I want to tell my family and friends about my diagnosis of schizophrenia. I’ve told just a handful of people and I want everyone in my life to know. I’ve been through so much and many of these people have “watched me” struggle over the years. When I was finally correctly diagnosed just one year ago, after being otherwise diagnosed and suffering for so long, it was not a shock but a relief because of how sz encompassed everything I had been going through. Sz explains so much… Anyway, I wonder if anyone else had a good concise explanation of sz that I could share to help people whom I tell understand?
4 Likes
I can try…
SZ varies too damn much to be defined in general…
It’s basically forced ADD… the fact it’s inescapable can lead to a lot of low times… so it resembles bipolar in the emotional instability side of it…
Then there is the whole having your mind want you locked into focusing on unreal things to the point that you are driven to fear and potentially suicide…
SZ sucks…
1 Like
People generally ask me questions about my symptoms, some don’t though. You’ll say what you’re comfortable in saying, no need to spill it all out. That’s brave, hope your family is understanding. 
2 Likes
Thank you @Azley. I can tell them what I have experienced, but I’ll end up talking for days and they won’t understand. 
I wondered if there’s some sort of official easy to understand resource I could present to them? Just wondering if anyone else has used anything to help their families understand? 
️
Thank you @Minnii! I would like something else to explain for me or I’ll ramble on and on… Do you know of any concise/official explanation that they could understand? ️
Just say you see and hear things, they wont ask any more questions believe me, it scares them. You can explain it’s a chemical imbalance in the brain, for example.
1 Like
I think they might have pamphlets… they gave one to me at the community health center… it’s not the most informative stuff but it kind of works as an intro.
1 Like
or here … this might help you out
I am very open about my schizophrenia with people I meet. I usually divulge the information when they ask why I’m on disability. I wish you luck. I forget the title but maybe @SzAdmin can post the book…by Fuller? good luck.
3 Likes
E. Fuller Torrey’s book is entitled “Surviving Schizophrenia A Family Manual”. I would follow jukebox’s suggestion and give it to people you want to have understand your diagnosis. You might say something like: “It is a disease of the nervous system.” Or: “It is a brain disorder.” You are right. You will only confuse people with further long winded explanations.
3 Likes
I wish I had the courage you, @Hedgehog,and people like Elyn R. Saks have to be truthful to the world. I think I have this stupid delusion that I’ll get to some pinnacle like Elyn R. Saks did in her career, and then I can come out and there will be no sabotage by others, no career-ending drama, no loss of friends.
The people in my life have been there since like 2011 and that’s after I stopped admitting the truth. It’s a lonely life, this solitude, but you here on forum make my solitude easier. As it is, I am a bit frozen and stuck in my own self-created double life of being just another college grad living with their parents due to the recession. The one long term friend I still have doesn’t believe my diagnosis and I have sworn her to secrecy just in case.
thank you to those who do come out, on behalf of those of us who are too paranoid and cynical to come out, for your bravery and honesty!! You are breaking down barriers for all of us! 
1 Like
You should be so proud that you finished college! I had to drop out and I never returned. I have reached no pinacles in my life. I have tried and failed… and I’ve settled into the quiet unimpressive simple day to day that works for me. I’m grateful and my life is so much better now than I ever thought it could be, but nothing for anyone to marvel at. However, my family and some friends have watched me struggle with something unknown to anyone, and I want them to know now what it is I’ve been dealing with. I think we should all be proud of ourselves for surviving what we have, and grateful for being where we are (because if we’re on this forum we’re functioning pretty well)
2 Likes
Get a mysterious symbol tattooed on your arm where people can see it. When they ask what it means, tells them it means you’re hunted by demons sent by the demon lord called schizophrenia, and that’s fine with you because you hunt demons, and demons coming to you just makes your job easier. Just strait up slaughter, not even hunting.
and it’s permanent.
2 Likes
That’s funny… But I am stalked by demons, and I want my family to know how I’ve lived all this time with one foot in this world and another foot (sometimes both) in another. I want them to try and imagine what that’s like and maybe understand me better. I’m tired of being the quiet, weird, underachiever… Look at me (I want to say) and see the ******* survivor. The one who has seen, heard and felt things that you’re scared to watch in horror movies. I don’t know, can they understand?
2 Likes
Most people can’t understand.
But we do!
2 Likes
It is quite common to feel misunderstood with schizophrenia. I am constantly feeling the need to defend myself with words.
1 Like