Does anyone else symptoms increase in public?

DX'd - Sz/SzA
#1

Just wondering if it happens to other people? It’s part of why I don’t go many places even when I want to. Just never know when it will happen. Mostly places with a lot of people and stuff so like tonight it was the grocery store.

I was ok today, maybe a little agitated in the morning but just now I had to go to the grocery store because I needed just 3 things and didn’t want to do delivery for that.

I kept seeing people’s faces as blank faces like they were wearing a weird mask, then I would look again and it was normal. Made me feel very anxious but I got my stuff and checked out and got home. It was just odd because my symptoms are usually delusions/paranoia with some voices. Don’t usually have visual hallucinations

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#2

Do you have anxiety when you’re in public? Stress tends to make some people with Schizophrenia have breakthru symptoms, or so I’ve heard. Usually it seems to be in the paranoia area but I suppose it could potentially cause hallucinations as well.

It does not happen to me personally but I could certainly see that possibility, especially if being in public places stresses you out. Just a guess.

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#3

Yeah I do get anxious going places I guess it’s kind of leftover anxiety from past episodes that happened in public places. Is that a thing? Like ptsd from psychosis?

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#4

I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. I have sometimes wondered if I don’t have ptsd from some of my imagined scenarios while I was in psychosis. Just because they weren’t real, I wouldn’t think that they would have any less effect on us mentally. They seemed real at the time. And some were quite scary.

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#5

Typically my paranoia and anxiety spike as soon as I leave the apt., but sometimes people’s faces look distorted too, don’t know what that is

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#6

My symptoms don’t change with public, I even feel better when I go out with friends.

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#7

I used to have a hard time being out in public, but the Pregabalin fixes the anxiety, and amisulpride stopes the hallucinations that used to bother me greatly

#8

I have the opposite problem. My voices are always more present at night and when alone.

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#9

yea. im stable at home in my room, in public or social gatherings of unknown people i get kinda paranoid and start overanalyzing my appearance and thoughts and feeling like others are thinking or talking about me negatively

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#10

Yeah i have it in public. Its bloody hard when your managing the voice in your head - whilst also trying to have a conversation with the cashier to pay for your shopping.

For me its anxiety based - and people pick up on the fact you look nervous, so you get stared at more often. To me - looking sweaty with my eyes darting, tells them you got something to hide, so they think your shoplifting.

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#11

Large groups of people really trigger my paranoia, and voices.

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#12

I get that, looking nervous so I get approached more by workers asking if I need help probably because they think I’m stealing

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#13

Why do you think that happens?

#14

I think maybe it’s social anxiety but I don’t know

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#15

Because of the interactions?

#16

I’m not really sure, I guess it’s kind of which came first? Am I anxious because of my sz symptoms or are my sz symptoms worse because of anxiety. I should ask my doctors

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#17

Can it be bouth as a single cause?

#18

I guess it could be.

#19

One of the most important thing is to realize the unbalaced mechanisms which governed schizophrenia!+/mental disorder.

Unfortunately the mental level of balancing them is not well researched and limited (psychology)
We do have help on the psysical level

#20

@Owl82 Yeah lol. Im slightly better cos i just gone on pregabs. But thats usually why i shop online. Its an exercise for me at the moment lol, im forcing myself to get used to the public again.