Am i schizophrenic?

hey. my mother said to me i dont have real schizophrenia because i don’t have voices just delusions . is she right? the drs told her i had paranoid schizophrenia but she still says its not real sz

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Well according to Wikipedia paranoid schizophrenia is the most common type of schizophrenia. I don’t know much about it though, just what I read.

So you can tell your mother that yes it is real schizophrenia. It sounds to me like she might be in denial?

A former Pdoc told me if a person does not have hallucinations than they do not have Paranoid Schizophrenia. That would be Paranoid Personality disorder.

Huh,

yeah perhaps your just paranoid…or as my guy jcal says “awareanoid”

From a Psychiatric Times article (http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/schizophrenia/auditory-hallucinations-psychiatric-illness):

“It has been estimated that approximately 75% of people with schizophrenia experience auditory hallucinations.”

With auditory hallucinations occurring in about 75 percent of people with schizophrenia, that leaves the remaining 25 percent or so of those with schizophrenia who don’t experience auditory hallucinations. So, assuming that the above quote is accurate, it’s possible to have schizophrenia without hearing voices.

Having said what I’ve said about it being possible to have schizophrenia without hearing voices, I can’t tell you whether or you have schizophrenia. If you (or your mom) doubt your diagnosis, the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to ask your doctors for an explanation as to why they diagnosed you with schizophrenia. Doctors follow certain criteria when making psychiatric diagnoses and should be able to explain how they arrive at their diagnoses.

shadow

I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1982. I spent most of that year locked up in a psychiatric hospital. In 1983 I was seeing a private psychiatrist. One day he showed me my hospital charts/records.There it was in black and white: paranoid schizophrenia. I have never had hallucinations. I have never heard voices. I have plenty of delusions though.I have run into other people with my diagnosis who do not hear voices.

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I don’t think everyone diagnosed with sz has to have voices so yes you can still have sz even though you do not experience voices.

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i think your mother needs to educate herself on sz, perhaps information left in the house, she might read it !?!
take care

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Yes you can have sz without having hallucinations. In the criteria it states that if you just have bizarre delusions you fit the criteria. Also you don’t have to have delusions to fit the diagnosis. It fits if you have two voices commenting about you. I rarely hear voices and they still diagnosed me with it. I see things and have delusions. Now my current pdoc believes it’s sza because I used to have depression. Ask your mom if she wants to join you for a session with your pdoc so he can explain it to her. What I’m learning though is diagnosis doesn’t really matter, it’s more important to treat the symptoms.

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Yeah you can have schizophrenia without having hallucinations. The main symptom of schizophrenia is that it’s a thought disorder, affecting your thoughts i.e. delusions. If you don’t have symptoms due to a mood disorder than it is more possible it could be schizophrenia. Over time if untreated you may experience hallucinations. It’s not a definite, but I never had hallucinations until my relapse and recently due to not taking medication I began having visual hallucinations or briefly I would mistake something on the road for being there, or I hallucinated or thought I saw a cat on the sidewalk and walked up to it and it wasn’t there.

Medication helps a lot of people, but it’s a matter of finding the one that fits your needs most.

I believe that I probably have schizophrenia, and not a mood disorder although I kept trying to say I had Bipolar because it has less stigma.

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I got these definitions from both WebMD and Medicine net.com: Types of Schizophrenia:

Paranoid-type; Characterized by delusions and/or auditory hallucinations.

Disorganized-type characterized by speech behavior that are disorganized or difficult to understand, and flattening or inappropriate emotions.

Catatonic Schizophrenia this type of schizophrenia patient has problems moving, resistance to moving, excessive movement, abnormal movements and/or repeating what others say or do.

Undifferentiated-type - schizophrenia characterized by some symptoms seen in all types, but not enough of any one of them to define it as a particular group,

Residual-type schizophrenia - past history of at least one episode of schizophrenia…but currently has no “positive” symptoms.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia can be delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, or disorganized behavior. It can be one or it can be all symptoms. It just depends on the individual.

I didn’t hallucinate too but I was very delusional and had pain and twisting movements in my body and I assume myself a schizophrenic.

i have very bad delusions. i constantly feel watched even on medication. i worry about being poisoned everytime i eat. and a few other things. the shrink told me i was psz . i did not ask why i asumed it was obvious with my paranoia… but mum seems to think its not real sz. dunno how to make her see

You can have schizophrenia and not hallucinate. If you were diagnosed with schizophrenia and do not have hallucinations - delusions, I would get a second opinion

It could just be in remission, I went for a while without too much problems going on in my head. Held a steady job and everything, then it started slowly, and built up to where I had a relapse with it. Not saying everyone relapses, that was just my situation. Most of what I hear is in my head, not around me. But still I’m not in control of those sounds and can not choose when to turn them on or off. So I’m still affected with my schizophrenia I just don’t always have issues 24/7…I’m having issues tonight though…