I’ve been researching schizophrenia for a while now, but I’m not going to be one of those people who says they have it just because I read about it on the internet. But it seems like every symptom I can find listed under it I experience every day.
Especially the hallucinations. There are people in my classroom who don’t attend my school, people who don’t exist. I hear five voices regularly and they’ve all named themselves. I can’t seem to ever say the right thing to my peers. My counselor has called me on this many times. A lot of the time I don’t feel like doing anything. I haven’t felt like showering sometimes. It’s caused a lot of anger in my household.
Look, I’m not asking if I’m schizophrenic; you guys probably get that question too much as it is. I’m asking if my psychiatrist is just giving me medicine and not telling me that I am. Keep in mind that I’m 16. Is this a possibility?
I’ve seen people post on here saying that their psychiatrist never told them their official diagnosis, and the only way the saw it was because they caught a glimpse of their file or their doctor’s notes or something…so that means it’s possible I guess.
I don’t know how I feel about psychiatrists not just giving straight answers though…I’d rather know the truth, though I’m sure they’d have some reason not to tell you.
its possible. first psychiatrist i ever went to told me i had epilepsy and i definitely am not epileptic… but then again i never told her much of the story about my episodes. i wasnt impressed as she wanted to give me a large list of prescriptions right off the bat…
No one ever told me I was schizophrenic…don’t even know that I in truth technically am…I have a diagnosis of such…but when it comes down to it they could call it anything they want and that wouldn’t change the fact that I experienced numerous breaks with reality in my 20’s.
Sure, it could have been trauma and dissociation, coupled with too many drugs on top of what was already going to be a difficult life…I don’t know. The way I look at it schizophrenia is a label, what matters is that you recognize that these are symptoms of something and are I believe you said taking medication for it? This is good.
One of my very first psychiatrists diagnosed me with Anxiety NOS - Not Otherwise Specified. I really dont know why he did this, but he told my mother that I was schizophrenic. I dont know your situation, you may or may not have schizophrenia. This doctor prescribed me Navane, a typical antipsychotic at the time.
I guess it is possible - psychiatrists have their reasons for doing this. Maybe he is not certain of the diagnosis yet - good luck with everything
It’s possible but it’s also possible that you haven’t met enough of the criteria for long enough yet. But whatever form of disorder you’ve got, generally the quicker its treated, the less it will progress and the smaller the dose of drugs. So at this point, best thing to do is trust and cooperate.
I think that you have to be experiencing symptoms for at least six months before they give you that diagnosis. A whole lot of things can cause psychosis. Apparently you can be so depressed that you get into some psychosis. I am sza (schizoaffective. It is schizophrenia + a mood disorder. I got depression) and last time I was starting to have psychotic symptoms he told me that we needed to figure out if it was depression induced psychosis or my schizophrenia.
If you really want to know you could ask. Kind of a butter them up ask. Something like “I have been doing research on schizophrenia and I would like to know if I have it. I know that these hallucinations could be caused by a lot of different things, but I think that it would be easier for me to accept if I had a name for it.” Make sure you want to hear the truth before you ask though. However I have heard that some doctors don’t like to put diagnosis on someone before they reach adulthood.
But seriously- if you aren’t ready to hear it, don’t ask. It’s like my doctor says. The diagnosis doesn’t matter, you treat the symptoms not the label. I find it does help me, but really just as sort of an easy way to discuss things and communicate about it. Like if you go to a different doctor (not psychologist- dermatologist or something) and they ask if you have any conditions saying schizophrenia is easier than trying to describe what is going on and kinda making them have to guess.
Having it clearly defined helps me. But think about what would help you. You don’t want to know if you aren’t ready to know yet.
Have you asked your psychiatrist or your parents/caregivers if you have been diagnosed or not? The diagnoses is not as important as getting the right treatment. Also your age may play a part but I’m not sure.
My psychiatrist didn’t tell me I was schizophrenic for about 5 years. In trust it was because theres a great spiritual cober up because fo this illness.
I figured it out on my own and then I asked my psychiatrist and he said yes that is what he thought I had. I wonder at what point he was going to tell me?