More confused with time...

[Plex]

I'm 21 yrs old and I have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. I've read A LOT about this illness and I've been taking Risperdal for a few months... I recently stopped, because I feel this so-called illness is a gift and something to be conquered - naturally. Once I get over it (If) I'll be much better off then I would have been if I've never had this...

What can I say?

It's so incredibly screwed up.

I don't know why I'm writing this. I guess I'm just being hopeful that maybe someone will give me some much needed insight. Do miracles exist?

I'm extremely depressed today and I've been doing the wrong things for so long...that... HELP ME is all I can think of.

I was never a bad person, so why...Oh, why... did this have to happen to me.

My mind is trying to kill me...

:canadian: (nice)

 

[ladylore]

This section of the forum may interest you as it specifically addresses schizophrenia. Defintely check out threads that are marked as "Sticky".

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=37

 

[Halo]

One quick question that I have is whether you discussed the discontinuation of your medication with your doctor or did you just quit cold turkey on your own?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Plex, I seriously urge you to start taking the medication again, or if you didn;t like the side-effects to go back to your doctor and ask to have it changed to something else.

There is no way, repeat no way, for someone to control this illness by strength of will or any other means other than medication. With the right medication, you can live a normal life. Without medication, your life is going to be a series of ups and downs and the downs are going to be a living hell.

 

[Plex]

or did you just quit cold turkey on your own?

Bingo.

There is no way, repeat no way, for someone to control this illness by strength of will or any other means other than medication.

You're not me and you've probably never experienced this MI. I feel it's possible... I can't help it. I've been seen by various mental health practitioners and I've read quite a bit. There's a huge lack in knowledge when it comes to this illness and how the meds work. I mean, come on... slowing down a persons thoughts is the best they can do? All my thoughts are based on logic. It just takes longer to explain them to others and once I do, they're no longer seen as crazy...

With the right medication, you can live a normal life. Without medication, your life is going to be a series of ups and downs and the downs are going to be a living hell.

Maybe that's just the way it was meant to be. Maybe the hell I go through is necessary. For example:

If I wanted to get stronger physically and more muscular, I'd get a gym membership and go through a type of hell to reach my end desire. Same goes for these end desires: knowledge, truth, intelligence, etc.

It takes practice to get the hang of thing. Failures happen, but does that mean that just because I sprained my ankle, I should stop training all together or give up?

I'm learning to control it. It's hard as hell, but it's not impossible...

I just need guidance (or a trainer) to get things rolling in the right direction...

I don't know.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

First, Plex, I've been a practicing psychologist for over 30 years and during that time I have worked with several clients suffering from schizophrenia. Second, I live with someone who suffers from schizophrenia.

It's not about slowing your thoughts down. It's about helping you to better distinguish what's real from what's not real. If your current medication makes you feel dragged out or slow, most likely you are just on the wrong medication for you or too high a dose.

But the answer is most definitely not to quit taking medication. The answer is to make adjustments in your medication.

 

[Plex]

I plan to start eating extremely healthy, exercising both physically/mentally, meditate, etc (I've already started). I don't want to put unnatural chemicals into my body.

Has living with a schizophrenic person improved your insight into this illness? How so?

(I used to constantly argue with my father about his delusions...)

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I plan to start eating extremely healthy, exercising both physically/mentally, meditate, etc (I've already started).

Those are all good things but they won't manage the illness you have.

I don't want to put unnatural chemicals into my body.

What the medications do is correct the balance of neurotransmitters in your brain to prevent the irrational thoughts and other symptoms of the illness. It's not like taking street drugs.

Has living with a schizophrenic person improved your insight into this illness? How so?

Yes, as well as working with patients over my career who also have the illness. In part, it's helped by showing me what works and what doesn't, and in coming to a better understanding of what the individual with this illness experiences.

 

[Plex]

What the medications do is correct the balance of neurotransmitters in your brain to prevent the irrational thoughts and other symptoms of the illness.

I've heard this is a myth that mental health practitioners use to help patients understand what the drug does, but it's not true. No one knows how the drugs work and why they work in relieving symptoms. I know, the point is that its been proven to work and it seems to be the best option out there, at this time.

Has anyone ever cured themselves or controlled it without drugs? Tell me, please, have you ever had a patient like that?

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I've heard this is a myth that mental health practitioners use to help patients understand what the drug does, but it's not true.

It's not a myth. It's now possible to test for neurotransmitter levels and watch them change with treatment.

No one knows how the drugs work and why they work in relieving symptoms.

Not true. We still have much to learn but we are learning more and more about how and why they work every day. One of the consequences is that in the near future we are going to have even more effective medications on the market.

I know, the point is that its been proven to work and it seems to be the best option out there, at this time.

For schizophrenia, it's the only option.

Has anyone ever cured themselves or controlled it without drugs? Tell me, please, have you ever had a patient like that?

No. Indeed, the only person I have ever heard of who came close was John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) but (1) he was an undisputed genius who was able to manage some of the symptoms with the sheer force of his intellect, and (2) even he did not "cure" his schizophrenia or rid himself of the symptoms without medication - he learned to rely on others around him to tell him what was real and what wasn't, and then to live with the distress of the remainder of his symptoms. And I might add his symptoms were somewhat atypical for schizophrenia to begin with. For example, many of his hallucinations were "friendly" rather than malignant.

 

[Plex]

One of the consequences is that in the near future we are going to have even more effective medications on the market.

Good for them and good... for all.

It's not a myth. It's now possible to test for neurotransmitter levels and watch them change with treatment.

How is it not a myth?

Antipsychotics disable or slowdown some of the thinking processes in the brain. Hey, I just figured out a cure!