I believe this is the case for me.If I am out with more people and able to befriend the my illness would be a lot less severe
I get stressed around people, and no desire to go to any social events, so I guess I’m in a better frame of mind, being left alone
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I think it’s the other way round maybe. If your illness improves then you have more of a desire to meet people.
But who knows.
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Too many people = too much drama for me.
It’s awfully hard to find “friends” that don’t like to stab you in the back and hang you out to dry.
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For me personally, isolation makes me withdraw and get worse. The more I am around friendly relatives (my cousins) and other friends, the more I improve, and the more normal acting and appearing I can be out in public. Social interaction is a skill and takes constant practice, and there is only one way to get that practice.
socialization is beneficial for mental health sufferers. but it’s hard if you are not used to people, if you are paranoid, if you have thought broadcasting etc.
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For me it does improve how much the illness affects me overall. Somehow when we all began to fall ill one of the outcomes was that our social life took a big hit without us really noticing. That has a knock-on consequences in itself for our mental wellbeing. The longer you are outside a circle of reliable friends the more difficult it is to socialise with others comfortably. It is like a domino effect. Finding friends and making a new social network is vital to recovery. Although it may be initially quite challenging, and we may need to take some time out to regain our confidence and mental energy as and when, it is what helps us to feel human again.
My psychologist said that social contact is therapeutic. I hate to be around normies, but I love to hang out with other people with MI. 
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me too. I like the company of fellows schizophrenics
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If you have meaningful friendships and you enjoy talking to them and being in their company, it improves your mood which can improve your symptoms. Especially negative symptoms.
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pdoc said I should socialize and work as much as I can in order to fight the negative symptoms. otherwise I would be totally isolated and witness of human condition. I need to participate.
The issue for me is making friends in the first place. Even if I was champing at the bit to do so, which I’m not, I’d have difficulty knowing how to socially engage with others.
From time to time I need the company of others/or more to the point get bored/empty with my own company. However if anyone gets too close I’ll go into avoidant mode.
In the letter supporting my move here I was described as very isolated. Here family comes in most days , and I’ve met a few of their friends, in passing, when going out.
I’m still quite isolated though. There’s talk of social groups via a charity but the groups are around 10-12 miles away . With my poor sense of direction, and phobia about unfamiliar areas , that’s a major barrier. The trouble is people don’t grasp the severity of the problem .
Being around too many people or getting too close (intimate) with someone in person can destabilize me.
I really don’t want friends.
But I don’t like to be completely isolated either.
I kind of like being surrounded by a couple of close family members.
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The amount of friends pales in importance to the quality of friends… id rather have 2 oddball friends i can talk about anything with…rather than a boat full of friends i cant be myself around…
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In the years when I was really paranoid, I used to get more paranoid the more I was around people. If I wanted to “test” my illness, I used to purposely go out and be around a lot of people to see how sick I would get. And I would always get really, really sick. I was just torturing myself in a way. Now, I purposely stay at home all of the time and lo and behold, I’m almost never sick anymore. I don’t get sick when I’m around people anymore either. Just a nice side benefit.
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