As some of you might know, I have SZ in my family. My uncle had it.
I have been diagnosed as having Psychosis NOS. I had paranoia off and on at first to complete paranoia from 18 to 28, so 10 years. I had the delusion that I was being poisoned, so I went to the emergency room about 4 times. I weighed 80 lbs. I was admitted the last 2 times. I was completely psychotic as far as I know for a few months (maybe not all 6). I don’t remember, because I was psychotic.
What makes me angry is that the DSM says that you have to have symptoms for 6 months. Why wait that long? I had paranoia and delusions for many months, but I couldn’t communicate that to my doctors, because I didn’t have any insight. I lied to them, so at the first hospital they gave me an anxiety diagnosis. I don’t know what the second hospital diagnosed me as.
I currently have a pdoc who plans on tapering me off my medication. I don’t know of any pdocs here. I need to get the Schizophrenia diagnosis to qualify for disability help at my old school.
My questions are: What will they do if I just have the psychosis diagnosis? What is the psychosis diagnosis? I don’t understand how I can have that diagnosis. I tell people (those who I actually tell) that I have SZ, because I have SZ.
ETA: I’m really overwhelmed right now. My ability to return to school hangs in the balance. SSI is going to take $700 + out of my benefits over me not paying before I got SSDI. My affidavit states that I would pay have the rent and other stuff after I was given benefits, not before.
A “pre-schizophrenia” diagnosis, if you will, is schizophreniform disorder. I’ve only met one person with this diagnosis in my life, and he turned out to have some kind of personality disorder instead. Psychotic Disorder NOS is sometimes used when a patient will qualify for a full on schizophrenia diagnosis but the clinician is attempting to see if the patient responds to antipsychotics first. It’s kind of an end-around diagnosis. Some people with Psychotic Disorder NOS are not suffering from symptoms to the degree usually expected of a schizophrenic. Not saying that’s what’s going on in your case, just what I’ve seen. Why taper you off meds? Off completely, or on to something else?
Is she happy with hers? If you need some leads to sz specialists in your area, hit me up with a reply – including the city you live in – and I’ll see what I can get you, which is usually quite a bit.