of excessive police force end up being in encounters with mentally ill people - police aren't trained to handle it in ways that reduce escalation. Some police forces are adding a specially trained people to help in those situations and prevent them from becoming violent confrontations.

I came across some interesting videos, experiments where people volunteered to try to see - hear - exist in the world as it is for a person suffering from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia Simulation - Symptoms Voices

For most of us, mental illnesses are concepts we can comprehend in the abstract — but actually empathizing with someone who suffers from one on a daily basis is another story entirely. There are often no physical symptoms for conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. And, because there's still a stigma in this country that prevents us from talking openly about these disorders (and few accurate representations of them in the media), it's difficult to understand how they work in reality.

With that in mind, Anderson Cooper took part in an experiment designed to replicate the experience of someone suffering with schizophrenia. Cooper spent a day with a simulation of typical schizophrenia symptoms (i.e. voices) playing constantly in his ear; he was asked to perform simple tasks and go about his day. As you'll see in the video above, what begins as an annoying distraction devolves into something a bit more distressing as the voices start yelling — and the normally cool, calm, and collected Cooper fights the urge to yell back.

http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#

These videos show a simulation of both the visual and auditory effects a person with schizophrenia might encounter attempting to do an ordinary activity such as a trip to the pharmacy.





This one is a link about a virtual reality program used for training police and other professionals who may have to encounter a person with unmedicated schizophrenia. Virtual Schizophrenia

Some say LSD mimicks being schitzophrenic. Have done lots of acid myself but dunno if I'd agree (though of course I've never been schitzophrenic so have nothing to compare it to.) LSD is more akin to removing a floodgate of your perceptions. Get it all at once unfiltered, become very attentive to details (have spent time counting the individual flakes of salt on a cheeze-it cracker for instance.) Would say being on acid is more like being a Buddhist in that you live in the moment noticing a world of reality in the smallest of details.

I've never done acid....so...I wouldn't know

You sure missed a lot.

 

[Roadrunner]

Many people and many families have to deal with mental illness. I think schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood because we're only aware of it when sensational crimes are committed (like mass shootings), or we see the dirty, shambling guy on the street talking to himself, or it's a family member. A lot of times, incidents of excessive police force end up being in encounters with mentally ill people - police aren't trained to handle it in ways that reduce escalation. Some police forces are adding a specially trained people to help in those situations and prevent them from becoming violent confrontations.

I came across some interesting videos, experiments where people volunteered to try to see - hear - exist in the world as it is for a person suffering from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia Simulation - Symptoms Voices

For most of us, mental illnesses are concepts we can comprehend in the abstract — but actually empathizing with someone who suffers from one on a daily basis is another story entirely. There are often no physical symptoms for conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. And, because there's still a stigma in this country that prevents us from talking openly about these disorders (and few accurate representations of them in the media), it's difficult to understand how they work in reality.

With that in mind, Anderson Cooper took part in an experiment designed to replicate the experience of someone suffering with schizophrenia. Cooper spent a day with a simulation of typical schizophrenia symptoms (i.e. voices) playing constantly in his ear; he was asked to perform simple tasks and go about his day. As you'll see in the video above, what begins as an annoying distraction devolves into something a bit more distressing as the voices start yelling — and the normally cool, calm, and collected Cooper fights the urge to yell back.

http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#

These videos show a simulation of both the visual and auditory effects a person with schizophrenia might encounter attempting to do an ordinary activity such as a trip to the pharmacy.





This one is a link about a virtual reality program used for training police and other professionals who may have to encounter a person with unmedicated schizophrenia. Virtual Schizophrenia

We took a vote, three of us like it, two don't, and tonight, I am neutral.

 

[Coyote]

Meds can be difficult to comply with because many have some pretty big side effects. Bipolar is particularly hard because the manic phase feels so good even though it's ultimately destructive

Biggest misconception is mania feels good. Mania can make you jittery and irritable and can actually hurt.

I've suffered from depression much of my life that was cyclic. At one point, years ago, I was on a medication called Nardil that worked fantastically, too much so. It made me manic. The early manic phase was great, I accomplished a great deal,, but then it wasn't so great and got a bit crazy - for example, I spent a bunch of money buying plants and planters and spent like 24 hours straight, potting and planting and gardening - and never once thought this was a bit nuts. I wasn't sleeping, and things just got pretty weird and I was jittery and irritable too, I don't remember a lot of it. At any rate, I was taken off it and although I've always had ups and downs - I've never again had anything like that. But I still remember how good it felt and how much I missed it. For a short time I was on lithium and everything went from technicolor to grey. I never want that again either. So I can understand why people don't want to take medication or stay on medication. It's like riding a wild horse - the speed and the thrill is excilerating but eventually it will destroy you and everything you love.

Sounds like you are bipolar. There's 3 levels of it and you have the lesser of the 3 evils. I know all about it. I have been misdiagnosed since age 18 and have been on all the medications out there even the ones out now. I can tell you the ones that are very good that have zero sideeffects. The newer medications are much improve over the older ones. PM me and we'll talk. I believe I can help you quite a bit. I'm willing.

I actually am on Lexepro only, and it works - low dose. I also find exercise does wonders for me as well. So far, for some years - it's been all I need

I think my doctor at the time mentioned bipolar 3 - this was 25 years ago, so I'm hazy on the details. He was the one that put on lithium - and, long story short - it caused me to pass out when I was driving, totaled my car but fortunately hit no one.

 

[Coyote]

Many people and many families have to deal with mental illness. I think schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood because we're only aware of it when sensational crimes are committed (like mass shootings), or we see the dirty, shambling guy on the street talking to himself, or it's a family member. A lot of times, incidents of excessive police force end up being in encounters with mentally ill people - police aren't trained to handle it in ways that reduce escalation. Some police forces are adding a specially trained people to help in those situations and prevent them from becoming violent confrontations.

I came across some interesting videos, experiments where people volunteered to try to see - hear - exist in the world as it is for a person suffering from schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia Simulation - Symptoms Voices

For most of us, mental illnesses are concepts we can comprehend in the abstract — but actually empathizing with someone who suffers from one on a daily basis is another story entirely. There are often no physical symptoms for conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression. And, because there's still a stigma in this country that prevents us from talking openly about these disorders (and few accurate representations of them in the media), it's difficult to understand how they work in reality.

With that in mind, Anderson Cooper took part in an experiment designed to replicate the experience of someone suffering with schizophrenia. Cooper spent a day with a simulation of typical schizophrenia symptoms (i.e. voices) playing constantly in his ear; he was asked to perform simple tasks and go about his day. As you'll see in the video above, what begins as an annoying distraction devolves into something a bit more distressing as the voices start yelling — and the normally cool, calm, and collected Cooper fights the urge to yell back.

http://www.cnn.com/video/api/embed.html#

These videos show a simulation of both the visual and auditory effects a person with schizophrenia might encounter attempting to do an ordinary activity such as a trip to the pharmacy.





This one is a link about a virtual reality program used for training police and other professionals who may have to encounter a person with unmedicated schizophrenia. Virtual Schizophrenia

Some say LSD mimicks being schitzophrenic. Have done lots of acid myself but dunno if I'd agree (though of course I've never been schitzophrenic so have nothing to compare it to.) LSD is more akin to removing a floodgate of your perceptions. Get it all at once unfiltered, become very attentive to details (have spent time counting the individual flakes of salt on a cheeze-it cracker for instance.) Would say being on acid is more like being a Buddhist in that you live in the moment noticing a world of reality in the smallest of details.

I've never done acid....so...I wouldn't know

You sure missed a lot.

So I've heard....

 

[Judicial review]

Meds can be difficult to comply with because many have some pretty big side effects. Bipolar is particularly hard because the manic phase feels so good even though it's ultimately destructive

Biggest misconception is mania feels good. Mania can make you jittery and irritable and can actually hurt.

I've suffered from depression much of my life that was cyclic. At one point, years ago, I was on a medication called Nardil that worked fantastically, too much so. It made me manic. The early manic phase was great, I accomplished a great deal,, but then it wasn't so great and got a bit crazy - for example, I spent a bunch of money buying plants and planters and spent like 24 hours straight, potting and planting and gardening - and never once thought this was a bit nuts. I wasn't sleeping, and things just got pretty weird and I was jittery and irritable too, I don't remember a lot of it. At any rate, I was taken off it and although I've always had ups and downs - I've never again had anything like that. But I still remember how good it felt and how much I missed it. For a short time I was on lithium and everything went from technicolor to grey. I never want that again either. So I can understand why people don't want to take medication or stay on medication. It's like riding a wild horse - the speed and the thrill is excilerating but eventually it will destroy you and everything you love.

Sounds like you are bipolar. There's 3 levels of it and you have the lesser of the 3 evils. I know all about it. I have been misdiagnosed since age 18 and have been on all the medications out there even the ones out now. I can tell you the ones that are very good that have zero sideeffects. The newer medications are much improve over the older ones. PM me and we'll talk. I believe I can help you quite a bit. I'm willing.

I actually am on Lexepro only, and it works - low dose. I also find exercise does wonders for me as well. So far, for some years - it's been all I need

I think my doctor at the time mentioned bipolar 3 - this was 25 years ago, so I'm hazy on the details. He was the one that put on lithium - and, long story short - it caused me to pass out when I was driving, totaled my car but fortunately hit no one.

Never make a psych med change if it's working, period. There's always side effects with these drugs, but if there not affecting your every day life by preventing you from doing what you want to do then there's no reason to change. Lexipro is an older any psychotic and I have to say the older anti psychotics have bad long term side effects some of which doctors are just finding out now. They affect cognitive thinking permanently and can cause physical damage that is irreversible like tardinitivedisconesia etc..

My advice is to keep educating yourself on the real sideeffects of these drugs and understand that the newer psych drugs are made better wit less side effects. However, regardless the side effects with these drugs long term are still unknown.

This is why Brain research funding is desperately needed.

 

[Coyote]

Meds can be difficult to comply with because many have some pretty big side effects. Bipolar is particularly hard because the manic phase feels so good even though it's ultimately destructive

Biggest misconception is mania feels good. Mania can make you jittery and irritable and can actually hurt.

I've suffered from depression much of my life that was cyclic. At one point, years ago, I was on a medication called Nardil that worked fantastically, too much so. It made me manic. The early manic phase was great, I accomplished a great deal,, but then it wasn't so great and got a bit crazy - for example, I spent a bunch of money buying plants and planters and spent like 24 hours straight, potting and planting and gardening - and never once thought this was a bit nuts. I wasn't sleeping, and things just got pretty weird and I was jittery and irritable too, I don't remember a lot of it. At any rate, I was taken off it and although I've always had ups and downs - I've never again had anything like that. But I still remember how good it felt and how much I missed it. For a short time I was on lithium and everything went from technicolor to grey. I never want that again either. So I can understand why people don't want to take medication or stay on medication. It's like riding a wild horse - the speed and the thrill is excilerating but eventually it will destroy you and everything you love.

Sounds like you are bipolar. There's 3 levels of it and you have the lesser of the 3 evils. I know all about it. I have been misdiagnosed since age 18 and have been on all the medications out there even the ones out now. I can tell you the ones that are very good that have zero sideeffects. The newer medications are much improve over the older ones. PM me and we'll talk. I believe I can help you quite a bit. I'm willing.

I actually am on Lexepro only, and it works - low dose. I also find exercise does wonders for me as well. So far, for some years - it's been all I need

I think my doctor at the time mentioned bipolar 3 - this was 25 years ago, so I'm hazy on the details. He was the one that put on lithium - and, long story short - it caused me to pass out when I was driving, totaled my car but fortunately hit no one.

Never make a psych med change if it's working, period. There's always side effects with these drugs, but if there not affecting your every day life by preventing you from doing what you want to do then there's no reason to change. Lexipro is an older any psychotic and I have to say the older anti psychotics have bad long term side effects some of which doctors are just finding out now. They affect cognitive thinking permanently and can cause physical damage that is irreversible like tardinitivedisconesia etc..

My advice is to keep educating yourself on the real sideeffects of these drugs and understand that the newer psych drugs are made better wit less side effects. However, regardless the side effects with these drugs long term are still unknown.

This is why Brain research funding is desperately needed.

I don't think Lexipro is used as an anti-psychotic, just an anti-depressant.

Couldn't agree more on brain research - just what's come out in the last decade has been incredible!

 

[Dajjal]

Well I hardly like to admit it, because people will simply think all my beliefs are delusional, but I have had schizophrenia for fifty years. In that time it has changed as originally I heard voices that were banal but in later years they became more sinister and penetrating. In clinical terms that means I developed from a simple schizophrenic to a paranoid. The early voices talked a lot of rubbish and after a couple of years I learned to ingnore them so they became just background noise. For the first ten years I was on heavy medication and was like a zombie. So I embarked upon a search for other answers. I found those answers in spiritualism and the occult, and I discovered I could overcome the mental deterioration of schizophrenia by having healing and eventually by controlling my chakras. I got off all medication in the 1970s and studied to become an electronics engineer. I worked in the profession for ten years but then fell foul of middle aged deterioration and the onset of paranoid voices. I could hear voices of people coming through the walls and the floor and they threatened my life. It was worrying for a while but I got used to it. However I used alcohol to self medicate and behaved badly as a result. Eventually I accepted my brain was deteriorating so I went on the drug abilify and I have been on it now for some years. I take 15mg once in the morning and it stabilises me.

Thanks for sharing that - both you and Anonymous77, I can't imagine it's terribly easy. You mentioned middle age deterioration and it made me wonder. My brother went through bad patch before he was properly diagnosed, but then was stable, on a fairly low does of medications for years until his mid 40's when things started to fall apart. He got very paranoid, and isolated himself to the point where at the end, he was almost barricaded in his house and continuously psychotic. He's stable again now but more fragile and he (understandably) does not want to talk about it. You sound like you have a lot of insight into yourself and your illness, something not everyone does.

Are the videos/audios in anyway approximating of the reality? My mother and I often talk about mental illness, and particularly the lack of knowledge in professionals (like police) who might have to deal with someone in a psychotic state. Some police departments are providing training programs that use videos, others working with a professional liason who can intervene. Too many times you hear of incidents that end up needlessly escalating.

Hi! Yes I definitely and unexpectedly deteriorated in my 40's. I thought I was over schizophrenia because I had been able to work as an engineer for ten years without medication, and I had been able to control my feelings through study of the occult. But I was kidding myself because I relied more and more on alcohol to relieve my nerves. Eventually I think the drink caused me some brain damage.
But it was still years before I would accept medication. I finally decided I was out of control and went on abilify which is quite effective, and I no longer drink. The early drugs I was on were like knock out drops but abilify has had no noticeable side effects.
I was extremely paranoid and I did fall foul of the police who I believe labelled me a psychopath and tried to drive me into a mental hospital by dirty tricks. But I was too mentally strong to let them break me down.
That in itself made me suffer longer, as I refused treatment of any kind for years.

I don't know about the videos, but you can imagine what it is like to hear people talking about having you killed, and not know if you are hallucinating or if it is really happening. I had to wait and see if anyone tried to kill me for several months, so I walked around looking over my shoulder. But eventually I decided I had imagined it. I still hear voices but they are very quiet and I can only hear them when there are no background noises. I do not hear people threatening me any longer as I am relatively stable now, but I have heard schizophrenia gets worse in old age. Its called senile schizophrenia. I am hoping the drugs will spare me from that and I have reached 68 without problems.

The modern drugs are far better than the old ones and have less side effects, and I recommend your brother to stay on them. I can understand why he isolated himself as that is the only way to escape paranoid voices.
Keeping away from people so that there is no one around who could be talking about you. I am something of a recluse myself.

 

[Coyote]

Well I hardly like to admit it, because people will simply think all my beliefs are delusional, but I have had schizophrenia for fifty years. In that time it has changed as originally I heard voices that were banal but in later years they became more sinister and penetrating. In clinical terms that means I developed from a simple schizophrenic to a paranoid. The early voices talked a lot of rubbish and after a couple of years I learned to ingnore them so they became just background noise. For the first ten years I was on heavy medication and was like a zombie. So I embarked upon a search for other answers. I found those answers in spiritualism and the occult, and I discovered I could overcome the mental deterioration of schizophrenia by having healing and eventually by controlling my chakras. I got off all medication in the 1970s and studied to become an electronics engineer. I worked in the profession for ten years but then fell foul of middle aged deterioration and the onset of paranoid voices. I could hear voices of people coming through the walls and the floor and they threatened my life. It was worrying for a while but I got used to it. However I used alcohol to self medicate and behaved badly as a result. Eventually I accepted my brain was deteriorating so I went on the drug abilify and I have been on it now for some years. I take 15mg once in the morning and it stabilises me.

Thanks for sharing that - both you and Anonymous77, I can't imagine it's terribly easy. You mentioned middle age deterioration and it made me wonder. My brother went through bad patch before he was properly diagnosed, but then was stable, on a fairly low does of medications for years until his mid 40's when things started to fall apart. He got very paranoid, and isolated himself to the point where at the end, he was almost barricaded in his house and continuously psychotic. He's stable again now but more fragile and he (understandably) does not want to talk about it. You sound like you have a lot of insight into yourself and your illness, something not everyone does.

Are the videos/audios in anyway approximating of the reality? My mother and I often talk about mental illness, and particularly the lack of knowledge in professionals (like police) who might have to deal with someone in a psychotic state. Some police departments are providing training programs that use videos, others working with a professional liason who can intervene. Too many times you hear of incidents that end up needlessly escalating.

Hi! Yes I definitely and unexpectedly deteriorated in my 40's. I thought I was over schizophrenia because I had been able to work as an engineer for ten years without medication, and I had been able to control my feelings through study of the occult. But I was kidding myself because I relied more and more on alcohol to relieve my nerves. Eventually I think the drink caused me some brain damage.
But it was still years before I would accept medication. I finally decided I was out of control and went on abilify which is quite effective, and I no longer drink. The early drugs I was on were like knock out drops but abilify has had no noticeable side effects.
I was extremely paranoid and I did fall foul of the police who I believe labelled me a psychopath and tried to drive me into a mental hospital by dirty tricks. But I was too mentally strong to let them break me down.
That in itself made me suffer longer, as I refused treatment of any kind for years.

I don't know about the videos, but you can imagine what it is like to hear people talking about having you killed, and not know if you are hallucinating or if it is really happening. I had to wait and see if anyone tried to kill me for several months, so I walked around looking over my shoulder. But eventually I decided I had imagined it. I still hear voices but they are very quiet and I can only hear them when there are no background noises. I do not hear people threatening me any longer as I am relatively stable now, but I have heard schizophrenia gets worse in old age. Its called senile schizophrenia. I am hoping the drugs will spare me from that and I have reached 68 without problems.

The modern drugs are far better than the old ones and have less side effects, and I recommend your brother to stay on them. I can understand why he isolated himself as that is the only way to escape paranoid voices.
Keeping away from people so that there is no one around who could be talking about you. I am something of a recluse myself.

I had not heard about it getting worse when you get older, but that explains some things with my brother. I thought it was the opposite in fact, that it would level out. My brother used to spend hours at a time listening to music with a blanket over his head - even before his diagnosis. He said it allowed him to ignore the voices. Towards the latter part of his living in his house - he was very reclusive - to the point where he wouldn't allow anyone in, and also disconnected the phone. I think that since he was psychotic, that isolation may have fed his paranoia and pyschosis. I'm going to ask him if he ever tried abilify.

 

[Dajjal]

Well I hardly like to admit it, because people will simply think all my beliefs are delusional, but I have had schizophrenia for fifty years. In that time it has changed as originally I heard voices that were banal but in later years they became more sinister and penetrating. In clinical terms that means I developed from a simple schizophrenic to a paranoid. The early voices talked a lot of rubbish and after a couple of years I learned to ingnore them so they became just background noise. For the first ten years I was on heavy medication and was like a zombie. So I embarked upon a search for other answers. I found those answers in spiritualism and the occult, and I discovered I could overcome the mental deterioration of schizophrenia by having healing and eventually by controlling my chakras. I got off all medication in the 1970s and studied to become an electronics engineer. I worked in the profession for ten years but then fell foul of middle aged deterioration and the onset of paranoid voices. I could hear voices of people coming through the walls and the floor and they threatened my life. It was worrying for a while but I got used to it. However I used alcohol to self medicate and behaved badly as a result. Eventually I accepted my brain was deteriorating so I went on the drug abilify and I have been on it now for some years. I take 15mg once in the morning and it stabilises me.

Thanks for sharing that - both you and Anonymous77, I can't imagine it's terribly easy. You mentioned middle age deterioration and it made me wonder. My brother went through bad patch before he was properly diagnosed, but then was stable, on a fairly low does of medications for years until his mid 40's when things started to fall apart. He got very paranoid, and isolated himself to the point where at the end, he was almost barricaded in his house and continuously psychotic. He's stable again now but more fragile and he (understandably) does not want to talk about it. You sound like you have a lot of insight into yourself and your illness, something not everyone does.

Are the videos/audios in anyway approximating of the reality? My mother and I often talk about mental illness, and particularly the lack of knowledge in professionals (like police) who might have to deal with someone in a psychotic state. Some police departments are providing training programs that use videos, others working with a professional liason who can intervene. Too many times you hear of incidents that end up needlessly escalating.

Hi! Yes I definitely and unexpectedly deteriorated in my 40's. I thought I was over schizophrenia because I had been able to work as an engineer for ten years without medication, and I had been able to control my feelings through study of the occult. But I was kidding myself because I relied more and more on alcohol to relieve my nerves. Eventually I think the drink caused me some brain damage.
But it was still years before I would accept medication. I finally decided I was out of control and went on abilify which is quite effective, and I no longer drink. The early drugs I was on were like knock out drops but abilify has had no noticeable side effects.
I was extremely paranoid and I did fall foul of the police who I believe labelled me a psychopath and tried to drive me into a mental hospital by dirty tricks. But I was too mentally strong to let them break me down.
That in itself made me suffer longer, as I refused treatment of any kind for years.

I don't know about the videos, but you can imagine what it is like to hear people talking about having you killed, and not know if you are hallucinating or if it is really happening. I had to wait and see if anyone tried to kill me for several months, so I walked around looking over my shoulder. But eventually I decided I had imagined it. I still hear voices but they are very quiet and I can only hear them when there are no background noises. I do not hear people threatening me any longer as I am relatively stable now, but I have heard schizophrenia gets worse in old age. Its called senile schizophrenia. I am hoping the drugs will spare me from that and I have reached 68 without problems.

The modern drugs are far better than the old ones and have less side effects, and I recommend your brother to stay on them. I can understand why he isolated himself as that is the only way to escape paranoid voices.
Keeping away from people so that there is no one around who could be talking about you. I am something of a recluse myself.

I had not heard about it getting worse when you get older, but that explains some things with my brother. I thought it was the opposite in fact, that it would level out. My brother used to spend hours at a time listening to music with a blanket over his head - even before his diagnosis. He said it allowed him to ignore the voices. Towards the latter part of his living in his house - he was very reclusive - to the point where he wouldn't allow anyone in, and also disconnected the phone. I think that since he was psychotic, that isolation may have fed his paranoia and pyschosis. I'm going to ask him if he ever tried abilify.

I recommend abilify. I take one 15mg tablet every morning. I have been on it for years with no side effects.
I take it in the morning because if you take it at night it keeps you awake. However it does not make you sleepy so you can take it first thing in the morning with a cup of tea. I refused drugs for twenty years because the early drugs made me feel like a zombie, but the new drugs target the brain chemistry's imbalance far better.. If your brother decides to take it tell him it takes two weeks to start working. In fact it takes exactly two weeks as I have stopped taking it twice to see what happened and I started getting nervous trouble exactly two weeks to the day after stopping the drug. It always starts with a nervous cough then goes on making me suffer with my nerves. I started taking it again to avoid the stress, and it took another two weeks to kick back in. I have tried to stop twice now but I am now reconciled that it is better to stay on the drug.
If civilisation collapsed and there were no more drugs I would survive, but I would have to deal with constant stress, so I opt to take it.

The voices I hear now are too quiet to bother me during the day, but when I go to bed I can hear them
whispering in my ears. The paranoid voices I used to hear were more destructive as they sounded like real people talking about me from outside the house. As I said they talked of killing me which is quite frightening at first. They also talked about everything I was doing, and everything I was thinking,.which is a dead give away that they were hallucinations. I used to wear a miniature portable radio with headphones to block them out.