What's the difference between Schizophrenia and paranoid Schizophrenia?

Hi everyone, first post!

I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia last summer.

Been on meds ever since and a lot of the symptoms have cleared up, life isn’t as much of a ball ache anymore, besides the tremendous weight gain.

I’ve been trying to understand the difference between Schizophrenia and paranoid Schizophrenia… Yet I struggle to definitively know the difference.

Reading the testimonies of some people on this forum I think I may have paranoid Schizophrenia.

Can someone help me understand the differences?

Peace.

Hi - welcome to the forums! Thanks for posting.

Paranoid schizophrenia is generally where someone has delusions that are related to believing that someone or something is trying to do something bad to you.

It used to be classified as a subclassification of the broader definition of “schizophrenia” but its no longer used by psychiatrists because it wasn’t found to be accurate or specific.

But - the actual diagnosis doesn’t really matter for people. The important thing are the symptoms of what you have. People here often get different diagnoses over time, and really its just a group of symptoms. Don’t worry about the diagnosis - just focus on how well you are doing and what’s working for you.

Its great to hear you’re doing well. Please tell us more about yourself. What you like to do in your spare time, what part of the world you live in, etc.

Here are the details:

“Paranoid schizophrenia is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, but it was dropped from the 5th Edition. The American Psychiatric Association chose to eliminate schizophrenia subtypes because they had “limited diagnostic stability, low reliability, and poor validity.”[6] The symptoms and lack of symptoms that were being used to categorize the different subtypes of schizophrenia were not concrete enough to be able to be diagnosed."

from here:

Here is the general description of schizophrenia:

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Thanks for the reply, my diagnosis started as psychosis, I was hearing people talk about me, most the time it was persecution. I live above a pub which was really hard because I would hear customers talking and it would feel and sound like the were talking about me. I thought that people that knew me who worked in the restaurant would say things to the customers about me because of my life choices, that I was some sort of horrible person. I guess if I had to label it sounds like I had paranoid Schizophrenia.

But like you said I shouldn’t worry about the diagnosis to much.

I digress, I live in the UK and have a full time job. To pass time I smoke tobacco, read, drive, watch decent programs (not terrestrial tv) and do whatever really. Just try to get by as comfortably as possible.

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Diagnosed last summer… and you are med compliant and have many of your symptoms under control… and you still hold a job???

Congratulations… that is very cool and hard work. It took me ages to accept my diagnosis and take care of myself. I wish so much I would have been more proactive sooner in my life.

Keep up the great progress. :v:

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Welcome! Diagnose is not important. It’s the symptoms. One with sz is not the same as another. You and I have different experiences even if we share the same “core”.

I’m happy for you that you found the right kombination of meds at once. Please, don’t try to come off them because you feel well. They are the reason you feel well! Me among many others have fallen into that trap.

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I am paranoid schizophrenic and in my understanding szs just have delusions and hallucinations such as hearing voices, but paranoid schizophrenia is worse, because one can get paranoid voices and episodes based on triggers and these paranoid processes can be totally wrong responses, paranoid schizophrenic may get these triggers very easily such as how some people may behave which can be totally false and then voices try to support these paranoid thinking process. One may be paranoid that people are following oneself or trying to cause some harm. It can be so easy to get paranoid voices as just observing a person in a wrong place. In the past in America I was completely paranoid that people spied on me, listened my telephone calls and so on which can make a person totally useless.

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Thanks guys! You all seem like well nice guys on this forum. Hope you all can live life to the fullest!

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I don’t know. I am absolutely no professional; but, I think all people who have schizophrenia can be diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at one or another during the course of the illness. I believe, as they say “comes with the territory.” This is a just a “layperson’s observsation; not psychiatric or medical fact.” I am only one unknowledgable person talking; but, this I have gathered from reading the posts on this site.

I’m intrigued that you used the word “testimony” in your initial post. Any particular reason why?

It may not of been the correct word to use, just people giving their accounts of their illness.

I meant nothing derogatory or anything like that if that’s what your thinking…

No, not “derogatory” at all. More like using “testimony” in the way it’s commonly used by Christian Baptists. Does that fit?

It thought testimony was someone testifying something?

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