Confused about functionality

I really have no idea what a doctor would call my level of functioning. I guess I would say I have mild symptoms now. So does that mean I’m medium functioning. Sometimes I feel like a moron and sometimes I feel semi-smart. I don’t think my doctor’s know me very well either. I feel like my functioning has increased dramatically in the past couple of months. So probably from low functioning to medium functioning is where I’m at in my own mind. I’m happy with my progression.

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Congrats on the increased functioning! :slight_smile: That’s great news.

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Thanks @zombiepupper. Being able to actually compose a full sentence is a great step forward for me.

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If a doctor thinks you are low functioning would they really tell you that?

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They recommended to me to maybe try to get on disability, so they were kind of indirectly telling me I’m not functioning too well anymore.

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Yeah I was sent to live in an assisted living facility. Probably a lot had to do with my functioning.

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Functionally everyday you stay in bed. Or go places by force. IDK.:anguished:

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According to my very smart psychiatrist, it’s not easy to test out someone’s functionality.
You can be high functioning in some areas but lower functioning in other areas.
According to her I am high functioning overall because I can take care of myself and have good insight and a higher IQ.

But realistically I’m probably somewhere in the middle.

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This, I like this. My people kept insisting I’m high functioning even though I didn’t feel it at all. It took me crashing hardcore for them to say anything other than high-functioning, and it was killing me inside trying to live up to their high functioning ideal.

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Thats very good, it means that you had not severe negative and cognitive symptoms.
Usually so called low functioning schizophrenics have a big cognitive impairment and it is hard to have a real conversation with them…

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When I was low functioning I couldn’t comprehend anything on TV. If you can comprehend everything you see and have good communication skills with no more than mild symptoms you are high functioning in my book.

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If it went away it was probably related to the psychosis, for the low functioning ones the impairment is chronic and often it started even before the first psychotic symptoms.

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I would say 90% of the low functioning part of me is gone. There is a good 10% that drives me crazy sometimes.

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I feel like I’m pretty high functioning in that regard. the thing is, all the males in my family are mechanical and I have a hard time figuring out how things work. It seems to come easy for my dad who was a mechanic for a living. this is preventing me from pursuing certain careers that I would have an in with

my language skills used to be good. so I could ■■■■■■■■ intelligence that wasn’t always there. People thought I was smart because of how I talked. I’ve gotten many compliments and questions about if I went to college.

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That is very true. I have very high verbal but low practical intelligence. I also struggle socially and am probably best described as quite severely socially impaired. If people talk to me they often think I should be more capable based on how I come across verbally.

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I also struggle with cognitive issues in the non-verbal area. Because I’m able to talk okay and am not outwardly eccentric people assume I’m malingering. The reality is I don’t do most of the things people my age do, living independently, taking care of chores, socializing, working and studying. While multiple cognitive domains are impaired in me, negative sx are also an issue. Even though I can still sort of talk, I am not able to function as I could without deficits, or be independent.

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I can’t drive either, well, I could, but I would probably get into an accident because of my poor planning, slow reactions and poor judgement. I used to drive before sz.

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I think this was why the woman who saw me yesterday was sceptical about the fact I was going to get help. It smacked very much of you could do it if you wanted to. For me the main ones are executive functioning and non- verbally.

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I have social issues too, though I don’t think they are only a cognitive issue. Being out of practice is one part. Another is having inappropriate emotional responses in social situations, leads to humiliation when I feel awkward. I will alternatively be extremely apathetic and uncaring when I should be empathizing. It switches off. The other contributor is amotivation type symptoms, which make it hard for me to reach out or have the initiative to actually try to maintain relationships.

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I think I function

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