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It's also important to note that you can have hallucinations and delusions without having schizophrenia. It can come with depression, bipolar, and some personality disorders.
@@aaymathebest4705 My mistake sorry, I was meant to type BD (bipolar disorder) and instead I typed BAP which stands for Broader Autistic Phenotype (not in any way related to this subject). I'm not a medical professional but as far as I understand schizophrenia, people who suffer from it do not talk to themselves but often do have auditory hallucinations which feel like they're hearing voices externally (not their "inner voice"; not every person with schizophrenia necessarily "hears voices"). Bipolar Disorder does not indicate auditory or visual hallucinations but people with bipolar CAN have hallucinations if they're experiencing what is called a psychosis / psychotic episode.
@@ravenclaw832 i mean, that's why it says you need 2 or more symptoms. I wouldn't say they are not common, but they are not strong enough to diagnose schizophrenia. A lot of people with depression experience derealization or depersonalization, and I personally feel that in harder moments that can become very similar to a delusion. Minor hallucinations are quite common in many stressful and tiring situations.
I feel very certain that I don't have schizophrenia, I watch your videos to support the channel and I love your bravery and openness about your mental illness. I'm so inspired by your grace and generosity it helps me with the battles with mental illness that I struggle with. Thank you.
Anxiety disorder here and my panic attacks were so severe that they caused some mild delusions and audio hallucinations while waking or falling asleep. But....once addressed and treated, those things disappeared. Do not self diagnose. My psychologist was certain I didn't have schizophrenia, but my anxiety was preventing me from reason.
Very similar experience, I was diagnosed with psychosis yet otherwise undiagnosed when it really was anxiety and panic attacks which led to minor paranoia. I'm getting the right treatment and am getting better! It can take some time, but it's worth it for the right diagnosis!!
those can also be hypnagogic hallucinations! they're pretty common and happen when you're falling asleep, so if it happens again, try not to worry too much!
I feel that currently, although tbh most of my panic and paranoia is just me freaking wondering if I'm developing schizophrenia or about to go into a psychotic episode, over and over again, and I just can't stop thinking about, the thought of it is a weight in on itself
I also thought that I was Schizophrenic and I self diagnosed which exacerbated my anxiety and depression. After seeing a psychologist I learned that what I was experiencing is from OCD. Don’t self diagnose.
Thank you so much for stressing 'the self diagnosis is bad' point. I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia for 10 years and I found it very hard to come to terms with my diagnosis at first. After many hospitalizations and many years working to come to terms with my illness I am finally at a place where I can accept myself and my symptoms 🙂.
Been there, Georgia! Similar story for me, I am in the UK, and I didn't take meds for 10 years, a number of voluntary hospital submissions (no forced stays, I had the "right" kind of personality to avoid spinning out - not a medical opinion, lol), it took a long time, I still struggle with believing my experience isn't real after 18 years...
Did you ever consider that a off set in brain development can increase pressure in the lower an mid brain levels with factors like blood pressure stress factors and inflammation causing increased pressure impairing growth or functioning in said reagens of the brain basil's ganglia.. If some medications impair thyroid function dose it effects the pons from regulating the arousal levels. What are the chances a doctor would work with me rather the assum I'm just a crazy person..? If schizophrenia never progress that doesn't effect the doctor just us. The pharmaceutical industry relies of stacking prescription drugs to function. Theres a disincentive to change that. That's not paranoia that's fact baced observation. Ask your doctor to day to explain a cemical imbalances is. If they don't bring up the brain regions that control arousal or go through explaining the endocrine system and how the sympathetic & parasympathetic system intact with your introspective system. There not treating your health issues there push out dated assumptions of anatomy baced on old data
I came to terms with the diagnosis quickly because I was like aight that makes sense now please help me make it go away, the thing that hit me extremely hard was the long life terms and even if I try to get help it won’t go away, the fear for passing it on to children or the fear of thinking my nephews and nieces have a chance because of me even though it’s not my fault, all that shook me to my core and I’m still struggling to accept that this is for life but every day is a battle and I’ve been doing a lot better than I was but now I have health issue which is just my luck but just my luck I got a service dog who’s in training to help me with both psychiatric and health problems :)
Good psychologists have psychologists, the others bounce off their patients and create havoc and eventually move on. But even psychs who do have psychs get co-dependent and avoid diagnosis. It just happens. Therapy is a billions of dollars economy and people get afraid of their small towns and gossip let alone their actual depths. In many ways going bat shit crazy and getting outside the borders of "sane" culture is a gift.
Hahah. In one of her previous videos there was a list of symptoms how to understand you have a condition. After reading first 5 points, I though ‘cool, I am mental’. But then it kind of didn’t work out so I became sad. :D
@@monicasaenz141 people with schizophrenia aren't always non-functioning, especially in the prodrome (not that you should self-diagnose, but you should talk to somebody before it gets to that point)
I hope that once you find a level head or the common understanding that you can thrive despite your diagnoses that you go on to help people perhaps this comment has already helped people but those that have recovered from Chuck abuse make the best counselors and those who have battled homeless Les make the best case workers, I wish you well in your education field. Because having an inside understanding will allow you to be more compassionate and empathetic
My grandmother had schizophrenia. I’m trying to educate myself about what she experienced, and a lot of the things she said or did make a lot more sense now. Thank you for spreading information and awareness💜
I actually have found that my adhd causes a lot of word fumbling and the lack of working memory before I got back on my meds made me embarrassed and frustrated to try and communicate with people.
How do u find out as an adult if you are adhd? I fumble constantly and cant seem to find the correct word..more over I forgot them ..its hard to explain..
I live with Schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. I am hypo manic right now and I love feeling this way! I just hate going full blown manic! I really appreciate your page as it has helped me come to terms with my diagnosis and see that life beyond the diagnosis is truly possible. Thanks!
Not great when you also get hyperfocused in heavily cognitively demanding stuff like browsing through wikipedia for hours unable to eat or go to the bathroom, or what I do most, write comments on TH-cam that takes me literally more than 3 hours to write (I hit the max character count at least twice a week); a few months ago I had to make myself hypothermic to try and reduce serotonin levels/revert maoi effects, I was crying and begging for a single second of peace in my mind, bc I couldn't stop thinking at all But a little bit of hypomania is literally what the normal human condition should be like(and would be if not for capitalism) great for creativity in both science, philosophy, arts and basically anything that isn't a standard pointless job and get stigmatized into lazyness. I'm not sure about anything (at all, bc I take the uncertainty principle VERY seriously in all fields), but there's no way in hell that Leonardo da Vinci wasn't hypomanic. He did too much, had too much creativity, slept 2hrs(6×20min) a day, and had too much curiosity about everything. Nobody that's non-hypomanic has all that energy(and cocaine wasn't invented yet, nor ecstasy or methamphetamines) maybe dyslexic with ADHD or autistic, but I bet on hypomanic. (If anyone is interested in knowing how long my comments usually are, this one took me smth between 15-30min, so imagine one 10+x the size) Some different thought patterns and behaviors can be extremely beneficial, though most really have mostly(or almost/completely exclusively) negative impacts in our lives.
@@claire777. are you able to? Now I'm thinking about starting to take my antidepressant again, not only bc I'm depressive(xp'ing negative symptoms/psychotic depression/manic depression/mixed or idk, felt really really bad but I'm also getting euphoric in the same week, same day even( before the depression kicked in I was feeling amazing, even euphoric enough to do some handstands(which triggered some memories that led to the depressive episode itself)))but bc I'd like to shift it to hypomania, but ik I shouldn't bc I'm quite obviously experiencing some positive symptoms as well(maybe even delusional about being schizoaffective itself) I might just go back to taking Ayahuasca regularly, I wouldn't play with those SSRIs. But I also take weed to be able to sleep/eat (and manage stress, anxiety and depression, etc.)) and I can't afford CBD, which is the best antipsychotic I've ever taken(never felt my mind so clear, and instantly) so sometimes I go above the toxic psychotic threshold of 15mg of THC(when there's no CBD present (50mg when it's a 1:1)) and get like this(even more, that is) which btw is a ridiculously low threshold and why I had to get used to microdosing it(down to sub-mg levels) But they honestly don't interfere much with how I feel when I'm not on them, except for the immediate antidepressant effects that lasts weeks/months for Ayahuasca and a couple hours to a couple days for weed I know it's pointless to even send this at all, just like every other comment I make on TH-cam, but it helps me get things out and organize my thoughts(my speech that's full of verbosity and I'm not a native speaker, I swear my thoughts are fine, or seems so enough that it doesn't bother me(apart from the erotomania which might actually be just me not getting any hints, which has definitely happened before more than a couple of times.. so idk which ones the true delusion but I can't deny being delusional about something) Anyway, there goes 30-35min more that I've wasted trying to agree that hypomania is good whilst simultaneously providing a counter-example as to why it's not so great(maybe I'm the one that entrapped myself into so much verbosity by actually adopting it as my writing style that I train constantly.. or I might be a tiny bit too high, but anyway, I'll refrain from interpreting myself, but If someone reads this, you're welcome and invited to give your opinion
@@Ewr42when you wrote your comments does it take a long time because you have to make them perfect? Grammatically and have to make sure that others can completely understand your thought process? I also can’t help but respond to comments that I find faulty in argument even though I know it doesn’t matter. I have to comment. It drives me nuts.
Around the 18:00 min mark you mentioned about professionals being there to help. For the longest time I thought I was going to be arrested or taken to a hospital if I told anyone how I was feeling. I’ve been working with someone I trust and have been put on medication. I’m hoping to one day be able to go to school. I’ve tried before but I had unaddressed ‘stuff’ that kept me from being able to focus. Thanks for what you do.
That's what stopped me from going to the ER with severe panic attacks. They told me they were going to red flag my profile when I was begging for help because I was terrified and no clue why and they gave me IBS meds instead of helping me in the right way.
Lauren...thank you for providing information for this much misunderstood ailment. You are contributing to breaking the severe negative stigma of the diagnosis. I have learned so much through your channel.
I'm currently going to be attempting to go to a physchiatrist. I'm not sure what I have but I do share some here. I've made it a point to stay away from Self Diag as it can lead to different options. Thank you for posting this as it gives me courage to do so...Heres to hoping I'm just making this up if not I'm glad I live in a time with educated people.
How I confirmed that Im schizophrenic:- 1) I was great at communicating, but suddenly I noticed that I'm not able to express my feelings and words properly, people have difficulty understanding what I'm trying to convey. My vocabulary also became terrible, earlier I was great and now I have started making spelling mitsakes too... 2) I was an extrovert, but after getting schizophrenia I became an introvert and I dont like spending time with anyone. I like being alone. 3) I feel that I become a werewolf at night and I have killed 100 people by now... (Might be true) I also think I posses some superpowers which other don't have. 3) I can frequently hear someone talking at night, even when there's no one there, I can see hallucinations of cats, dogs, zombies, people etc... Around me. I sometimes hear weird sounds like a child laughing at night, I'm the only kid in my house and I'm 17... 4) I always feel someone is stalking, creeping or watching me and I'm gonna be murdered by someone, I am always suspicious of everyone ( also called PPD disorder) This thing is ruining my life.
1 4 and 2 is literally me.. iam diagnosed with ocd 4 months now but for 2 months ive been experiencing things like you said..the only time ive hallucinated was 2 weeks ago at night were i was under an anxiety attack and i was seeing things out the corner of my eye..idk what i have (i certainly have ocd) but iam getting tested for schizophrenia next week
Hi. I dont have schizophrenia but last week I had been diagnose with depression with psychotic symptoms. I dont feel very comfortoble with that because it all so new to me and sometimes I get really scared. But I came across your channel and I love the way you talk about things, it gives me hope that things will get better. Thabk you Love from Portugal
I would love a video covering how to support loved ones who may have schizophrenia. It's very difficult to know how to respond to delusions so that trust can be kept between you and the one you're supporting. I love what you do! Thank you for being so honest and brave.
I have schizophrenia but I also have helped many others who have it. I found it best to never outright challenge or dismiss their symptoms but not to encourage either. It's a fine balance where the seeds of doubt must be sewn but carefully as to avoid radical change. I'm my experience alone, delusions take a while to build and whilst they can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, such sweeping changes can be to the detriment of the person experiencing them. You should build trust with that person so that these boundaries, if stretched, will not result in further suffering. Above all seek professional help in combating this particular circumstance and my advice is by no means directed toward anyone, rather an admission of my own personal findings. I don't have a medical degree but twenty years of schizophrenic introspection is quite the crash course by my standard.
Hi, great video/channel! I am an involuntary medication/procedure an attorney for patients in my state's mental hospital. I really like working in mental health, it feels like work worth doing. That said, it is also really hard. I am seeing people who are confined (almost always against their will). They are either not medicated at all or maybe barely medicated on an emergency basis. Then I am charged with helping them to protect their right to make their own medical decisions. Its a lot of suffering to behold and I am limited in my interactions with patients to these hearings so it is not really appropriate/possible to follow up with them and see how they are doing. So thank you for succeeding and showing that. It is so encouraging to see wellness and health and keep the faith that healing is possible. To the community: Strength and hope to you all. Don't stop striving to be well. You are a part of the community and we want you to be with us.
Hello Lauren and fellow viewers, I had delusions and that connection to the TV and national and international news. However I also had anosognosia so that when I had the delusions I didn't know what was really happening to me. It was only after I was committed to hospital May 1987, October 1988, November 2007 by others my family and one of my closest friends and his new wife who could see I was unwell and then recovering from the delusions that I could see what had happened to me. I'm 67 and I have never felt as well as I do today recovering also now at long last from having severe irritable bowel syndrome IBS since November 1971 that was no less than mind altering. All of us here have different life stories and each one of us is a unique case to use the word a psychiatrist would more likely use - case. Just today for example and lately I was thinking that the sexual abuse I was subjected to at age 11 by another 11yo might just have ripped me apart that led to my having serious mental illness from age 15 onwards. The problem is this is not clear to me in the way other things are crystal clear to me. Over the decades I paid no attention to that sexual abuse. A psychotherapist, who used to be a bank manager whom I was seeing around 2009, told me to think about what sexual abuse would do to a child from my point of view as a 56yo. She understood this far better than I did even though I had been sexually abused myself. I could continue but let me stop there. All the best and many thanks, Peter Nolan. Ph.D.(physics). Dublin. Ireland.
I have often wondered why people with Dissociative Disorder were able to hold on to separate split personalities. When my schizoaffective disorder was at its worst I was actually traumatized by the illness a the time and the horror and wished that I could split my personality. When I learned that it had to do with the severity of early trauma on the extreme end of torture and secrecy and that lesser trauma at the same ages (2 - 7 and then 8 - 13) generally presents as some other form of mental illness between puberty and age 30ish. It sounds like you were negotiating with it for quite a while before being diagnosed. I did the same. I am now 60.
Hello Peter. Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on engendering such a healthy and happy life from very difficult circumstances. It is so difficult to accept the significance of our experiences as children. I hope that your openness and understanding of your life leads to ever more freedom and peace.
@@jacquelineleitch7050 Hello Jacqui, Many thanks for your reply. Let me read up on Dissociative Disorder that is new to me. I am also not too clued in as to what a split personality is. I do not think I have a split personality except to say because I have felt so egregiously bad by having irritable bowel syndrome IBS I was utterly unable to feel my own authentic feelings since November 1971 when believe it or not my tongue, for example, turned white as chalk. My tongue today looks so much better but still with clear physical damage along its centre right there in the mirror. I have IBS by holding my breath and some experts, but maybe not all, understand that. So by not being able to feel my own authentic feelings I am split between the egregiously awful sensation in my core, as we say here in Ireland sick to the stomach, and my true authentic feelings. I simply couldn't think. My thoughts, the simplest thoughts you can imagine, just didn't work like gears crashing in the gear box every time. So in that sense I'm split inside having to endure IBS and unable to feel my own true authentic feelings. All the best and many thanks, Peter. Dublin.
@@tidemeover8513 Hello Tide Me Over, I'm still not out of the woods quite yet. We have a famous singer over here called Niamh Kavanagh who represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest many years ago and a line from that song is "to feel like a child again". I am blessed to have the most wonderful family two sisters and a brother now that both of my parents are dead whom I miss so much. I have four nephews, two nieces, six grandnephews and grandnieces all who have been, and are being loved, so much by my sisters and brother. I can easily talk about that sexual abuse in isolation but I have to also talk about my excruciatingly painful relationship with my Mammy my mother, my temper and being absolutely terrified of losing my temper and assaulting someone and ending up in prison. Factor in the primal shame I felt by having such a temper by my being a scientist and engineer. You write about how difficult it is to accept the significance of our experiences as children. For example our accent in adulthood is the accent we hear growing up so obviously our childhood experiences have a profound life shaping effect on us. There is no end to the other examples like that. We are like sponges soaking up everything like osmosis when we are growing up of course there's no question about it but when we experience abuse there will be consequences. The problem is the popular vibe is that children all children are always loved and while on average this true it is not no way true in all cases and certainly not in my case when my Dad, who loved me so much, gave Mammy his full support in everything to do with the home and family and this was how it worked till the day he died in June 2011 aged 84. This conspired to have a terrible effect on me. When we cannot feel our true authentic feelings this means that we cannot access our feelings when we were children - we can't feel like a child again. Here in Ireland, and I only know about how all this pans out here in Ireland, there are still many secrets. However my own feeling is without having too great a contact with children today but having my four nephews and two nieces, that things are now getting better for children and the generation just after me my nephews' generation also and there really is great hope that there will be a natural resolution even if some secrets remain secret. I detect all kinds of vibes on our airwaves radio and TV especially TV live TV also and I see so much the secrets that are there. However I really must be kind and loving by always thinking that I'm not the only one to have grown up in Ireland through the 50's and 60's and that so many were immersed in what was there just like we hear the accent of our parents and ourselves speaking that very same accent. I just want to thank you and Jacqui for replying to me and right now believe it or not my next ginormous project will be to do my weekly grocery shop in a nearby supermarket where I suffer - suffer - just going through the check out!! I expect to do extremely well this morning better than ever before and triumph over this adversity. All the best and many thanks, Peter. Dublin.
@@jacquelineleitch7050 Hello Jacquie, I continue to think about what you are saying and to say that I'd never heard of Dissociative Disorder. However I understand. I am now more able to relax muscle wise and in every other way as well and I'm becoming whole again whatever that might mean and that in the sense that I feel more like my true self I do not feel so split off from that true nature. I could easily think that I have been disassociated or split from my natural configuration by having to endure the say muscle tension especially in my core when all that I could feel was that awful sensation unable to feel my true feelings. I will never know with certainty what that sexual abuse did to me when I was 11 however. There are other things I really do know however. I can now feel for you. All the best and many thanks, Peter. Dublin.
I know this is stupid, but I’m so afraid of having Schizophrenia. My dads brother had it and apparently a lot of his side was full of other mental illnesses. Everytime I think I see something in the corner of my eye, or think I hear a voice or see something- I get too terrified. My sleep paralysis recently has went from nothing happen, to voices, people jumping and trying to beat me up, and creepy satanic imagery and wow... hope that goes away. Videos like this are important, thank you for making stuff like this! My mind constantly cherry picks out of fear for the worst, so videos like this make me feel a bit more relaxed and at ease.
WE’RE SO ALIKE. My dad’s brother also has it (but from what i heard, he’s the only one with schizophrenia from my dad’s family side). I’ve experienced many hallucinations, all auditory and i constantly deal with delusions. I’ve been trying to find out if i really do have schizophrenia or if it’s another thing. I used to be so afraid of it but now I’m more accepting, the only thing that scares me is if my symptoms gradually get worse, because right now this doesn’t impact me badly
I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 this year. I went to the ER while in a hypo manic state. Upon reflection of my life (I’m 23), I realize I have been this way since highschool and it’s getting worse fast. And now in the past 10 months or so I have been having a lot of the symptoms that you had at first, or others that are in this video, especially hallucinations of smell and audio. I began having spine shakes and bad feelings that I call “cold shivers” but I’m realizing every day what it really is. Mental illness runs thick in my family, both trees. It’s a scary time in my life and I will be updating my psychiatrist of all of this when I see him 1 month from now tomorrow. I’m grateful to have a long term partner who is justifying my feelings and has noticed a change In behaviour over time. Thank you for your content and reinforcement. Maybe I will update any news when I have some.
You’re almost to 100k subs, I’m so so proud of both of you ❤️ you are helping by SO MANY PEOPLE, both folks with schizophrenia and folks like myself that want to offer love, understanding and acceptance to folks in my community living with schizophrenia
I agree with you that one shouldn't self-diagnose. I also don't believe that as long as the diagnosis is given by a professional, one should immediately trust it 100 %. If the diagnosis is done without investigations or discussions beforehand, which unfortunately frequently happens here in Norway with purely clinical/symptom-based diagnosis (except the very rare ones), I think it's in the best interest for the patient to seek another doctor who will acutally give them a thorough investigation before diagnosing them, and most of all one who listens to you and understands what you mean. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2013 without diagnostic evaluation. She only based herself on records from the emergency department which had diagnosed me with acute psychosis and later paranoid psychosis, which are really two completely distinct diagnosis. Basically she diagnosed and treated my records and not me, which unfortunately is frequenty the case here in Norway, as are also errors and misunderstandings in the records, which because of this practice end up having an enormous impact on the quality of care. My parents mentioned something about me being weird for a few months before the admission for psychosis, by which they were refferring to me being vegetarian. The psychiatrist read this quote from my parents and jumped to the conclusion that they must have been reffering to me having had delusions for several months without talking to me about it.
I agree. I got misdiagnosed based on only assumptions about me and the psychiatrist never asessed me, only obtained information from my cpn which was absolute BS. When a different psychiatrist did a thorough asessment by themselves, it was found I did not have schizophrenia.
The part of the records is seriously creepy. Now, in Portugal, the national system is all integrated, and every medical professional can access your record that can contain whatever, even lies and mismatching information, especially ER episodes and you have no clue whats written.there unless you ask access to hospital records. Last time I decided to do it, and noticed that were fake informations like "patient has been followed in psychiatry since 2007" when actually i was doing "psychotherapy in 2007.I was seeing a therapist" which are very different things And then there was reference to other physical illnesses there i have and the doctor was checking the records to see if i had indeed been diagnosed and then said "patient has being followed in another hospital for this condition..records state there was a change of doctors ???"" Why does a ER psychiatric evaluation includes in the report that I'm followed in another hospital for an autoimmune disease and that there was a change in doctor??? what does it add? Even if I'm gonna see other specialist, he/she will have access to these records and might take a biases opinion. With errors or not these records and reports will be on the system forever.
This is an old comment but I just wanted to agree that medical records can have false info and really shouldn’t be used for diagnostic purposes. I had surgery on my wrist earlier this year and I had asked the surgeon to prescribe naproxen (I think it’s brand name is Alieve?) so I wouldn’t have to buy it. When I went to a follow up with my family doctor, he informed me that the surgeon had made a note in my file that I had been asking for opiates/narcotics. I was specific in asking for Naproxen, which is *not* a narcotic, because I know my system handles it better than other OTC pain relief. Addictions run in my family so I am _very_ careful to stay away from certain medications, even when I probably could use it (ie Xanax). My family doctor knows this and thought this request seemed out of character, which is why he brought it up. I don’t know why exactly the surgeon added this falsity to my file. But it makes me wonder what else is in there and if any other doctor decided to take it upon themselves to add their own “interpretation” or fiction. Doctors are people and screw up all the time (sometimes purposefully). That’s why 2nd (or 3rd) opinions are always a good idea, if possible. Thanks for giving me a space to share something that’s bothered me for awhile.
Very helpful. I would add that things like antidepressants and antipsychotics should only be prescribed by a qualified psychiatrist, not a GP. I once mentioned in passing to my GP that I felt a little down that day and he immediately tried to put me on antidepressant medication that he was clearly not qualified to prescribe.
@@ianmurdoch6247 I don’t see enough to identify it as someone or something. Most of the time I see the door opening or closing while it isn’t. I also saw someone I saw in the grocery shop in my room, but not very clear, just a few seconds. I blinked and they where gone. Not sure if this really are the symptoms of schizophrenia tho....
@@ranu_7777 Ill see people peaking around corners , lots of time little people. Just for a split second. Or Ill see someone In my peripheral vision. They apear very solid and real. But they disapear when I look directly at them.
@@ianmurdoch6247 same I also have a extreme paranoia of people trying to murder or abduct me I always have to check my back seats I put a solid door on my bedroom and put three bolts on it while I sleep and someone brought up my family has a history of schizophrenia and when I looking everything up and I’m like well shit I might need to go to a physiologist
@@kendrickholland8750 I got so paranoid of police out to get me I became a shut in for years. Just left the house to go down to store and back. I kinda beat it though. One day I had enough or was drunk or somthing. I decided, 'whats the worst that could happen. I get arrested. So what. So I walked to all the places I was most paranoid about. Nothing was there. Nothing. Then I knew for sure it was all in my head. Im still paranoid but now I can deal with it. Put it in its place. I know im just hearing things. More than that it let me start to see its true source. My own fear,guilt and insecurity. Any hallucination that strikes fear. Confront it directly. Or ypu spend years wrestling with it. And your mind knows how to fool you. It uses your fear. Walk into fear and youll see. Its nothing. Thank you for telling me trip. All our experience are a bit different but I learned that our hallucinations can be a tool to let us peer deeper. Just like a dream is symbolic, so are our hallucinations
Thank you for your videos. I literally called my psychiatrist today and have had my medication increased and will be getting a new diagnosis. I truly thank you for your videos.
I dont see my comment, so I assume you sadly have to screen comments to keep things positive. Sorry people can be crappy sometimes. I'm very proud of you as a fellow human being for owning your conditions and working to help others. That is the very best way a person can conduct themselves.
One of my doctors thought I had Schizo affective disorder because of psychotic episodes - turns out I have Bipolar. It’s a very nuanced set of symptoms that often overlap, and speaking to professionals is crucial. It often takes time before you find the right doctor
This is a great video I appreciate all the clarity to it. I have a severe case of narcolepsy type 2. A warning sign of this can be hallucinations and hearing voices the feeling of being touched smells Etc exclusively and ONLY while falling asleep or in the state of sleep or upon waking. Sleep paralysis is common but not if it is every night or every other night. It is also not uncommon to have some delusions and the occasional hallucination or loss of time during the day. I felt it necessary to write this as it took over 20 years to get a proper diagnosis.
I have DID, CPTSD, anxiety, and autism according to my diagnosis. My partner of a year and a half is diagnosed schizoaffective. I have a therapist and meds but he doesn't. I've urged him to meet with a therapist and consider medication. He was only diagnosed a decade ago but never had therapy. No meds. He has a full diagnostic coming up in two days! I still have issues that have never been discussed. Since we hope to be lifelong partners we are both focusing on our mental issues right now and living apart.
I wish I could get my son to listen to this video! He either does not realize he's having symptoms or isn't ready to admit to them. Somehow he is able to deny everything to the doctors so they let him go which only confirms to him that nothing is wrong. At any rate, this is such a great, informative video! Your channel is such an invaluable tool for individuals that are suffering as well as famlies that are struggling to understand and cope with a loved ones diagnosis. People are afraid of what they don't understand so sharing your experiences makes it so much easier to get passed the fear of it and place the focus on the path to wellness.
You would prefer that they drugged him, blocking his dopamine receptors? "The principal symptom of dopamine deficiency is depression, the feeling of boredom (chronic boredom), apathy, loss of satisfaction, chronic fatigue and low physical energy with no desire to move the body. There is a general lack of drive, motivation and enthusiasm" why would you want this to him? Do you think he is dangerous? A life on antipsychotics is not much of a life...
@@nihil8436 No, I don't want any of this for him. The delusions he has make it unsafe for him to be in our home with his younger sibling so rather than seek treatment he prefers to be homeless. All of his friends have left and no one will take him in because of the odd/scary things he says such as when he told a friend he needed to kill her cat because it had the spirit of someone he didn't like in it. He wanted to throw it in the fire. He said that his pregnant girlfriend is a demon and that the baby is half demon. He also tells prople he is God. Do you not think this warrants medication?
In the United States, I think there is a very healthy incentive for self-diagnosis, not for the purpose of medication & treatment, but for the purpose of self-acceptance & healing. My family runs strong on the schizophrenic spectrum, and has experienced so much trauma in the American psychiatric system that we're barely functional anymore. From electro-shock to pills to restraints to forced sedation to institutionalization to physical, verbal, psychological & sexual abuse, not to mention Institutional abuse like family separations, arrests, etc, folks on the spectrum often face wicked circumstances after symptoms develop. People with symptoms have every reason to not want to seek help, and often don't until they're being 51-50'd or taken by a friend/family member to the ER.
As a licensed clinician, I appreciate this video. There is a great fear of this population about going to professionals and being assessed. People do feel like they will be thrown in a “insane asylum” and have all of their rights taken away. People can be kept in a hospital, but it would be a temporary stay to stabilize and return to baseline. Long term care happens in rare cases when symptoms continue to cause the person not to be safe despite being treated. Even then, people won’t stay forever it might take more time to treat symptoms. I appreciate you emphasizing the point about not self diagnosing because, like you said, it takes time to accurately diagnose a person. A person can come to me directly from a hospital with a diagnosis by the doctor who treated them, but as I work with them, that diagnosis could change. Thank you for making this video because people feel very alone with these kinds of issues and I’m sure it helps to see they are not the only one with it.
That fear is not unfounded. They have every reason to be fearful and not go to a professional. I would advise people not to. For one, they do not know who they will get, psychiatry is full of evil people abusing their power. Why take that chance. It is easy to get diagnosed as schizophrenic or psychotic if you are just different and or what you say is misinterpreted. This is done on purpose, to diagnose people as psychotic, claim they are a danger and take their rights away.
I understand your concern as many people that I worked brought that up when I work with them. I am a counselor not a psychiatrist and I address these concerns with people. In my experience, it is not easy to diagnose an individual. They have to meet a certain criteria and even then things could change. It is a risk for the medical provider as well. If they wrongly diagnose someone, prescribe medications, and God forbid the person take their lives, they could lose their license. Or if someone goes to or is taken to the hospital because of safety reasons and a doctor decides to discharge someone prematurely, without treatment, they and the hospital could lose their license. I accept that I can never really understand the experience of someone who has these symptoms and is concerned about going to a medical. That is why I appreciate this video of a first hand experience testimony. I have seen the most success with people that are taking medications and counseling. I just had a client of my mine with schizoaffective disorder graduate from college and is doing great. Even though she still has symptoms, they are not severe enough to interfere with her daily functioning. People that I worked with who decided not to take medications, try to manage symptoms on their own but there symptoms got worse. This unfortunately is an illness and like other illness, like cancer, if it is not treated properly, if can cause serious harm. As to your concern about abusive providers, if you have worked in a job in service if others than you understand how exhausting it can be. Not everyone wants your help, people don’t always trust you and tell you they don’t, they might not thank you if you do help, you don’t want to make it worse, and despite your best effort people might not get any better. This kind if work is not for a person wanting power. If they do they don’t last very long because it is not worth it and get too tired of it or lose their job. What makes it worth it, is the possibility of making a difference in someone life. It is a happiness that stays with you and no one can take that away. Anyway, sorry for the long post. Please take care.
You're a very intelligent woman, and you're doing a great job at conveying the idea of what Schizophrenia really is to people who don't know what it is, or who wonder if they might be Schizophrenic themselves.
This channel is so helpful, you're doing good work. As someone who is trying to work on advocating for myself in terms of mental health, it's helpful to know what everything means. I feel the impulse to elaborate but what's private is private of course. I will say keeping a journal is a fantastic idea... I keep one for my disabilities and never thought about one for this, wow! Thank you for sharing both this info and your experiences, you're very cool!
I have watched for awhile but just subscribed. My grandmother, sister, and daughter have these issues. So thanks for normalizing this, so people who may feel they cant or are embarrassed to explain what's going on with them. 🙏
I believe my mother may have some kind of psychosis. My heart goes out to her but she is so scared as being labeled as such and refuses to get treatment. I'm hoping with my support that she will come around
Going to see my doc tomorrow and I'm horrified I've been putting this off for YEARS as the last time I was there I felt my concerns weren't being taken into consideration and I couldn't keep up with medication. But whatever these symptoms are coming from is getting much worse over time and I have a sense of impending doom that something bad is coming and I've got 2 toddler's that deserve a healthy parent. So here I go. I appreciate everything you've put out, lots of insight and relatable content that hits the nail on its head, might as well see someone before whatever is going on gets any worse.
I also have been diagnosed by professional doctors as having OCD and Schizophrenia. This awesome woman posted a video not too long ago that I commented on where I type up examples of what I deal with.
It is perhaps worth noting that your videos may be watched by many people who have already taken the step of going to their doctors or even spending time living in a hospital psychiatric ward, but who still have doubts about their diagnosis due to a perceived lack of rigour on the part of the medical experts, in the diagnostic process. In a compromised medical system, the additional resources that people like you can provide become, perhaps sadly, of real value to those suffering from mental illness. So thank you! It is perhaps also worth noting that your videos may be watched by loved ones of those who suffer from mental illness, not just the sufferers themselves. So people may be watching not trying to self-diagnose but to become better informed about what their loved one is going through.
I'm watching cuz some times I get paranoid that I have schizophrenia until I remind myself that the symptoms I have most of them started when I was still a kid and I wanted to watch it to hopefully stop myself from getting paranoid again.
Thank you for a better understanding! Thank you for being a beautiful soul who did the work and got help! You’re inspiring other to get the help they need!
Odd that I was recommended this, I've never searched whether i have schizophrenia or not, I have ptsd and that's the only mental health stuff I watch on yt
As a medium, I talk about mental health all of the time, especially if you see and hear things. I myself have had a psychological evaluation because life was hard before I understood. There are a lot of reasons you would be diagnosed, but a lot of reasons you won’t be, which is what I found. Which is why you need a professional to help you understand. There is NO shame in taking care of your mental, emotional health and wellbeing. There is also nothing wrong with living with a diagnosis. It does not define you. Many blessings, love and take care of yourself ❤️
@@nihil8436 i am sorry if you've had a bad experience but you should never deter someone from getting help. please always get help you deserve to live happily and comfortably. medications are good !! its trial and error. you most likely will never get the right dose of the right drug at first but communicate with your doctors and they will change and try new things until something's works for you !
@@emilymcintosh2968 Nope, most psych doctors and nurses are all about avoiding liability, to think they give a crap. Honestly, there is a much bigger risk of getting much worse mentally and physically and even ending up dead, it's not a coincidence that those admitted to mental hospitals have a higher suicide rate. They will dehumanise you, if you had any trauma, have been a victim of crime they will blame you, they will tear apart your character, make you look incompetent and then try force medication, they will even lie in order to place a CTO. But it doesn't matter because they are untouchable and the tribunl is a complete farce. Although there are good people working in mental health too, you do not know who you'll get and life is just too precious to be killed by a psychiatrist and their nurse.
@@nihil8436 - That may have been your experience with the mental health system, but it’s doing a great disservice to negate the efforts of the majority of mental health professionals who are compassionate and dedicated to helping people recover from and/or manage their crises and daily experiences. I have had treatment from psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists and social workers/MSWs for my mental health issues and all have been excellent in helping me learn about my diagnoses, the causes and the treatments, and mavigating the mental health system. Some treatments are programs that are limitied in duration and some are ongoing support. I would not dissuade anyone from seeking answers and treatment from qualified professionals. It can mean a matter of life or death, and most often results in improving the quality of life for the individual who would otherwise suffer with long-term, unresolved emotional pain that can manifest itself in maladaptive coping strategies, like self-harming behaviours, dependence upon alcohol and other substances, problem gambling, online gaming, excessive social media use, work or sex “addiction,” and other behaviours that can negatively impact one’s life, relationships and work.
Last night I told my mom I smelled chicken or something like that cooking in the kitchen and nobody was cooking and now I’m starting to realize it was probably an olfactory hallucination. I have known about my illness for a while but I didn’t know that was or could be a symptom. I’m glad I know that now so I can look out for it. I haven’t been sleeping for for days and my family is treating me really bad so that is probably why it is happening.
Hey there I've noticed that you spech is more better now that 3 year ago from the starting your TH-cam channel. Very fluid and you flowing through when you talking 👍🏾 Peace&Love
I’m having constant thoughts of renunciation. Thoughts of becoming a monk. I have seen 3 psychiatrists, all of them have told I have psychosis. They say I am having Delusions. I took Risperidone for a year and it helped only 10%. I had preceding Depression for 5 years before having these renunciation thoughts. But now I’m having these thoughts. I get these thoughts whatever I do. When I exercise, I meditate, I take a bath.. I get these thoughts. And these thoughts are too strong. It’s like they are unshakable. The main point is, I was never like this before. Till I was happy and normal till 2014, I didn’t even used to go to temple, forget about renunciation. My Mom cries everyday thinking why I get these thoughts. She is not letting me go. She doesn’t want me to leave her and my dad forever. My Doc has now given me Trifluoperazine and Olanzapine. But I really really think I don’t need these meds. I really really don’t think that I’m delusional. Because I get these thoughts when I meditate or exercise. It’s like I have my peace with it. I don’t think that I’m delusional. I really don’t know what to do. I really think Trifluoperazine and Olanzapine will not help, because I took Risperidone for one year and it hardly helped. My guts tell me that I’m normal and I don’t need these new meds. And it tells me to take renunciation. What should I do ?
Thank you for sharing your information and thoughts like this. It's excellent. Ultimately, though, "long time" equals lots and lots of money that many, if not most, people simply don't have primarily because their struggles keep them from making much money if any money at all. This is the over arching problem with all of mental health. It's not assessable to nearly everyone.
Yes I was diagnosed with schizoaffective, anxiety, major depressive disorder, and it sucks. I am recovering help but it’s not easy, but honestly what is.
I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia recently by a professional. And I’m glad I found your TH-cam . I don’t like the diagnosis. And it’s because it’s another responsibility lol I have to really look after myself now . I have to take my meds just like someone with diabetes who have to take insulin everyday . I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia/ schizoaffective/ depression with psychosis . And I no longer pay attention to the diagnosis as much as I follow treatment I’m really happy to find your channel because I believe meds can only do so much . CBT has helped me even though I only have done 5 sessions
I had ptsd after coming home from Iraq and I was having bad dreams and hallucinations upon waking. My therapist put me on Risperdal it was the worst medication!! I stopped it two months in and never looked back. I'm doing well today :)
Sure appreciate your ongoing work and engaging videos. Top notch comfortable professionalism and a challenging subject for me, I struggle with going to a doctor. Thanks
I wish what you were saying about not being locked up and deprived of her rights and over medication is not going to be a thing, but that was exactly how they treated my partner when we took her to the SA hospital, she has been scared so bad from the experience where they were suppose to help her, she has a bad case of Anosognosia and even watching this amazing video that you explain it so nice dont work, thank you for your videos they really give me hope
There's a video game called Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice where you play as a female warrior with schizophrenia. It was made with input from schizophrenic people and I was wondering if you could perhaps watch a playthrough/cutscene compilation of it and give your opinion on how well portrayed the perspective of a schizophrenic person? Myself and others would be very interested in seeing that.
Very informative video that's super well put together while being responsible with the appropriate disclaimers. Thank you for this great work you provide people with.
Have you realized that schizophrenia bumps up against a high degree of intelligence? I love your schizophrenia as I do my own. It has allowed me to see some profound truths of life. I can tell by the way you talk that you are very smart as well. It's not to say there isn't a significant downside to it but there is also an advantage that goes along with it as well. Nature has a way of balancing itself out.
*following along because I appreciate the feeling of not aloneness* Looking at the diagnostic things related to schizophrenia makes me feel really self conscious tbh because i experience all of them to a degree and i dont feel like thats normal, even for a person with schizophrenia? It makes me wonder if i am being hypocondriatic or something, idk, but i know that i experience these .. i also wonder of maybe i have a second illness that contributes. Or a nuerodivergence of some kind, but it makes more sense to me if i have one illness that explains a lot and not many that explain bits and pieces. I have really severe delusions about my food or drink being tampered with, that people are looking at me/talking about me maliciously. Im doing something incorrectly or embarrassingly, or that I look bad. I distrust doctors a lot of the time but in a way that i think they will hurt me or will do things against my will no matter how much i protest, and so doctors terrify me. Im TERRIFIED of being admitted for suicidal thoughts. Im often super paranoid about my partner not liking my appearance or liking other peoples appearances more than mine, but this is a mix of my paranoia and trauma.. and most often I become convinced that someone is watching me even when im alone. Theyre hiding somewhere, or in the window. I used to also be super paranoid about hidden cameras but that has subsided somewhat recently. Hallucinations of course, i honestly experience taste and smell hallucinations far more frequently than auditory or visual. When i start hearing things, i know my symptoms are getting worse and if i start seeing things other than shadows or movements in the corner of my eye then Im in big trouble. My usual hallucinations are usually just food things. If im hungry i smell food, i go investigate and it turns out no one is cooking. I know its not just a neighbor or something because theres very little chance they would happen to be cooking outside whatever random dish i just happen to be craving at the time, EVERY TIME, most of which would be cooked on a stove and not outside.. I also have maybe a mix of olfactory hallucinations and delusion, im not sure, where i think something smells "off" or bad and no one agrees. Usually food, or milk, sometimes cups or cookware and i cannot get rid of the smell no matter how much i wash it. Everyone is just annoyed and exasperated when i spend 20 minutes scrubbing a pan just to announce that i cant use it and im gonna try a different one Disorganized speech is weird for me and this could be more of an anxiety thing and not related to my schizophrenia, but im not sure. It happens whenever im excited, good or bad. Super sad, angry, happy, whatever. If my emotions run high i cannot speak. It usually starts as kind of a stutter, where i will either get frustrated and give up altogether or try to push past it and end up talking nonsense. I always thought of it as my mind running too fast for my mouth to catch up, but i realized that it also happens when my thoughts feel... i dunno. slow, far away, or like i cant even reach the end of them before they drift too far away. I recently learned this might be scattered thoughts, at least in the fast end of the scale. Im not sure about the slow foggy end 🤔 but ive been told that sometimes my sentences come out as if i started one and finished a totally different one, maybe with a third one thrown in the middle. Or occassionally its just total gibberish? Random unrelated words. Its interesting because this only really happens around people im super close to. Around others, i tend to just freeze up and stop talking all together. This causes really intense fits of mutism that i cant break out of for several minutes or even several hours if its bad enough. Happens super often trying to order food and such.. I dont know about disorganized behavior, im not sure that id really be able to notice this in myself. I know that i sometimes become a little too wrapped up in my hallucinations while in public and so i behave weirdly or inappropriately, like im scares or dont know where i am. Thats very very severe though, im more likely to just be visibly nervous or paranoid. Catatonia though is a definite for me. I dont really know what happens to cause it, i just know that it happens. Sometimes i just have a super flat affect, and just dont care about anything. Nothing is funny or interesting, i dont care to talk but if i have to its usually in the interest of observing things around me and informing whoever im talking to of them. i also tend to be more....mean? Much less sensitive or empathetic. Its almost like a different person. Its not my depression, i am very familiar with my depressive symptoms and they hamper my personality but dont completely change it. I also have moments of just total nonresponsiveness, but i cant comment much on that because im not really aware of it when it happens. Again, im not 100% sure this is related to my schizophrenia or something else Negative symptoms, ive already touched on some of them that cant be explained by depression like the speech irregularity or catatonia, but i also have a BUNCH that are associated with depression. Its pretty run of the mill depression and suicidal thoughts, im not sure its worth mentioning all my negative symptoms of this A big issue with me in getting treatment for my symptoms is just doctor availability. My clinician doesnt seem to care, or believe me? About my symptoms, gave me a referral to psych on my request. They told me they were not taking new patients and getting ahold of them in the past year and a half has felt impossible. A nuerologist gave me an urgent referral so they CANT turn me away, but they simply never answered the phone or called back. I had a therapist for a while, but she told me she doesn't "believe in" diagnosis and wouldnt let me talk about non depression related symptoms. Shed just brush them off and move on to my depression or my relationship. Ive gotten to the point that i dont want anything to do with these doctors, and idk how to proceed. Thank you for your time, whoever cared to read this 💕
Ashi Kat - best wishes with your efforts to find a psychiatrist that will see you to discuss these issues and provide diagnosis. Sometimes that is the hardest step, at least in the USA if that's where you are.
Just wanted you to know that I read your entire comment and I hope things have gotten better for you. Live long and prosper. 🖖 Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Saying that self diagnosis is bad without acknowledging the systemic inequality that prevents so many people from ever even having the opportunity to recieve a diagnosis or treatment is problematic. Racism, poverty, medical trauma, and ableism prevent lots of people from having access. Just because some people are lucky enough to access mental health services doesn't mean that people who don't have that access deserve to live in confusion and fear with no community support for their entire lives.
@Ash; I'm in the UK and we have a free health care system, but Black patients disproportionally get diagnosed with schizophrenia because a lot of the lack of understanding between different groups and someone white or middle-class and from the same background as the medical team will illicit more empathy and may be given an alternative diagnosis, whether bi-polar, autism etc, sometimes it's just semantics. However, I've been diagnosed with this condition by psychiatrists, been sectioned and medicated for over 20 years, and done plenty of reading and research on the topic, and I conclude that their analyse was accurate, but I get told all of the time by Black people who have no training in psychiatry that I don't actually have schizophrenia and was misdiagnosed, and the mental health "community" is just as insular as others, so you're not accepted there either. The best thing I find when I'm told that I don't have schizophrenia is to ask what my condition is then and the response is either silence or some platitude about we all have problems. Not assimilating into any particular community doesn't really cause much of an issue for me as I'm naturally a misanthrope, so being ostracised from either work colleagues, family, Black people, white people, the mental health community isn't jarring, it's just frustrating when people dismiss what you have to say and don't acknowledge your story as factual, rather they treat it as an embellishment, even if you have empirical evidence to substantiate your claim.
@@richbarrett6380 It's a shame people dismiss your diagnosis. Psychiatric diagnosis can be a blessing and a curse, but they advantage people and help them deal with what's going on inside them far more than they cause problems. They are generally important for getting access to the right treatment; in fact a large part of how disorders of mental health are classified relates to what medications work for them. Schizophrenia is a condition that needs medication, so a professional diagnosis is pretty much essential. It's a shame that there is so much communication disparity; I remember reading about a (very small scale) study in which two psychiatrists were asked to independently diagnose 100 patients according to ICD-10 criteria and then according to DSM-IV criteria (this was in 2009; neither of those editions of those manuals is still in official use now). One diagnosed 44 according to ICD-10 criteria, and 26 according to DSM-IV, and the other diagnosed 24 according to ICD-10 and 13 according to DSM-IV. The researchers concluded that the higher diagnosis of patients with schizophrenia using ICD-10 was that it didn't have a specific criterion for first crossing off the possibility of an affective disorder being present, since psychosis is quite common in BPD, and occurs in MDD and SAD. The study did also have them diagnosing schizoaffective disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and unipolar depression. What it really highlighted, though, was how individual a diagnosis is and how much it is down to a professional's judgment, and hence that we really do need to make sure that they are considering the implications of what statement they give for the person, and what will be most helpful for that individual. The question of what diagnosis is required, is I think, more of an issue for psychiatrists than the question of whether a person is actually ill. The disproportionate diagnosis of people of Afro-Caribbean descent is an issue, but I do think that we need to focus on drawing attention to issues and giving feedback and other things to help improve the NHS mental health services than abandoning them in favour of alternatives.
When I was diagnosed it started when I was hearing monsters in my head and seeing things and feeling things and thinking people are trying to steal my information which was hard to deal with.
Am I having hallucinations too? I Cause i feel like I keep on seeing something crawling or flying across from me but I’m not so sure if that is real what I am seeing, and every time I look at a picture it looks like it’s moving but I’m not sure if it’s moving or not and it’s really confusing me, And I notice that I smell things that people can not smell. yesterday day I was looking at these trees, but they was moving in a weird way, I saw the wind moving the trees but the trees were moving in like a S illusion or pattern,I hope I make sense enough for you to understand.this has started I think 4 or 5 days ago.
I've been trying to get help for what's happening to me for over a year now, things got much worse, and I really don't know if it's schizophrenia. Even if it is, I can't access help for it. I've been to five different providers of low cost care and have been turned down because I don't make enough and my symptoms and trauma are too hard for them to treat. Now I basically just accept my reality and I hope if it's schizophrenia it just takes over already so that I'll stop being aware of my symptoms.
@@raquelpurpleboxes If you live in a city in the US, there's likely a phone number you can call that can direct you to free public health services. In my city the number is 211. If you're able to get in touch with your city's local agency, they can set you up with a case manager who may direct you to apply for disability, or Medicaid or both. Good luck.
I'd rather diagnose myself. The mental health "professionals" I've seen are terrible at their job. Between the age of 13 and 24, I've seen 10-12 different psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists. I diagnosed myself bipolar, because I have experienced mania lasting 3-5 days, depression, and I hear voices. I told my doc "Hey, I wanna try to fix my mania and not being able to sleep!" I sleep great, I haven't had mania since taking this medicine, and I no longer hear voices. I'm probably an edge case, and I have an interest in the medical field, I've read studies that were done by legit medical professionals, etc. I didn't just wake up one day and decide I am bipolar. It took me several years of research, including research into different medications. I also find it really, really odd that almost every anti-depressant I've taken will cause me to end up in full on mania. Everyone I've talked to who has taken anti-depressants for depression, has not experienced mania. I may not be bipolar, but it's close enough for this mood stabilizer to lessen or eliminate my symptoms. (Still have depression, sometimes.) Oh, and they said I can't be diagnosed bipolar because my mania doesn't last for 7 days or longer. And last time (a year or two ago) I tried to get an appointment with a mental health "professional", I was told despite hearing voices that were urging me to do violence, inability to sleep due to mania (I had been up for at least 4 days) I was very low priority and they'd call me when they had an opening.
I'm wondering what effect (if any) things like stress, lack of sleep, or chaotic life changes might have on the harshness, clarity, and/or frequency of hallucinations.
Some days i feel i dont have schizophrenia but in my life experience having a major mental illness it always comes back with a vengeance as if too say''here i am'' 'i will be with u ..always❤. "FOREVER"
It took about 2 years to be diagnosed skitzoeffective (sry spelling) I was in denial for another 2 years.. Then one day it clicked at his office. Things are starting to become clearer with 4+ years of treatment.
I have just seen the e.i.t and am waiting to see them again next week thank you so much for your videos helping me understand a lot it's been a very scary time wish you well 🕊️ 🐝
Been caring for an autistic son and a schizophrenic step-daughter for some years. It's brought me into contact with a lot of others with similar/related conditions. Could I diagnose? Absolutely not. It could be said that you can find symptoms in almost everyone at one point or another. This seems particularly true of autism. The independent observer (the doctor) is the best person for the job. An intimate, close relative or whatever does not have the 'global and dispassionate' view to make a sure diagnosis either. You cant find the centre of a very large circle if you are standing in it. I was advised to get counselling from a psychiatrist from the very start. I was inclined to say; "I will be fine" but did anyway. Best thing I ever did. As for the journal: Yes yes yes. It's more helpful than you can imagine. No need to write a story, a one-line entry will do. Could not get motivated today. Could not stay focused today. whatever. It is a record and a barometer of your dominant feelings for that day. Details help but the signposts are enough.
Random questions. 1) Weren't you diagnosed bipolar or bipolar spectrum? How did you get to schizophrenia diagnosis ? 2) did you start medication while diagnosed bipolar? Did they just not help or help partially?
Thanks a lot for your Information Sister. I want to fight against a Doctor in India who Declared me as Paranoid Schizophrenia patient with out talking with me a Single Word.
Well,I self-diagnosed schitzophrenia,then...it was bipolar with psychosis... It's not always that bad.If I wouldn't self-diagnosed ,I will not be agreed to go psychiatrist.I couldn't agree to use psychiatric medicine.I didn't believe that I hear voices that are "my fantasy"....but fear and self-diagnose helped me...
Please read "How to Live With Schizophrenia" by Dr. Abram Hoffer. A large percentage of the lifetime schizoaffective community who have self-diagnosis or have been diagnosed have connected in one way or another with Dr. Hoffer's Orthomolecular Therapy. This is taking a lot of vitamins and taking sugar and dairy out of your diet. Get lots of rest and moderate exercise. Be kind to yourself. Ignore voices. Seriously that is the major deal. It works. The vitamins are Vit C 1000 mg Vit B6 1000 mg Vit B3 1000 mg 3 x a day Also take Selenium Calcium Magnesium Vit E Once a day. Add whatever else works: D3 Iron
I don't but my dad does. Anyone else with a parent with it? It was hard growing up but thankfully his meds always worked and he always took them. He got super depressed at one time and ended up in the hospital. I was his best friend growing up so I really felt that if he did commit suicide then it be my fault for not being able to help him. Thanks for the video. :)
Or maybe they're just a hypochondriac, they are normal-ish but have some mild symptoms of a mental illness and they get frightened from it and they go down the rabbit hole of self diagnosis (I did that, got stressed out so much that a nurse [who had depression] saw that I might be having a depressive episode; and I did have a history of abuse as a child and have had anxiety + and inability to make up my mind about things) which made my psychiatrist diagnose me of having a moderate depressive episode and I was prescribed fluoxtine and mirtazpine which made things worse for me... :')
I agree, its important to not self-diagnose. If you think you might have something, go to your doctor! They can properly diagnose you and give you the resources you need.
When I was working with people living with schizophrenia lack of insight was something which most people experienced. It was one of the major contributing factors to medication avoidance ( and side-effects).
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It's also important to note that you can have hallucinations and delusions without having schizophrenia. It can come with depression, bipolar, and some personality disorders.
But also that they’re not a common symptom of depression, BAP and BPD, and they indicate psychosis.
@@ravenclaw832 what's mean BAP ?CAN YOU TELL ME IN BI POLAR DISORDER,DO PATIENT TALK WITH HIMSELF LIKE SCHZOPHERNIA?
Sara waever...you gave me such good informatiom about SCZOPHERNIA
@@aaymathebest4705 My mistake sorry, I was meant to type BD (bipolar disorder) and instead I typed BAP which stands for Broader Autistic Phenotype (not in any way related to this subject). I'm not a medical professional but as far as I understand schizophrenia, people who suffer from it do not talk to themselves but often do have auditory hallucinations which feel like they're hearing voices externally (not their "inner voice"; not every person with schizophrenia necessarily "hears voices"). Bipolar Disorder does not indicate auditory or visual hallucinations but people with bipolar CAN have hallucinations if they're experiencing what is called a psychosis / psychotic episode.
@@ravenclaw832 i mean, that's why it says you need 2 or more symptoms. I wouldn't say they are not common, but they are not strong enough to diagnose schizophrenia. A lot of people with depression experience derealization or depersonalization, and I personally feel that in harder moments that can become very similar to a delusion. Minor hallucinations are quite common in many stressful and tiring situations.
I feel very certain that I don't have schizophrenia, I watch your videos to support the channel and I love your bravery and openness about your mental illness. I'm so inspired by your grace and generosity it helps me with the battles with mental illness that I struggle with. Thank you.
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Anxiety disorder here and my panic attacks were so severe that they caused some mild delusions and audio hallucinations while waking or falling asleep. But....once addressed and treated, those things disappeared. Do not self diagnose. My psychologist was certain I didn't have schizophrenia, but my anxiety was preventing me from reason.
Very similar experience, I was diagnosed with psychosis yet otherwise undiagnosed when it really was anxiety and panic attacks which led to minor paranoia. I'm getting the right treatment and am getting better! It can take some time, but it's worth it for the right diagnosis!!
those can also be hypnagogic hallucinations! they're pretty common and happen when you're falling asleep, so if it happens again, try not to worry too much!
I feel that currently, although tbh most of my panic and paranoia is just me freaking wondering if I'm developing schizophrenia or about to go into a psychotic episode, over and over again, and I just can't stop thinking about, the thought of it is a weight in on itself
Omg me too
I also thought that I was Schizophrenic and I self diagnosed which exacerbated my anxiety and depression. After seeing a psychologist I learned that what I was experiencing is from OCD. Don’t self diagnose.
Thank you so much for stressing 'the self diagnosis is bad' point. I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia for 10 years and I found it very hard to come to terms with my diagnosis at first. After many hospitalizations and many years working to come to terms with my illness I am finally at a place where I can accept myself and my symptoms 🙂.
You're doing great! ❤️
Been there, Georgia! Similar story for me, I am in the UK, and I didn't take meds for 10 years, a number of voluntary hospital submissions (no forced stays, I had the "right" kind of personality to avoid spinning out - not a medical opinion, lol), it took a long time, I still struggle with believing my experience isn't real after 18 years...
Did you ever consider that a off set in brain development can increase pressure in the lower an mid brain levels with factors like blood pressure stress factors and inflammation causing increased pressure impairing growth or functioning in said reagens of the brain basil's ganglia..
If some medications impair thyroid function dose it effects the pons from regulating the arousal levels.
What are the chances a doctor would work with me rather the assum I'm just a crazy person..?
If schizophrenia never progress that doesn't effect the doctor just us.
The pharmaceutical industry relies of stacking prescription drugs to function. Theres a disincentive to change that. That's not paranoia that's fact baced observation.
Ask your doctor to day to explain a cemical imbalances is.
If they don't bring up the brain regions that control arousal or go through explaining the endocrine system and how the sympathetic & parasympathetic system intact with your introspective system.
There not treating your health issues there push out dated assumptions of anatomy baced on old data
I came to terms with the diagnosis quickly because I was like aight that makes sense now please help me make it go away, the thing that hit me extremely hard was the long life terms and even if I try to get help it won’t go away, the fear for passing it on to children or the fear of thinking my nephews and nieces have a chance because of me even though it’s not my fault, all that shook me to my core and I’m still struggling to accept that this is for life but every day is a battle and I’ve been doing a lot better than I was but now I have health issue which is just my luck but just my luck I got a service dog who’s in training to help me with both psychiatric and health problems :)
What made you think you had it?
Even mental health professionals don't diagnose themselves. Psychologists HAVE psychologists.
Must’ve sucked for the 1st psychologist 👨⚕️🤦♂️🤣
@@ಠ_ಠ-ಡ8ಲ lol
Good psychologists have psychologists, the others bounce off their patients and create havoc and eventually move on.
But even psychs who do have psychs get co-dependent and avoid diagnosis. It just happens.
Therapy is a billions of dollars economy and people get afraid of their small towns and gossip let alone their actual depths. In many ways going bat shit crazy and getting outside the borders of "sane" culture is a gift.
If they get diagnosed themselves... how can they continue to hold a license?
That won't make sense to most people. And why schizophrenia can't be self diagnosed..... Yeh.
When I was doing my nurse education I thought I had everything
Hahah. In one of her previous videos there was a list of symptoms how to understand you have a condition. After reading first 5 points, I though ‘cool, I am mental’. But then it kind of didn’t work out so I became sad. :D
Lol it's the knowledge almost thought I was a hypochondriac
@@nosiphodywili35 there has got to be a name for that.
Same lol
@@monicasaenz141 people with schizophrenia aren't always non-functioning, especially in the prodrome (not that you should self-diagnose, but you should talk to somebody before it gets to that point)
It took me two years of active psychosis to get the official diagnosis, during which I was studying, ironically, psychology.
I hope that once you find a level head or the common understanding that you can thrive despite your diagnoses that you go on to help people perhaps this comment has already helped people but those that have recovered from Chuck abuse make the best counselors and those who have battled homeless Les make the best case workers, I wish you well in your education field. Because having an inside understanding will allow you to be more compassionate and empathetic
My grandmother had schizophrenia. I’m trying to educate myself about what she experienced, and a lot of the things she said or did make a lot more sense now. Thank you for spreading information and awareness💜
I actually have found that my adhd causes a lot of word fumbling and the lack of working memory before I got back on my meds made me embarrassed and frustrated to try and communicate with people.
💯!
I thought I was the only one!
How do u find out as an adult if you are adhd? I fumble constantly and cant seem to find the correct word..more over I forgot them ..its hard to explain..
@@willowbe4747 me too
So true but don't worry we're here to help I understand the symptom
You are so brave for sharing your experiences and speaking your truth. Thank you so, so much.
If a person thinks the police are after them they might be ethnic 😊
I live with Schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. I am hypo manic right now and I love feeling this way! I just hate going full blown manic! I really appreciate your page as it has helped me come to terms with my diagnosis and see that life beyond the diagnosis is truly possible. Thanks!
i purposely try to trigger hypomania episodes
@@claire777. the manic high is honestly the best I've felt , it went downhill once the delusions and hallucinations became too much to bear
Not great when you also get hyperfocused in heavily cognitively demanding stuff like browsing through wikipedia for hours unable to eat or go to the bathroom, or what I do most, write comments on TH-cam that takes me literally more than 3 hours to write (I hit the max character count at least twice a week); a few months ago I had to make myself hypothermic to try and reduce serotonin levels/revert maoi effects, I was crying and begging for a single second of peace in my mind, bc I couldn't stop thinking at all
But a little bit of hypomania is literally what the normal human condition should be like(and would be if not for capitalism) great for creativity in both science, philosophy, arts and basically anything that isn't a standard pointless job and get stigmatized into lazyness.
I'm not sure about anything (at all, bc I take the uncertainty principle VERY seriously in all fields), but there's no way in hell that Leonardo da Vinci wasn't hypomanic.
He did too much, had too much creativity, slept 2hrs(6×20min) a day, and had too much curiosity about everything.
Nobody that's non-hypomanic has all that energy(and cocaine wasn't invented yet, nor ecstasy or methamphetamines) maybe dyslexic with ADHD or autistic, but I bet on hypomanic.
(If anyone is interested in knowing how long my comments usually are, this one took me smth between 15-30min, so imagine one 10+x the size)
Some different thought patterns and behaviors can be extremely beneficial, though most really have mostly(or almost/completely exclusively) negative impacts in our lives.
@@claire777. are you able to? Now I'm thinking about starting to take my antidepressant again, not only bc I'm depressive(xp'ing negative symptoms/psychotic depression/manic depression/mixed or idk, felt really really bad but I'm also getting euphoric in the same week, same day even( before the depression kicked in I was feeling amazing, even euphoric enough to do some handstands(which triggered some memories that led to the depressive episode itself)))but bc I'd like to shift it to hypomania, but ik I shouldn't bc I'm quite obviously experiencing some positive symptoms as well(maybe even delusional about being schizoaffective itself)
I might just go back to taking Ayahuasca regularly, I wouldn't play with those SSRIs.
But I also take weed to be able to sleep/eat (and manage stress, anxiety and depression, etc.)) and I can't afford CBD, which is the best antipsychotic I've ever taken(never felt my mind so clear, and instantly) so sometimes I go above the toxic psychotic threshold of 15mg of THC(when there's no CBD present (50mg when it's a 1:1)) and get like this(even more, that is) which btw is a ridiculously low threshold and why I had to get used to microdosing it(down to sub-mg levels)
But they honestly don't interfere much with how I feel when I'm not on them, except for the immediate antidepressant effects that lasts weeks/months for Ayahuasca and a couple hours to a couple days for weed
I know it's pointless to even send this at all, just like every other comment I make on TH-cam, but it helps me get things out and organize my thoughts(my speech that's full of verbosity and I'm not a native speaker, I swear my thoughts are fine, or seems so enough that it doesn't bother me(apart from the erotomania which might actually be just me not getting any hints, which has definitely happened before more than a couple of times.. so idk which ones the true delusion but I can't deny being delusional about something)
Anyway, there goes 30-35min more that I've wasted trying to agree that hypomania is good whilst simultaneously providing a counter-example as to why it's not so great(maybe I'm the one that entrapped myself into so much verbosity by actually adopting it as my writing style that I train constantly.. or I might be a tiny bit too high, but anyway, I'll refrain from interpreting myself, but If someone reads this, you're welcome and invited to give your opinion
@@Ewr42when you wrote your comments does it take a long time because you have to make them perfect? Grammatically and have to make sure that others can completely understand your thought process? I also can’t help but respond to comments that I find faulty in argument even though I know it doesn’t matter. I have to comment. It drives me nuts.
Around the 18:00 min mark you mentioned about professionals being there to help. For the longest time I thought I was going to be arrested or taken to a hospital if I told anyone how I was feeling. I’ve been working with someone I trust and have been put on medication. I’m hoping to one day be able to go to school. I’ve tried before but I had unaddressed ‘stuff’ that kept me from being able to focus.
Thanks for what you do.
That's what stopped me from going to the ER with severe panic attacks. They told me they were going to red flag my profile when I was begging for help because I was terrified and no clue why and they gave me IBS meds instead of helping me in the right way.
Lauren...thank you for providing information for this much misunderstood ailment. You are contributing to breaking the severe negative stigma of the diagnosis. I have learned so much through your channel.
I'm currently going to be attempting to go to a physchiatrist. I'm not sure what I have but I do share some here. I've made it a point to stay away from Self Diag as it can lead to different options. Thank you for posting this as it gives me courage to do so...Heres to hoping I'm just making this up if not I'm glad I live in a time with educated people.
How I confirmed that Im schizophrenic:-
1) I was great at communicating, but suddenly I noticed that I'm not able to express my feelings and words properly, people have difficulty understanding what I'm trying to convey.
My vocabulary also became terrible, earlier I was great and now I have started making spelling mitsakes too...
2) I was an extrovert, but after getting schizophrenia I became an introvert and I dont like spending time with anyone.
I like being alone.
3) I feel that I become a werewolf at night and I have killed 100 people by now... (Might be true)
I also think I posses some superpowers which other don't have.
3) I can frequently hear someone talking at night, even when there's no one there, I can see hallucinations of cats, dogs, zombies, people etc... Around me.
I sometimes hear weird sounds like a child laughing at night, I'm the only kid in my house and I'm 17...
4) I always feel someone is stalking, creeping or watching me and I'm gonna be murdered by someone, I am always suspicious of everyone ( also called PPD disorder)
This thing is ruining my life.
Have you received medical help
Hope you are feeling better❤
Can you get to a MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL to get help, insight, maybe a diagnosis?? PLEASE get help.
1 4 and 2 is literally me.. iam diagnosed with ocd 4 months now but for 2 months ive been experiencing things like you said..the only time ive hallucinated was 2 weeks ago at night were i was under an anxiety attack and i was seeing things out the corner of my eye..idk what i have (i certainly have ocd) but iam getting tested for schizophrenia next week
I hope you're doing good never forget we are the strongest most kind people love and blessings to you ❤️
Hi.
I dont have schizophrenia but last week I had been diagnose with depression with psychotic symptoms. I dont feel very comfortoble with that because it all so new to me and sometimes I get really scared. But I came across your channel and I love the way you talk about things, it gives me hope that things will get better. Thabk you
Love from Portugal
I would love a video covering how to support loved ones who may have schizophrenia. It's very difficult to know how to respond to delusions so that trust can be kept between you and the one you're supporting. I love what you do! Thank you for being so honest and brave.
I have schizophrenia but I also have helped many others who have it. I found it best to never outright challenge or dismiss their symptoms but not to encourage either. It's a fine balance where the seeds of doubt must be sewn but carefully as to avoid radical change. I'm my experience alone, delusions take a while to build and whilst they can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, such sweeping changes can be to the detriment of the person experiencing them. You should build trust with that person so that these boundaries, if stretched, will not result in further suffering.
Above all seek professional help in combating this particular circumstance and my advice is by no means directed toward anyone, rather an admission of my own personal findings.
I don't have a medical degree but twenty years of schizophrenic introspection is quite the crash course by my standard.
@@nnc248thank you for this...I deal with a family member who I believe may have schizophrenia and I never know how to respond
As someone managing schizophrenia I find these videos a valuable resource. Thank you!
Hi, great video/channel! I am an involuntary medication/procedure an attorney for patients in my state's mental hospital. I really like working in mental health, it feels like work worth doing. That said, it is also really hard. I am seeing people who are confined (almost always against their will). They are either not medicated at all or maybe barely medicated on an emergency basis. Then I am charged with helping them to protect their right to make their own medical decisions. Its a lot of suffering to behold and I am limited in my interactions with patients to these hearings so it is not really appropriate/possible to follow up with them and see how they are doing. So thank you for succeeding and showing that. It is so encouraging to see wellness and health and keep the faith that healing is possible.
To the community: Strength and hope to you all. Don't stop striving to be well. You are a part of the community and we want you to be with us.
Hello Lauren and fellow viewers,
I had delusions and that connection to the TV and national and international news. However I also had anosognosia so that when I had the delusions I didn't know what was really happening to me. It was only after I was committed to hospital May 1987, October 1988, November 2007 by others my family and one of my closest friends and his new wife who could see I was unwell and then recovering from the delusions that I could see what had happened to me.
I'm 67 and I have never felt as well as I do today recovering also now at long last from having severe irritable bowel syndrome IBS since November 1971 that was no less than mind altering. All of us here have different life stories and each one of us is a unique case to use the word a psychiatrist would more likely use - case.
Just today for example and lately I was thinking that the sexual abuse I was subjected to at age 11 by another 11yo might just have ripped me apart that led to my having serious mental illness from age 15 onwards. The problem is this is not clear to me in the way other things are crystal clear to me. Over the decades I paid no attention to that sexual abuse. A psychotherapist, who used to be a bank manager whom I was seeing around 2009, told me to think about what sexual abuse would do to a child from my point of view as a 56yo. She understood this far better than I did even though I had been sexually abused myself.
I could continue but let me stop there.
All the best and many thanks,
Peter Nolan. Ph.D.(physics). Dublin. Ireland.
I have often wondered why people with Dissociative Disorder were able to hold on to separate split personalities. When my schizoaffective disorder was at its worst I was actually traumatized by the illness a the time and the horror and wished that I could split my personality. When I learned that it had to do with the severity of early trauma on the extreme end of torture and secrecy and that lesser trauma at the same ages (2 - 7 and then 8 - 13) generally presents as some other form of mental illness between puberty and age 30ish.
It sounds like you were negotiating with it for quite a while before being diagnosed. I did the same. I am now 60.
Hello Peter. Thank you for sharing your story and congratulations on engendering such a healthy and happy life from very difficult circumstances. It is so difficult to accept the significance of our experiences as children. I hope that your openness and understanding of your life leads to ever more freedom and peace.
@@jacquelineleitch7050
Hello Jacqui,
Many thanks for your reply. Let me read up on Dissociative Disorder that is new to me. I am also not too clued in as to what a split personality is. I do not think I have a split personality except to say because I have felt so egregiously bad by having irritable bowel syndrome IBS I was utterly unable to feel my own authentic feelings since November 1971 when believe it or not my tongue, for example, turned white as chalk. My tongue today looks so much better but still with clear physical damage along its centre right there in the mirror.
I have IBS by holding my breath and some experts, but maybe not all, understand that. So by not being able to feel my own authentic feelings I am split between the egregiously awful sensation in my core, as we say here in Ireland sick to the stomach, and my true authentic feelings. I simply couldn't think. My thoughts, the simplest thoughts you can imagine, just didn't work like gears crashing in the gear box every time. So in that sense I'm split inside having to endure IBS and unable to feel my own true authentic feelings.
All the best and many thanks,
Peter. Dublin.
@@tidemeover8513
Hello Tide Me Over,
I'm still not out of the woods quite yet. We have a famous singer over here called Niamh Kavanagh who represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest many years ago and a line from that song is "to feel like a child again".
I am blessed to have the most wonderful family two sisters and a brother now that both of my parents are dead whom I miss so much. I have four nephews, two nieces, six grandnephews and grandnieces all who have been, and are being loved, so much by my sisters and brother.
I can easily talk about that sexual abuse in isolation but I have to also talk about my excruciatingly painful relationship with my Mammy my mother, my temper and being absolutely terrified of losing my temper and assaulting someone and ending up in prison. Factor in the primal shame I felt by having such a temper by my being a scientist and engineer.
You write about how difficult it is to accept the significance of our experiences as children. For example our accent in adulthood is the accent we hear growing up so obviously our childhood experiences have a profound life shaping effect on us. There is no end to the other examples like that. We are like sponges soaking up everything like osmosis when we are growing up of course there's no question about it but when we experience abuse there will be consequences. The problem is the popular vibe is that children all children are always loved and while on average this true it is not no way true in all cases and certainly not in my case when my Dad, who loved me so much, gave Mammy his full support in everything to do with the home and family and this was how it worked till the day he died in June 2011 aged 84. This conspired to have a terrible effect on me.
When we cannot feel our true authentic feelings this means that we cannot access our feelings when we were children - we can't feel like a child again.
Here in Ireland, and I only know about how all this pans out here in Ireland, there are still many secrets. However my own feeling is without having too great a contact with children today but having my four nephews and two nieces, that things are now getting better for children and the generation just after me my nephews' generation also and there really is great hope that there will be a natural resolution even if some secrets remain secret. I detect all kinds of vibes on our airwaves radio and TV especially TV live TV also and I see so much the secrets that are there. However I really must be kind and loving by always thinking that I'm not the only one to have grown up in Ireland through the 50's and 60's and that so many were immersed in what was there just like we hear the accent of our parents and ourselves speaking that very same accent.
I just want to thank you and Jacqui for replying to me and right now believe it or not my next ginormous project will be to do my weekly grocery shop in a nearby supermarket where I suffer - suffer - just going through the check out!! I expect to do extremely well this morning better than ever before and triumph over this adversity.
All the best and many thanks,
Peter. Dublin.
@@jacquelineleitch7050
Hello Jacquie,
I continue to think about what you are saying and to say that I'd never heard of Dissociative Disorder. However I understand. I am now more able to relax muscle wise and in every other way as well and I'm becoming whole again whatever that might mean and that in the sense that I feel more like my true self I do not feel so split off from that true nature. I could easily think that I have been disassociated or split from my natural configuration by having to endure the say muscle tension especially in my core when all that I could feel was that awful sensation unable to feel my true feelings.
I will never know with certainty what that sexual abuse did to me when I was 11 however. There are other things I really do know however.
I can now feel for you.
All the best and many thanks,
Peter. Dublin.
I know this is stupid, but I’m so afraid of having Schizophrenia. My dads brother had it and apparently a lot of his side was full of other mental illnesses. Everytime I think I see something in the corner of my eye, or think I hear a voice or see something- I get too terrified.
My sleep paralysis recently has went from nothing happen, to voices, people jumping and trying to beat me up, and creepy satanic imagery and wow... hope that goes away.
Videos like this are important, thank you for making stuff like this! My mind constantly cherry picks out of fear for the worst, so videos like this make me feel a bit more relaxed and at ease.
Really I might have it but I don't hear or see things to be honest
If I do though I wonder what's it's like to not have it
WE’RE SO ALIKE. My dad’s brother also has it (but from what i heard, he’s the only one with schizophrenia from my dad’s family side). I’ve experienced many hallucinations, all auditory and i constantly deal with delusions. I’ve been trying to find out if i really do have schizophrenia or if it’s another thing.
I used to be so afraid of it but now I’m more accepting, the only thing that scares me is if my symptoms gradually get worse, because right now this doesn’t impact me badly
If you're not careful you can convince yourself of anything. That's why isolation is so terrible for people to go thru.
I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 this year. I went to the ER while in a hypo manic state. Upon reflection of my life (I’m 23), I realize I have been this way since highschool and it’s getting worse fast. And now in the past 10 months or so I have been having a lot of the symptoms that you had at first, or others that are in this video, especially hallucinations of smell and audio. I began having spine shakes and bad feelings that I call “cold shivers” but I’m realizing every day what it really is. Mental illness runs thick in my family, both trees. It’s a scary time in my life and I will be updating my psychiatrist of all of this when I see him 1 month from now tomorrow. I’m grateful to have a long term partner who is justifying my feelings and has noticed a change In behaviour over time. Thank you for your content and reinforcement. Maybe I will update any news when I have some.
You’re almost to 100k subs, I’m so so proud of both of you ❤️ you are helping by SO MANY PEOPLE, both folks with schizophrenia and folks like myself that want to offer love, understanding and acceptance to folks in my community living with schizophrenia
I agree with you that one shouldn't self-diagnose. I also don't believe that as long as the diagnosis is given by a professional, one should immediately trust it 100 %. If the diagnosis is done without investigations or discussions beforehand, which unfortunately frequently happens here in Norway with purely clinical/symptom-based diagnosis (except the very rare ones), I think it's in the best interest for the patient to seek another doctor who will acutally give them a thorough investigation before diagnosing them, and most of all one who listens to you and understands what you mean. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2013 without diagnostic evaluation. She only based herself on records from the emergency department which had diagnosed me with acute psychosis and later paranoid psychosis, which are really two completely distinct diagnosis. Basically she diagnosed and treated my records and not me, which unfortunately is frequenty the case here in Norway, as are also errors and misunderstandings in the records, which because of this practice end up having an enormous impact on the quality of care. My parents mentioned something about me being weird for a few months before the admission for psychosis, by which they were refferring to me being vegetarian. The psychiatrist read this quote from my parents and jumped to the conclusion that they must have been reffering to me having had delusions for several months without talking to me about it.
I agree. I got misdiagnosed based on only assumptions about me and the psychiatrist never asessed me, only obtained information from my cpn which was absolute BS. When a different psychiatrist did a thorough asessment by themselves, it was found I did not have schizophrenia.
The part of the records is seriously creepy. Now, in Portugal, the national system is all integrated, and every medical professional can access your record that can contain whatever, even lies and mismatching information, especially ER episodes and you have no clue whats written.there unless you ask access to hospital records.
Last time I decided to do it, and noticed that were fake informations like "patient has been followed in psychiatry since 2007" when actually i was doing "psychotherapy in 2007.I was seeing a therapist" which are very different things
And then there was reference to other physical illnesses there i have and the doctor was checking the records to see if i had indeed been diagnosed and then said "patient has being followed in another hospital for this condition..records state there was a change of doctors ???""
Why does a ER psychiatric evaluation includes in the report that I'm followed in another hospital for an autoimmune disease and that there was a change in doctor??? what does it add?
Even if I'm gonna see other specialist, he/she will have access to these records and might take a biases opinion.
With errors or not these records and reports will be on the system forever.
No harm in a 3rd 2nd opinion. Plenty have been misdiagnosed.
This is an old comment but I just wanted to agree that medical records can have false info and really shouldn’t be used for diagnostic purposes. I had surgery on my wrist earlier this year and I had asked the surgeon to prescribe naproxen (I think it’s brand name is Alieve?) so I wouldn’t have to buy it. When I went to a follow up with my family doctor, he informed me that the surgeon had made a note in my file that I had been asking for opiates/narcotics. I was specific in asking for Naproxen, which is *not* a narcotic, because I know my system handles it better than other OTC pain relief. Addictions run in my family so I am _very_ careful to stay away from certain medications, even when I probably could use it (ie Xanax). My family doctor knows this and thought this request seemed out of character, which is why he brought it up. I don’t know why exactly the surgeon added this falsity to my file. But it makes me wonder what else is in there and if any other doctor decided to take it upon themselves to add their own “interpretation” or fiction. Doctors are people and screw up all the time (sometimes purposefully). That’s why 2nd (or 3rd) opinions are always a good idea, if possible. Thanks for giving me a space to share something that’s bothered me for awhile.
Thanks, Lauren! These videos are spot-on! I wish this info had been around 60 years ago! Thanks for leading us through the 21st century!
Very helpful. I would add that things like antidepressants and antipsychotics should only be prescribed by a qualified psychiatrist, not a GP. I once mentioned in passing to my GP that I felt a little down that day and he immediately tried to put me on antidepressant medication that he was clearly not qualified to prescribe.
I don’t hear voices, I mainly see things. I also have the strong feeling that someone is watching me or following me.
I get both. Could I ask you what you see?
@@ianmurdoch6247 I don’t see enough to identify it as someone or something. Most of the time I see the door opening or closing while it isn’t. I also saw someone I saw in the grocery shop in my room, but not very clear, just a few seconds. I blinked and they where gone. Not sure if this really are the symptoms of schizophrenia tho....
@@ranu_7777 Ill see people peaking around corners , lots of time little people. Just for a split second. Or Ill see someone In my peripheral vision. They apear very solid and real. But they disapear when I look directly at them.
@@ianmurdoch6247 same I also have a extreme paranoia of people trying to murder or abduct me I always have to check my back seats I put a solid door on my bedroom and put three bolts on it while I sleep and someone brought up my family has a history of schizophrenia and when I looking everything up and I’m like well shit I might need to go to a physiologist
@@kendrickholland8750 I got so paranoid of police out to get me I became a shut in for years. Just left the house to go down to store and back.
I kinda beat it though. One day I had enough or was drunk or somthing. I decided, 'whats the worst that could happen. I get arrested. So what. So I walked to all the places I was most paranoid about. Nothing was there. Nothing. Then I knew for sure it was all in my head. Im still paranoid but now I can deal with it. Put it in its place. I know im just hearing things.
More than that it let me start to see its true source. My own fear,guilt and insecurity.
Any hallucination that strikes fear.
Confront it directly. Or ypu spend years wrestling with it. And your mind knows how to fool you. It uses your fear. Walk into fear and youll see. Its nothing.
Thank you for telling me trip. All our experience are a bit different but I learned that our hallucinations can be a tool to let us peer deeper. Just like a dream is symbolic, so are our hallucinations
Love that you started out with not self diagnosing and went strait to the DSM-5
I cannot stress how amazing and how smart you are! You are very helpful too! The sweater looks good on you!
Thank you for your videos. I literally called my psychiatrist today and have had my medication increased and will be getting a new diagnosis. I truly thank you for your videos.
I dont see my comment, so I assume you sadly have to screen comments to keep things positive. Sorry people can be crappy sometimes. I'm very proud of you as a fellow human being for owning your conditions and working to help others. That is the very best way a person can conduct themselves.
One of my doctors thought I had Schizo affective disorder because of psychotic episodes - turns out I have Bipolar. It’s a very nuanced set of symptoms that often overlap, and speaking to professionals is crucial. It often takes time before you find the right doctor
This is a great video I appreciate all the clarity to it. I have a severe case of narcolepsy type 2. A warning sign of this can be hallucinations and hearing voices the feeling of being touched smells Etc exclusively and ONLY while falling asleep or in the state of sleep or upon waking.
Sleep paralysis is common but not if it is every night or every other night.
It is also not uncommon to have some delusions and the occasional hallucination or loss of time during the day. I felt it necessary to write this as it took over 20 years to get a proper diagnosis.
I have DID, CPTSD, anxiety, and autism according to my diagnosis. My partner of a year and a half is diagnosed schizoaffective. I have a therapist and meds but he doesn't. I've urged him to meet with a therapist and consider medication. He was only diagnosed a decade ago but never had therapy. No meds. He has a full diagnostic coming up in two days! I still have issues that have never been discussed. Since we hope to be lifelong partners we are both focusing on our mental issues right now and living apart.
I wish I could get my son to listen to this video! He either does not realize he's having symptoms or isn't ready to admit to them. Somehow he is able to deny everything to the doctors so they let him go which only confirms to him that nothing is wrong. At any rate, this is such a great, informative video! Your channel is such an invaluable tool for individuals that are suffering as well as famlies that are struggling to understand and cope with a loved ones diagnosis. People are afraid of what they don't understand so sharing your experiences makes it so much easier to get passed the fear of it and place the focus on the path to wellness.
You would prefer that they drugged him, blocking his dopamine receptors? "The principal symptom of dopamine deficiency is depression, the feeling of boredom (chronic boredom), apathy, loss of satisfaction, chronic fatigue and low physical energy with no desire to move the body. There is a general lack of drive, motivation and enthusiasm" why would you want this to him? Do you think he is dangerous? A life on antipsychotics is not much of a life...
@@nihil8436 No, I don't want any of this for him. The delusions he has make it unsafe for him to be in our home with his younger sibling so rather than seek treatment he prefers to be homeless. All of his friends have left and no one will take him in because of the odd/scary things he says such as when he told a friend he needed to kill her cat because it had the spirit of someone he didn't like in it. He wanted to throw it in the fire. He said that his pregnant girlfriend is a demon and that the baby is half demon. He also tells prople he is God. Do you not think this warrants medication?
Going through same thing w my son. Your comment was a year ago how is your son now? Were you able to get help?
In the United States, I think there is a very healthy incentive for self-diagnosis, not for the purpose of medication & treatment, but for the purpose of self-acceptance & healing.
My family runs strong on the schizophrenic spectrum, and has experienced so much trauma in the American psychiatric system that we're barely functional anymore.
From electro-shock to pills to restraints to forced sedation to institutionalization to physical, verbal, psychological & sexual abuse, not to mention Institutional abuse like family separations, arrests, etc, folks on the spectrum often face wicked circumstances after symptoms develop.
People with symptoms have every reason to not want to seek help, and often don't until they're being 51-50'd or taken by a friend/family member to the ER.
Hello
As a licensed clinician, I appreciate this video. There is a great fear of this population about going to professionals and being assessed. People do feel like they will be thrown in a “insane asylum” and have all of their rights taken away. People can be kept in a hospital, but it would be a temporary stay to stabilize and return to baseline. Long term care happens in rare cases when symptoms continue to cause the person not to be safe despite being treated. Even then, people won’t stay forever it might take more time to treat symptoms. I appreciate you emphasizing the point about not self diagnosing because, like you said, it takes time to accurately diagnose a person. A person can come to me directly from a hospital with a diagnosis by the doctor who treated them, but as I work with them, that diagnosis could change. Thank you for making this video because people feel very alone with these kinds of issues and I’m sure it helps to see they are not the only one with it.
That fear is not unfounded. They have every reason to be fearful and not go to a professional. I would advise people not to. For one, they do not know who they will get, psychiatry is full of evil people abusing their power. Why take that chance. It is easy to get diagnosed as schizophrenic or psychotic if you are just different and or what you say is misinterpreted. This is done on purpose, to diagnose people as psychotic, claim they are a danger and take their rights away.
I understand your concern as many people that I worked brought that up when I work with them. I am a counselor not a psychiatrist and I address these concerns with people. In my experience, it is not easy to diagnose an individual. They have to meet a certain criteria and even then things could change. It is a risk for the medical provider as well. If they wrongly diagnose someone, prescribe medications, and God forbid the person take their lives, they could lose their license. Or if someone goes to or is taken to the hospital because of safety reasons and a doctor decides to discharge someone prematurely, without treatment, they and the hospital could lose their license.
I accept that I can never really understand the experience of someone who has these symptoms and is concerned about going to a medical. That is why I appreciate this video of a first hand experience testimony. I have seen the most success with people that are taking medications and counseling. I just had a client of my mine with schizoaffective disorder graduate from college and is doing great. Even though she still has symptoms, they are not severe enough to interfere with her daily functioning. People that I worked with who decided not to take medications, try to manage symptoms on their own but there symptoms got worse. This unfortunately is an illness and like other illness, like cancer, if it is not treated properly, if can cause serious harm.
As to your concern about abusive providers, if you have worked in a job in service if others than you understand how exhausting it can be. Not everyone wants your help, people don’t always trust you and tell you they don’t, they might not thank you if you do help, you don’t want to make it worse, and despite your best effort people might not get any better. This kind if work is not for a person wanting power. If they do they don’t last very long because it is not worth it and get too tired of it or lose their job. What makes it worth it, is the possibility of making a difference in someone life. It is a happiness that stays with you and no one can take that away. Anyway, sorry for the long post. Please take care.
You're a very intelligent woman, and you're doing a great job at conveying the idea of what Schizophrenia really is to people who don't know what it is, or who wonder if they might be Schizophrenic themselves.
This channel is so helpful, you're doing good work. As someone who is trying to work on advocating for myself in terms of mental health, it's helpful to know what everything means. I feel the impulse to elaborate but what's private is private of course. I will say keeping a journal is a fantastic idea... I keep one for my disabilities and never thought about one for this, wow! Thank you for sharing both this info and your experiences, you're very cool!
I have watched for awhile but just subscribed. My grandmother, sister, and daughter have these issues. So thanks for normalizing this, so people who may feel they cant or are embarrassed to explain what's going on with them. 🙏
Thank you so much for these videos. I work with people that have a mental illness and it helps me so much to understand what they are going through.
I already know I do, but its always reassuring to hear someone else put what I can't into words.
I believe my mother may have some kind of psychosis. My heart goes out to her but she is so scared as being labeled as such and refuses to get treatment. I'm hoping with my support that she will come around
Going to see my doc tomorrow and I'm horrified I've been putting this off for YEARS as the last time I was there I felt my concerns weren't being taken into consideration and I couldn't keep up with medication. But whatever these symptoms are coming from is getting much worse over time and I have a sense of impending doom that something bad is coming and I've got 2 toddler's that deserve a healthy parent. So here I go. I appreciate everything you've put out, lots of insight and relatable content that hits the nail on its head, might as well see someone before whatever is going on gets any worse.
I also have been diagnosed by professional doctors as having OCD and Schizophrenia. This awesome woman posted a video not too long ago that I commented on where I type up examples of what I deal with.
It is perhaps worth noting that your videos may be watched by many people who have already taken the step of going to their doctors or even spending time living in a hospital psychiatric ward, but who still have doubts about their diagnosis due to a perceived lack of rigour on the part of the medical experts, in the diagnostic process. In a compromised medical system, the additional resources that people like you can provide become, perhaps sadly, of real value to those suffering from mental illness. So thank you! It is perhaps also worth noting that your videos may be watched by loved ones of those who suffer from mental illness, not just the sufferers themselves. So people may be watching not trying to self-diagnose but to become better informed about what their loved one is going through.
I'm watching cuz some times I get paranoid that I have schizophrenia until I remind myself that the symptoms I have most of them started when I was still a kid and I wanted to watch it to hopefully stop myself from getting paranoid again.
Same goes for me. My severe anxiety makes me feel like I’m hallucinating when I’m actually not and it sucks a lot. Hopefully you get through it 💖
It sucks really i also have anxiety and i am really scared of DID and schizophrenia whatever symptom i hear about i think i have it
Thank you for a better understanding! Thank you for being a beautiful soul who did the work and got help! You’re inspiring other to get the help they need!
Odd that I was recommended this, I've never searched whether i have schizophrenia or not, I have ptsd and that's the only mental health stuff I watch on yt
Thank you, I have an appointment with a professional Monday and this helped me calm down.
I appreciate all of your videos, they are professional and clear. thank you lauren♥️
As a medium, I talk about mental health all of the time, especially if you see and hear things. I myself have had a psychological evaluation because life was hard before I understood. There are a lot of reasons you would be diagnosed, but a lot of reasons you won’t be, which is what I found. Which is why you need a professional to help you understand. There is NO shame in taking care of your mental, emotional health and wellbeing. There is also nothing wrong with living with a diagnosis. It does not define you. Many blessings, love and take care of yourself ❤️
Thank you for the information. I really should go see a mental health professional, but I kinda don't want to. I appreciate the video.
You can do it bro, we are here to support you!
They might make you feel a lot worse, be careful. They can even legally force you to take drugs which absolutely destroy your life.
@@nihil8436 i am sorry if you've had a bad experience but you should never deter someone from getting help. please always get help you deserve to live happily and comfortably. medications are good !! its trial and error. you most likely will never get the right dose of the right drug at first but communicate with your doctors and they will change and try new things until something's works for you !
@@emilymcintosh2968 Nope, most psych doctors and nurses are all about avoiding liability, to think they give a crap. Honestly, there is a much bigger risk of getting much worse mentally and physically and even ending up dead, it's not a coincidence that those admitted to mental hospitals have a higher suicide rate. They will dehumanise you, if you had any trauma, have been a victim of crime they will blame you, they will tear apart your character, make you look incompetent and then try force medication, they will even lie in order to place a CTO. But it doesn't matter because they are untouchable and the tribunl is a complete farce. Although there are good people working in mental health too, you do not know who you'll get and life is just too precious to be killed by a psychiatrist and their nurse.
@@nihil8436 - That may have been your experience with the mental health system, but it’s doing a great disservice to negate the efforts of the majority of mental health professionals who are compassionate and dedicated to helping people recover from and/or manage their crises and daily experiences.
I have had treatment from psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists and social workers/MSWs for my mental health issues and all have been excellent in helping me learn about my diagnoses, the causes and the treatments, and mavigating the mental health system. Some treatments are programs that are limitied in duration and some are ongoing support.
I would not dissuade anyone from seeking answers and treatment from qualified professionals. It can mean a matter of life or death, and most often results in improving the quality of life for the individual who would otherwise suffer with long-term, unresolved emotional pain that can manifest itself in maladaptive coping strategies, like self-harming behaviours, dependence upon alcohol and other substances, problem gambling, online gaming, excessive social media use, work or sex “addiction,” and other behaviours that can negatively impact one’s life, relationships and work.
Last night I told my mom I smelled chicken or something like that cooking in the kitchen and nobody was cooking and now I’m starting to realize it was probably an olfactory hallucination. I have known about my illness for a while but I didn’t know that was or could be a symptom. I’m glad I know that now so I can look out for it. I haven’t been sleeping for for days and my family is treating me really bad so that is probably why it is happening.
Sorry you're going through a hard time 😔 wishing you well 💜
I once had that when I watched tv, I suddenly smelled macaroni with cheese 🤷🏼♂️
Yeah tiredness make people hear voices and even visual if you eyes are half open.
I have experienced it
How are you doing now?
I'm afraid of dying all the time now. Fear, death, and fear OF death govern my life now.
I struggle with similar issues
i have come over it by realising that i am not the body, mind.. so these things kind of dissolved with that knowledge.. peace to you my friend
everyone dies. fear the lost life you spend worrying about the inevitable. Watch JeffMara’s podcast.
@@BenVanCamp that advice has always made it much worse for me.
@@siddhanttripathi2710 this is the thing that has helped me too. Thank goodness I have finally come to understand, what a relief
Hey there I've noticed that you spech is more better now that 3 year ago from the starting your TH-cam channel. Very fluid and you flowing through when you talking 👍🏾 Peace&Love
I’m having constant thoughts of renunciation. Thoughts of becoming a monk. I have seen 3 psychiatrists, all of them have told I have psychosis. They say I am having Delusions. I took Risperidone for a year and it helped only 10%. I had preceding Depression for 5 years before having these renunciation thoughts. But now I’m having these thoughts. I get these thoughts whatever I do. When I exercise, I meditate, I take a bath.. I get these thoughts. And these thoughts are too strong. It’s like they are unshakable.
The main point is, I was never like this before. Till I was happy and normal till 2014, I didn’t even used to go to temple, forget about renunciation.
My Mom cries everyday thinking why I get these thoughts. She is not letting me go. She doesn’t want me to leave her and my dad forever.
My Doc has now given me Trifluoperazine and Olanzapine. But I really really think I don’t need these meds. I really really don’t think that I’m delusional.
Because I get these thoughts when I meditate or exercise. It’s like I have my peace with it. I don’t think that I’m delusional.
I really don’t know what to do.
I really think Trifluoperazine and Olanzapine will not help, because I took Risperidone for one year and it hardly helped.
My guts tell me that I’m normal and I don’t need these new meds. And it tells me to take renunciation.
What should I do ?
Thank you for sharing your information and thoughts like this. It's excellent. Ultimately, though, "long time" equals lots and lots of money that many, if not most, people simply don't have primarily because their struggles keep them from making much money if any money at all. This is the over arching problem with all of mental health. It's not assessable to nearly everyone.
Yes I was diagnosed with schizoaffective, anxiety, major depressive disorder, and it sucks. I am recovering help but it’s not easy, but honestly what is.
Hope your feeling better and having a good day ❤️❤️💪
u good now ?
I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia recently by a professional. And I’m glad I found your TH-cam . I don’t like the diagnosis. And it’s because it’s another responsibility lol I have to really look after myself now . I have to take my meds just like someone with diabetes who have to take insulin everyday . I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia/ schizoaffective/ depression with psychosis . And I no longer pay attention to the diagnosis as much as I follow treatment
I’m really happy to find your channel because I believe meds can only do so much . CBT has helped me even though I only have done 5 sessions
I had ptsd after coming home from Iraq and I was having bad dreams and hallucinations upon waking. My therapist put me on Risperdal it was the worst medication!! I stopped it two months in and never looked back. I'm doing well today :)
Thank you so much for your videos. They are helping me cope with what a loved one is going through. Keep up the great work!
Sure appreciate your ongoing work and engaging videos. Top notch comfortable professionalism and a challenging subject for me, I struggle with going to a doctor. Thanks
I wish what you were saying about not being locked up and deprived of her rights and over medication is not going to be a thing, but that was exactly how they treated my partner when we took her to the SA hospital, she has been scared so bad from the experience where they were suppose to help her, she has a bad case of Anosognosia and even watching this amazing video that you explain it so nice dont work, thank you for your videos they really give me hope
There's a video game called Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice where you play as a female warrior with schizophrenia. It was made with input from schizophrenic people and I was wondering if you could perhaps watch a playthrough/cutscene compilation of it and give your opinion on how well portrayed the perspective of a schizophrenic person? Myself and others would be very interested in seeing that.
My god I would love to see this
I WANNA SEE THAT TOO! That sounds absolutely interesting.
Ive recently subscribed to your channel, ive suffer from paranoid schizophrenia and it's a big help to listen to you
Hi Andrew, my son was recently diagnosed at 22yrs of age. It’s definitely changed our lives entirely. Good to see some others out there as well.
I'm not schizophrenic. Watching the content because its interesting and a friend may be. Hope this isn't too trivial but the sweater is beautiful.
Tbh to bad
I really like all of your video's, they're informative, factual, and easy to understand.
Very informative video that's super well put together while being responsible with the appropriate disclaimers. Thank you for this great work you provide people with.
Have you realized that schizophrenia bumps up against a high degree of intelligence? I love your schizophrenia as I do my own. It has allowed me to see some profound truths of life. I can tell by the way you talk that you are very smart as well. It's not to say there isn't a significant downside to it but there is also an advantage that goes along with it as well. Nature has a way of balancing itself out.
*following along because I appreciate the feeling of not aloneness*
Looking at the diagnostic things related to schizophrenia makes me feel really self conscious tbh because i experience all of them to a degree and i dont feel like thats normal, even for a person with schizophrenia? It makes me wonder if i am being hypocondriatic or something, idk, but i know that i experience these .. i also wonder of maybe i have a second illness that contributes. Or a nuerodivergence of some kind, but it makes more sense to me if i have one illness that explains a lot and not many that explain bits and pieces.
I have really severe delusions about my food or drink being tampered with, that people are looking at me/talking about me maliciously. Im doing something incorrectly or embarrassingly, or that I look bad. I distrust doctors a lot of the time but in a way that i think they will hurt me or will do things against my will no matter how much i protest, and so doctors terrify me. Im TERRIFIED of being admitted for suicidal thoughts. Im often super paranoid about my partner not liking my appearance or liking other peoples appearances more than mine, but this is a mix of my paranoia and trauma.. and most often I become convinced that someone is watching me even when im alone. Theyre hiding somewhere, or in the window. I used to also be super paranoid about hidden cameras but that has subsided somewhat recently.
Hallucinations of course, i honestly experience taste and smell hallucinations far more frequently than auditory or visual. When i start hearing things, i know my symptoms are getting worse and if i start seeing things other than shadows or movements in the corner of my eye then Im in big trouble. My usual hallucinations are usually just food things. If im hungry i smell food, i go investigate and it turns out no one is cooking. I know its not just a neighbor or something because theres very little chance they would happen to be cooking outside whatever random dish i just happen to be craving at the time, EVERY TIME, most of which would be cooked on a stove and not outside.. I also have maybe a mix of olfactory hallucinations and delusion, im not sure, where i think something smells "off" or bad and no one agrees. Usually food, or milk, sometimes cups or cookware and i cannot get rid of the smell no matter how much i wash it. Everyone is just annoyed and exasperated when i spend 20 minutes scrubbing a pan just to announce that i cant use it and im gonna try a different one
Disorganized speech is weird for me and this could be more of an anxiety thing and not related to my schizophrenia, but im not sure. It happens whenever im excited, good or bad. Super sad, angry, happy, whatever. If my emotions run high i cannot speak. It usually starts as kind of a stutter, where i will either get frustrated and give up altogether or try to push past it and end up talking nonsense. I always thought of it as my mind running too fast for my mouth to catch up, but i realized that it also happens when my thoughts feel... i dunno. slow, far away, or like i cant even reach the end of them before they drift too far away. I recently learned this might be scattered thoughts, at least in the fast end of the scale. Im not sure about the slow foggy end 🤔 but ive been told that sometimes my sentences come out as if i started one and finished a totally different one, maybe with a third one thrown in the middle. Or occassionally its just total gibberish? Random unrelated words. Its interesting because this only really happens around people im super close to. Around others, i tend to just freeze up and stop talking all together. This causes really intense fits of mutism that i cant break out of for several minutes or even several hours if its bad enough. Happens super often trying to order food and such..
I dont know about disorganized behavior, im not sure that id really be able to notice this in myself. I know that i sometimes become a little too wrapped up in my hallucinations while in public and so i behave weirdly or inappropriately, like im scares or dont know where i am. Thats very very severe though, im more likely to just be visibly nervous or paranoid. Catatonia though is a definite for me. I dont really know what happens to cause it, i just know that it happens. Sometimes i just have a super flat affect, and just dont care about anything. Nothing is funny or interesting, i dont care to talk but if i have to its usually in the interest of observing things around me and informing whoever im talking to of them. i also tend to be more....mean? Much less sensitive or empathetic. Its almost like a different person. Its not my depression, i am very familiar with my depressive symptoms and they hamper my personality but dont completely change it. I also have moments of just total nonresponsiveness, but i cant comment much on that because im not really aware of it when it happens. Again, im not 100% sure this is related to my schizophrenia or something else
Negative symptoms, ive already touched on some of them that cant be explained by depression like the speech irregularity or catatonia, but i also have a BUNCH that are associated with depression. Its pretty run of the mill depression and suicidal thoughts, im not sure its worth mentioning all my negative symptoms of this
A big issue with me in getting treatment for my symptoms is just doctor availability. My clinician doesnt seem to care, or believe me? About my symptoms, gave me a referral to psych on my request. They told me they were not taking new patients and getting ahold of them in the past year and a half has felt impossible. A nuerologist gave me an urgent referral so they CANT turn me away, but they simply never answered the phone or called back. I had a therapist for a while, but she told me she doesn't "believe in" diagnosis and wouldnt let me talk about non depression related symptoms. Shed just brush them off and move on to my depression or my relationship.
Ive gotten to the point that i dont want anything to do with these doctors, and idk how to proceed.
Thank you for your time, whoever cared to read this 💕
Ashi Kat - best wishes with your efforts to find a psychiatrist that will see you to discuss these issues and provide diagnosis. Sometimes that is the hardest step, at least in the USA if that's where you are.
I hope by this time you have found therapy.. you have a lot of insight and self awareness.. thank you for sharing
Just wanted you to know that I read your entire comment and I hope things have gotten better for you. Live long and prosper. 🖖 Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Very cool. I searched to see if something like this existed, and lonand behold it does! Eager to get one soon. Appreciate your ingenuity.
Saying that self diagnosis is bad without acknowledging the systemic inequality that prevents so many people from ever even having the opportunity to recieve a diagnosis or treatment is problematic. Racism, poverty, medical trauma, and ableism prevent lots of people from having access.
Just because some people are lucky enough to access mental health services doesn't mean that people who don't have that access deserve to live in confusion and fear with no community support for their entire lives.
@Ash; I'm in the UK and we have a free health care system, but Black patients disproportionally get diagnosed with schizophrenia because a lot of the lack of understanding between different groups and someone white or middle-class and from the same background as the medical team will illicit more empathy and may be given an alternative diagnosis, whether bi-polar, autism etc, sometimes it's just semantics.
However, I've been diagnosed with this condition by psychiatrists, been sectioned and medicated for over 20 years, and done plenty of reading and research on the topic, and I conclude that their analyse was accurate, but I get told all of the time by Black people who have no training in psychiatry that I don't actually have schizophrenia and was misdiagnosed, and the mental health "community" is just as insular as others, so you're not accepted there either.
The best thing I find when I'm told that I don't have schizophrenia is to ask what my condition is then and the response is either silence or some platitude about we all have problems.
Not assimilating into any particular community doesn't really cause much of an issue for me as I'm naturally a misanthrope, so being ostracised from either work colleagues, family, Black people, white people, the mental health community isn't jarring, it's just frustrating when people dismiss what you have to say and don't acknowledge your story as factual, rather they treat it as an embellishment, even if you have empirical evidence to substantiate your claim.
True. I live in the US and have been forced to self diagnose as I can't afford to get any kind of professional assistance.
@@richbarrett6380 It's a shame people dismiss your diagnosis. Psychiatric diagnosis can be a blessing and a curse, but they advantage people and help them deal with what's going on inside them far more than they cause problems. They are generally important for getting access to the right treatment; in fact a large part of how disorders of mental health are classified relates to what medications work for them. Schizophrenia is a condition that needs medication, so a professional diagnosis is pretty much essential.
It's a shame that there is so much communication disparity; I remember reading about a (very small scale) study in which two psychiatrists were asked to independently diagnose 100 patients according to ICD-10 criteria and then according to DSM-IV criteria (this was in 2009; neither of those editions of those manuals is still in official use now). One diagnosed 44 according to ICD-10 criteria, and 26 according to DSM-IV, and the other diagnosed 24 according to ICD-10 and 13 according to DSM-IV. The researchers concluded that the higher diagnosis of patients with schizophrenia using ICD-10 was that it didn't have a specific criterion for first crossing off the possibility of an affective disorder being present, since psychosis is quite common in BPD, and occurs in MDD and SAD. The study did also have them diagnosing schizoaffective disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and unipolar depression. What it really highlighted, though, was how individual a diagnosis is and how much it is down to a professional's judgment, and hence that we really do need to make sure that they are considering the implications of what statement they give for the person, and what will be most helpful for that individual.
The question of what diagnosis is required, is I think, more of an issue for psychiatrists than the question of whether a person is actually ill. The disproportionate diagnosis of people of Afro-Caribbean descent is an issue, but I do think that we need to focus on drawing attention to issues and giving feedback and other things to help improve the NHS mental health services than abandoning them in favour of alternatives.
I think you are wonderful for doing these videos. You must help so many people ❤
Yeah, I do. I suffer from paranoid schizophrenia and anxiety.
Me too it Is so hard
Well. I hope you find the help you need! Stay safe!
I was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia in May of this year. I didn't know and understand that I might have grown up that way
When I was diagnosed it started when I was hearing monsters in my head and seeing things and feeling things and thinking people are trying to steal my information
which was hard to deal with.
Am I having hallucinations too? I Cause i feel like I keep on seeing something crawling or flying across from me but I’m not so sure if that is real what I am seeing, and every time I look at a picture it looks like it’s moving but I’m not sure if it’s moving or not and it’s really confusing me, And I notice that I smell things that people can not smell. yesterday day I was looking at these trees, but they was moving in a weird way, I saw the wind moving the trees but the trees were moving in like a S illusion or pattern,I hope I make sense enough for you to understand.this has started I think 4 or 5 days ago.
@@lilmagnoliabeauty4184 how is it rn. Are u doing ok?
What a blessing you are to so many! You are a beautiful and brave young woman 👧
what about those who cannot afford mental health services? can you make a video about low-income resources in order to get treatment or a diagnosis?
I've been trying to get help for what's happening to me for over a year now, things got much worse, and I really don't know if it's schizophrenia. Even if it is, I can't access help for it. I've been to five different providers of low cost care and have been turned down because I don't make enough and my symptoms and trauma are too hard for them to treat. Now I basically just accept my reality and I hope if it's schizophrenia it just takes over already so that I'll stop being aware of my symptoms.
@@raquelpurpleboxes If you live in a city in the US, there's likely a phone number you can call that can direct you to free public health services. In my city the number is 211.
If you're able to get in touch with your city's local agency, they can set you up with a case manager who may direct you to apply for disability, or Medicaid or both.
Good luck.
I'd rather diagnose myself. The mental health "professionals" I've seen are terrible at their job. Between the age of 13 and 24, I've seen 10-12 different psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists. I diagnosed myself bipolar, because I have experienced mania lasting 3-5 days, depression, and I hear voices. I told my doc "Hey, I wanna try to fix my mania and not being able to sleep!" I sleep great, I haven't had mania since taking this medicine, and I no longer hear voices. I'm probably an edge case, and I have an interest in the medical field, I've read studies that were done by legit medical professionals, etc. I didn't just wake up one day and decide I am bipolar. It took me several years of research, including research into different medications.
I also find it really, really odd that almost every anti-depressant I've taken will cause me to end up in full on mania. Everyone I've talked to who has taken anti-depressants for depression, has not experienced mania. I may not be bipolar, but it's close enough for this mood stabilizer to lessen or eliminate my symptoms. (Still have depression, sometimes.)
Oh, and they said I can't be diagnosed bipolar because my mania doesn't last for 7 days or longer. And last time (a year or two ago) I tried to get an appointment with a mental health "professional", I was told despite hearing voices that were urging me to do violence, inability to sleep due to mania (I had been up for at least 4 days) I was very low priority and they'd call me when they had an opening.
I'm wondering what effect (if any) things like stress, lack of sleep, or chaotic life changes might have on the harshness, clarity, and/or frequency of hallucinations.
Some days i feel i dont have schizophrenia but in my life experience having a major mental illness it always comes back with a vengeance as if too say''here i am'' 'i will be with u ..always❤. "FOREVER"
It took about 2 years to be diagnosed skitzoeffective (sry spelling) I was in denial for another 2 years.. Then one day it clicked at his office. Things are starting to become clearer with 4+ years of treatment.
I have just seen the e.i.t and am waiting to see them again next week thank you so much for your videos helping me understand a lot it's been a very scary time wish you well 🕊️ 🐝
I have schizophrenia and it's insanity, thankfully Jesus saved me before I was diagnosed and without him I don't know how I would cope.
I started praying away intrusive thoughts and asking for protection and have been saved by Jesus too. Oh and wearing a cross helps me too.
The same story I was borned again Christian before my diagnosis
@@Becalavelle I have intrusive thoughts too...
Thank you so much for your honesty and bravery and your desire to help others. Wonderful.
Watched this after having HPPD from a terrible high dose trip, ik how y'all feel my trip was basically a psychosis and schizophrenia simulator
Been caring for an autistic son and a schizophrenic step-daughter for some years. It's brought me into contact with a lot of others with similar/related conditions. Could I diagnose? Absolutely not.
It could be said that you can find symptoms in almost everyone at one point or another. This seems particularly true of autism.
The independent observer (the doctor) is the best person for the job. An intimate, close relative or whatever does not have the 'global and dispassionate' view to make a sure diagnosis either. You cant find the centre of a very large circle if you are standing in it.
I was advised to get counselling from a psychiatrist from the very start. I was inclined to say; "I will be fine" but did anyway. Best thing I ever did.
As for the journal: Yes yes yes. It's more helpful than you can imagine. No need to write a story, a one-line entry will do.
Could not get motivated today. Could not stay focused today. whatever.
It is a record and a barometer of your dominant feelings for that day. Details help but the signposts are enough.
Thank you Lauren for the video,my symptom was negative symptom that how schizophrenia started then I develop hallucination,but now I take meds
Random questions. 1) Weren't you diagnosed bipolar or bipolar spectrum? How did you get to schizophrenia diagnosis ?
2) did you start medication while diagnosed bipolar? Did they just not help or help partially?
Thanks a lot for your Information Sister. I want to fight against a Doctor in India who Declared me as Paranoid Schizophrenia patient with out talking with me a Single Word.
I want to End that Illegal Doctors Medical Degree certificate
Thank you Lauren & Rob💛 Compassionate & so informative!
Well,I self-diagnosed schitzophrenia,then...it was bipolar with psychosis...
It's not always that bad.If I wouldn't self-diagnosed ,I will not be agreed to go psychiatrist.I couldn't agree to use psychiatric medicine.I didn't believe that I hear voices that are "my fantasy"....but fear and self-diagnose helped me...
Please read "How to Live With Schizophrenia" by Dr. Abram Hoffer. A large percentage of the lifetime schizoaffective community who have self-diagnosis or have been diagnosed have connected in one way or another with Dr. Hoffer's Orthomolecular Therapy. This is taking a lot of vitamins and taking sugar and dairy out of your diet. Get lots of rest and moderate exercise. Be kind to yourself. Ignore voices. Seriously that is the major deal. It works.
The vitamins are
Vit C 1000 mg
Vit B6 1000 mg
Vit B3 1000 mg
3 x a day
Also take
Selenium
Calcium Magnesium
Vit E
Once a day.
Add whatever else works:
D3
Iron
You seem Soo well mentaly..if you wouldnt say you have that diagnose nobody could ever tell ..and thats amazing. I would say your totally normal .
I’ve already been diagnosed years ago but I love your videos and also that sweater so I’m going to watch 😂
I don't but my dad does. Anyone else with a parent with it? It was hard growing up but thankfully his meds always worked and he always took them. He got super depressed at one time and ended up in the hospital. I was his best friend growing up so I really felt that if he did commit suicide then it be my fault for not being able to help him. Thanks for the video. :)
Hey! Schizophrenia can be hereditary! You should definitely look out for symptoms or predormal symptoms (depending on how old you are, of course.)
Or maybe they're just a hypochondriac, they are normal-ish but have some mild symptoms of a mental illness and they get frightened from it and they go down the rabbit hole of self diagnosis (I did that, got stressed out so much that a nurse [who had depression] saw that I might be having a depressive episode; and I did have a history of abuse as a child and have had anxiety + and inability to make up my mind about things) which made my psychiatrist diagnose me of having a moderate depressive episode and I was prescribed fluoxtine and mirtazpine which made things worse for me... :')
Yoooo deadass just described me
I agree, its important to not self-diagnose. If you think you might have something, go to your doctor! They can properly diagnose you and give you the resources you need.
When I was working with people living with schizophrenia lack of insight was something which most people experienced. It was one of the major contributing factors to medication avoidance ( and side-effects).
Lack of insight equals not agreeing with psychiatrist.