Gonna start going to the local mentally ill place----feeling alone

I have a lot of time on my hands now I’ve cut some things out of my life. I’m enjoying it don’t get me wrong. But I’m gonna try and go monday and wednesdays to the mentally ill place…they go on daytime trips like I went horse back riding with them they also go bowling, movies, etc…

I think it’ll be helpful. They have groups too and cheap homemade lunches and socialization. Most of the people are older but that’s okay.

I just feel alone in this world with SZA, I don’t feel like I’m part of the group completely at my IOP because I’m disconnected from it all. That’s why I like this forum so much. I feel people can relate here. Substance abuse plays a key role in my life, but I identify more with the mental health issue. My dual diagnosis is 60% mental health and 40% substance abuse I said in group yesterday.

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I would go to a group if there were one in my town.

I love my fellow scz. I want to work in a mental hospital and research them while doing so. I am very interested in the highly intelligent paranoid subtype individuals. I myself have it, but people can’t tell unless I am having a horrible day and really should just be in bed.

I have a knack for psychology. I just have a feel for it. I also have pretty darn solid research skills, so I want to get a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. I want to practice and investigate at the same time. I have so many questions about people like me.

But above all I want to help my own kind, not just write about them. I want to assess and treat psychotic patients and further assess the ones with high premorbid intelligence for research so that I can find tailored treatment for them. There is a recent assertion in the research literature that the highly intelligent people with scz are quite possibly clinically distinct- maybe even a different disorder.

I am interested in our habits of defense mechanisms and corresponding behaviors. What that means is I am curious about how we look at things, how we cope with things, and how we behave given the way we see things.

Intellectualization and splitting are my two main defense mechanisms, with sublimation following closely behind- it is more of a product of my intellectualization. What the hell does that even mean? It means I explain away what is not okay, I see the world in black and white, and I find outlets which are healthy for unhealthy feelings. But are they really unhealthy or a normal and logical response to my problems? Are they due to my background or are they due to my brain structure and chemical imbalance?

So many questions, the mystery of how I became who I am and how others like me arrived at their current states as well. How can we guide more people to better lives when they have what I and many of my fellow scz have? What about when they have some or one of the common traits in advanced recovering (recovery never ends, it is a lifelong process) but not all of the common traits? Does intelligence make it easier or harder or have no effect on our ability to cope? Higher intelligence is correlated (goes with) worse positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, messed up speech), so is it really a desirable trait? But then the meds work best for people with worse positive symptoms, so theoretically they should be better off- but does the burden of being labeled as capable damage people with our illness?

I want to know.

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So many questions we don’t know…

I’ve been tested 120 IQ, far from genius but certainly above average intelligence.

I think what you said about higher intelligence sz being a different disorder…not sure about that. I feel there are many different disorders in the sub-group of schizophrenia. Then again I am schizo-affective, but almost everyones illness is different. That’s what I’m concerned about. hard to find a cure if The “gene” that makes us SZ…maybe theres some advanced complicated code, and if it is eiwir9329329 its sz, but so is eiwir8323493…you know what I’m saying. But who am I to say…we know so little. I wish you luck in your endeavors as always @mortimermouse We need more people like you who truly have a passion to help people and not to become some fancy doctor /researcher “OH psychiatry sounds interesting…”…No we need people who say “I want to help the mentally ill”. Whether they’re SZ or not. I think people like that do exist but we need more.

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Hey mouse, hope it all works out. Good luck.

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I look at this place as group therapy. In real life I’m too quiet or too involved listening to others to say anything. I was a very quiet young child growing up. It’s nothing about shyness, just more joy listening & giving.

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That sounds pretty awesome.

Good luck

I like to go to the mental health clubhouse too. I am an addict and alc but I quit 17 years ago. I still go to 12 step groups but I like the mental health house best… I mostly relate to that too

There are some good “Clubhouses” around the world that are good places to meet people. Here is the web site to search - I’m sure its not complete, but its a start:

Here is another web site to check:

and in New York - definitely check out this one:

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Oh - and if that information doesn’t show any clubhouses close to you - I recommend you call your local NAMI and ask if they know of any clubhouses or group places where people can go in your city:

Just click on that area on the upper right corner of this page where it says “Find your local NAMI”:
http://www.nami.org/Find-Support

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Yeah it didn’t show my local clubhouse on the list. Fortunately I’m already a member though and know where it is

Is there any clubhouses available in Malaysia? I cant find it on the NAMI website.

looked on the ICCD web site and could not see any listed in Malaysia. Are there any support groups in Malaysia for mental health issues? I would recommend you call them if there are - and ask about “clubhouses”. NAMI is only in the USA.

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Im a member of a mental health club and I find it is good for me. It is good to socially reconnect.

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It seems there might be something in Malaysia, and perhaps near where you live. THis is what I found when searching on google:

“To hear of the events in Malaysia and their progress over the last year was indeed stimulating. Currently the group continues to grow at such a rate that we foresee the formation of the National Family Support Group by end of this year 2005. The group will use it as a platform to lobby the Malaysia Government to find and seek support either directly or indirectly. This group has made tremendous progress since I first began to work alongside them.”

from here:
http://www.world-schizophrenia.org/activities/mutual_exchange/asian-report.html

I recommend you contact this group and find out the contacts in Malaysia and ask them more about the resources in Malaysia:

http://www.world-schizophrenia.org/needhelp.html

Also - here is a list from 2013 of what the Malaysia government said they were working on - perhaps something of help here:

http://www.moh.gov.my/attachments/CMHC%20Implement%20Guideline%202013%20Psych%20services%20MOH.pdf

Call this group and talk with them - let us know how it goes… I’m sure many other people are looking for these services:

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