Do you think people that have been in psychosis for years and years can ever come out?

Say someone has been delusional for 10 or 20 years…do you think that they can still be brought back to reality? Or has this been so ingrained in their being after years of delusions that it is part of them?

You meet some people on this forum that have had delusions for many years and appear treatment resistant. I’m just wondering if some people are beyond getting out of their delusions.

I have insight, but I don’t think I’ve truly given up my delusions. Psychosis, for me, is just another possibility.

I think it’s possible I’ll never truly believe I’m just psychotic.

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I’ve heard that some people don’t ever stop hearing voices.
The longer you’ve had it, maybe the more you can manage it.

I still think with how quickly medical science has come these past few years with the disease that there is hope for those suffering for ten to twenty years; so I say yes, they can be brought back.

I’m not sure of how damaged or broken they will be though.

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In theory the more your mind does something the more your brain becomes wired to do that. Do it over and over again and the neuropathways in your brain become ingrained and stronger. If you have been experiencing psychosis for 10 or 20 years your brain will have been wired like that for a long time. Meds may still help though.

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Is medication to someone suffering for ten to twenty years, the same as medicating someone whose heard them for ten to twenty days?

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I don’t really have the answer to that but I heard the earlier the intervention the better the outcome, on average.

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I started developing schizophrenia from age 16. It got worse inch by inch , year by year, until I was diagnosed at 39.

It took me about 10 years to adjust to a “normal” world after getting diagnosed.

I went to a psychiatrist at about age 21ish and they diagnosed me with depression.

I always wonder how my life might have gone if I’d been diagnosed correctly back then.

So it’s possible to readjust after getting on the right meds. It just took me ages.

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I hope my life changes. I’ve been followed and recorded and reported on since 2008. I’d love to find out it was all in my head. But it’s not. I see them and I’ve talked to them. I know others think I’m nuts but these men are really doing this to me

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Ya I’ve had psychosis for years and I came out of it. It looked and felt like dissociation though, which is different than psychosis. I think mine were related. I would get more sick the more dissociated I was. My dissociation went away. I think I’m getting better but have about 10 more years until I feel cured enough.

I think a lot of it is just sorting through the mess of things and taking the meds and pruning the toxic neurons or neural pathways…

Some of us have real or imagined trauma and just time and ‘therapy’ or ‘talking’ helps.

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I wish that worked for negative symptoms.

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My therapists gave me precise tasks that I simplified a lot, I still failed at doing what the therapist and I agreed on. It was walking outside and cooking everyday. I told the therapist I can only walk in the house when I feel to everyday.

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Also reading a few pages of a book. The therapist got mad at me almost said I am wasting her time.

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You’re negatives are probably worse than mine. But mine were still pretty bad. I still have delusions and cogntive loss and decline. I think all three suck, but I cannot provide for myself due to no energy, motivation, and severe cognitive dysfunction.

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Elyn Saks had a couple decades before any sort of recovery, unless I’m remembering her story incorrectly.

I got out of my psychosis after the first three years or so and haven’t been back since. I feel sorry for people stuck there. I’m really, really hoping my brother comes out of it at some point.

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From what I’ve seen, it depends on if they’re:

  1. Actively playing with their delusions to make them worse, or seeking out others to drag in and share their delusions with.
  2. Self-medicating with booze/drugs.

The ones who meet the above criteria generally strike me as being lost causes. Best you can usually hope for is to keep them away from those who do have a shot at recovery so they won’t get dragged into the vortex.

:frowning:

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