No body wants to be on meds. But in the year 2016, meds are the most successful treatment for schizophrenia. They’re always working on making new meds that will work better and have fewer side-efects but for now we got to take what they are giving us. Untreated schizophrenia is a horrible thing.
There are alternative treatments out there to treat schizophrenia but they only work for a small minority.
Recovery is a reality for many people with schizophrenia. I won’t get into my whole story (I have never heard voices before, my main symptoms are paranoia and delusions) but at the beginning of my disease I suffered horribly.
I spent 8 months locked up in a long-term psychiatric hospital when I was 19 with another 100 patients who were out of their minds. It pushed me to my limit. I saw no hope in sight or no future. Anyone who observed me back then or knew me or knew my situation would have thought that I was a hopeless case. I was seriously, seriously ill.
I was a young man with no job. no friends, no girlfriend, no car, no money, and last but not least; I had no sanity. Schizophrenia is a weird thing. There is no way to tell who’s going to get better in the future.
I have worked for 32 years while having paranoid schizophrenia. No one could have predicted that. You just never know who is going to succeed or who isn’t. That’s why you do not give up. That’s why it’s a good idea to take meds. That’s why you co-operate with psychiatrists, therapists,because if you give up, I guarantee you will go nowhere. If you put out effort to get help and do the right things, you have a fighting chance to get better. If you don’t try you will go nowhere. If you try, you may still fail but it’s better than giving up.
I hope I’m not being too harsh but us schizophrenia have to face some simple truths. I wish I could help you overcome these voices but that’s a job for a professional. But we have a disease. It’s very disabling, in fact it’s one of the top ten most disabling diseases in the world. We will not get everything we want in the world, but we can get some stuff. I’m 55 now. I am looking back on being employed for 32 years. I have driven my own car (or my dads for a short time) almost all the time I’ve been sick. I lived on my own for 25 years. I am close to getting my AA degree, I need four more classes.But when I was younger I was out of my mind. I never got violent. I’m not the violent type. But my schizophrenia was literally torture. For every minute of every day for the first two or three years of my illness.
You never know who will succeed,but I know if you don’t try, you won’t succeed. I’m not saying that you personally are not trying. I do not mean that. I’m saying it to all of us. If you don’t take medication there is a good chance that your schizophrenia may not get better.
The sooner you are diagnosed and start treating your disease the better you will get. People who start treatment as soon as they can have a better prognosis. The longer you go without treatment the worst your prognosis is. And if you wait years to get help then the disease will take its toll and do irreparable damage that taking medication might have stopped.
I’m not criticizing you personally. For all I know you may be trying as hard as you can. Maybe you are putting out effort. I don’t know if you are or you aren’t. A lot of what I’m saying is just common sense and it’s true for most people. I’m not criticizing you, I’m on your side. There is no overnight cure. It took me years to to get better.
But now after years and years of schizophrenia I can honestly say, I am happy. It’s just a little while sometimes, other times it can last for awhile longer. I went for long, long periods where I didn’t like people very much during my illness. I didn’t hate anyone, but I didn’t really care about people or what they were really like and I didn’t care about anyone’s personality or what they did in their lives. I had a few friends but we never really talked, we just went out and did fun things or caused trouble.
But now my symptoms have receded significantly, I am curious about other things and what’s going on around me. I have been at my janitor job for 5 years. People like me there. Most of life I felt like no one liked me. I withdrew into my head and rejected my peers and it was like me vs them. I felt isolated most of my life and I didn’t talk to anyone. People noticed but I guess that I was either too easy to pick on so that they didn’t even feel like I was worth bullying. But now, I want to live the second stage of my life and get out and explore and make friends. I will succeed in this. I’ve paid my dues and I deserve it. Anyway, I hope this encourages you. There is open, honest, real hope for us. I hope you get the answers you need from us. We all need each other.
“When you’re going through hell, keep going”.
Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain in WWII circa 1945.
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