Hi I am new here. I am schizoaffective and was diagnosed 7 years ago, but, have been sick for 16. No one knew what was wrong with me until I spent 2 weeks in the Hospital. It has been an up and down struggle for me ever since then. Sometimes I am high functioning and have very few symptoms and sometimes I have a lot of symptoms and hasve difficulty with daily activity. The activities that are giving me the most trouble right now are showering and exercise. I have gained over 40 pounds in the past 4 years…ever since my cat of 15 years became sick and passed away. I have a new cat now who is great. The only problem is that all I want to do is spend time with him. I watch him and cuddle him and give him way too many treats. I hate going out even to the market for groceries. I need to take my cat to the groomers twice a month for nail trims and a brushing since he has long hair and won’t let me brush him or trim his nails at home. I go to the doctor and therapist very rarely and usually have my sessions over the phone. I try to meet my Parents once a week for dinner, but, I don’t always make it. The phone is my life line right now. If I didn’t use it and go outside my apartment and sit on the wall and talk with people there, I wuol be really isolated.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I hate feeling my body and taking as shower, but, I always feel better when I do. Everyone tells me to just do t even if I don’t want to do it, but it is so hard for me. I am also told that the best thing for depression is exercise, but, I am having difficulty doing that too. It feels like work now where as before, I thought it was fun to use my stair climber and take Pilate’s. I think I am a very lonely person, but, I don’t want to deal with people because I am ashambed of my weight and my cltohes don’t fit me. I hate doing my hair after a shower and bought a galf cap to wear when I am out. I am hoping to find some guidance and to hear the experience of others here.
Hope you all are doing well…please let me know if this site has helped you and how?
I realize this is going to sound like a brisk “here’s what you need to do” list, but I’m bad at being comforting. I have actually had friends encourage me to not comfort them. So please try to take this as comforting or welcoming. That’s how I mean it.
First off, have you thought about getting your cat registered as a therapy cat? I know that you do need to get out there and meet new people, but hey. People love cats. You could take him to cat shows and meet other cat lovers there.
I think you really need to start seeing your therapist and doctor in person. My doctor can tell sometimes from my expressions and such more about how I am feeling than I understand myself. In my opinion you are limiting your potential at getting help if you use the phone, unless you are in an area where there are no competent doctors. If that’s true, stay the course. Bringing your cat might help. Seeing your doctor and therapist reacting positively to the cat might help you communicate with them. I can’t explain my logic behind that one though. A sense of shared interest I guess.
Losing weight is far more about diet than going to the gym and working out. I used to work out like crazy but my weight stayed the same. Now I’m on a better diet but I have stopped working out so much. Weight watchers was good for me. It’s mainly women (I don’t think you revealed your gender on here so just fair warning) and women spook easily. I have had several women comment at the meetings that they stopped going to a certain gym because there were too many men there and it made them uncomfortable. But if you are a woman I would highly encourage it. I love going! It’s another good way to meet people. As for the work out thing maybe take a class or find a podcast you can listen to. I have a hard time working out when I can’t zone out. I like to listen to cruddy pop music and let my mind wander. My Mom likes books on tape. Audible has a good selection.
From what I’ve gathered a lot of people here don’t like showers either. Whether it’s paranoia that someone will sneak up on them or they just don’t like the sound, some of us just don’t like them. Usually they like baths better. If that’s still hard make it a nice experience! Light some candles, watch some youtube, whatever. An abbreviated version of a bath is you can fill the tub up only part way and use a wash cloth to help you scrub down.
Thank you. I apprefciate your suggestions and insights. I think you are right about seeing my docotor and therapist in person. I hate driving which is part of the problem other than the fact that I can’t deal woth being out in public, but, I know what you are saying about the value of person to person interaction. I will really work on that.
My Doctor suggested that I try Overeaters Annonynous. I like 12 step and have thought about it, but, I am in CODA right now for codependency and I don’t know if I want to work two programs at the same time. I did join Narcotics Annonymous about 3 years after I lost my cat to try to CODA for a while, I can leave again to work on a side issue with OE. I don’t know. It is a big change for me again. I know that by joining OE I will be admitting that I have a problem and then I will be responsible for my own recovery. My Aunt and Uncle do Wieght Watchers and offered to pay for me to participate, but, I never took them up on it. I guess I could try to talk with my Aunt and see if she is still willing to help me. This is defintitely soemthing for me to discuss with my therapist and with my doctor.
My kitty is not a good candidate for visiting. He can get a little fiesty which is fine for me, but, I would noot want to take him out…he hates traveling and he is shy with some people when I have them over and then outgoing with others. I don’t know how he decides which people he likes better than others…he is just funny like that.
When I was doing better, I did a lot of volunteer work, but, I shut down after I lost my last cat. It felt good to do the volunteer work and I think if I could loose some wieght and wear something other than sweats that I will probably go back to some of the work I was doing. I really can’t blame everything on my wieght becsause I think I really am anxious and depressed, but, loosing the weight would rreally be a big boost. I realize that the problem is my body imag and my eating disiorder and not so much the actual numbers. You are right, I need to change the way that I eat and my relationship with food. I am just not sure if I am ready to make the commitment with all of the other issues I am dealing with. I just quit smoking for 8 months and then I was so stressed uot with my symptoms from my illness that I started smoking agasin last month and needed to reset my quit darte 3 weeks ago. This coming Saturday I will have one month sand I struggle with it every day. Any day I don’t smoke is a miracle for me and I am really focused on dealing with that right now on top of trying to get out and to take showers more than once a week although if I can take a shower once a week that is a big deal for me too. I think you are right about that also. I have spoken to toher mentally ill people and it seems to be a problem for a lot of us. My bathtub is filled with comic pages that I read in the bathroom and clothes hanging on the bathtub rod. It would really be a project for me to take a bath although one of my firends did give me really nice bubble bath last year and I have only used it twice, but, I liked the way that I felt when I used it. Not so much the bath itself, but, like the shower, I feel good after I do it.
I am really grateful for your input and I will take some of it up with my CODA group and my doctor and my therrapist and see if I can make some decisions about the direction and focus I want my life to take in the next few weeks.
hey @TiggyBoo , i was diagnosed as of 5 years ago but my diagnosis has changed several times since i first got sick. i can only take showers in our apartment since all we have is a shower stall. It’s hard to bring oneself to shower sometimes. I have lizards and fish as pets. I’ve heard of people getting lizards at licensed pets for the disabled to take places inside stores and stuff.
Hi cbbrown Pets are the greatest. I don’t care what kind of pet you have…they are all great! I don’t know what I would do withut the companionship and lve that my cat gives to me. I am sure you have the same relationship with your pets. They just imporve the quality of life for people. Thanks for your reply.
I really do hate to bathe. I always feel better and look better afterwards, but it is so difficult to force myself to do it. It usually takes my Mother yelling at me to force me into the shower. I hate the whole process…taking off my clothes, wating for the water to get warm, getting wet and then washing and conditioning my hair and bathing myself. Then drying off and taking care of my hair…it is just a big hassle. I wish I enjoyed taking care of myself. I deserve to be taken care of. I don’t know whey I have a problem other than the fact that I don’t like myself and maybe I don’t have the nergy right now to do it either. I have very low energy since I am on so much serequel. I hate it. But, I have voices and anxiety without it. I wish I could find a better antidepressant. I was taking buproprion which is generic wellbutrin, but, I don’t think that the generics work as well as the brand names. I was having problems with anxiety and manic behavior, so my doctor reduced the dose and I have been depressed ever since, I have tried tons of different antipsychotics and antidepressants and I have had side effects with almost everything. Remron worked for me, but, I gained 20 pounds with it, so I didn’t want tot ake it anymore. So frustrating. But, having a pet definitely helps me.
I am new here. I am schizoaffective and was diagnosed 7 years ago, but, have been sick for 16. No one knew what was wrong with me until I spent 2 weeks in the Hospital. It has been an up and down struggle for me ever since then. Sometimes I am high functioning and have very few symptoms and sometimes I have a lot of symptoms and hasve difficulty with daily activity. The activities that are giving me the most trouble right now are showering and exercise. I have gained over 40 pounds in the past 4 years…ever since my cat of 15 years became sick and passed away. I have a new cat now who is great. The only problem is that all I want to do is spend time with him. I watch him and cuddle him and give him way too many treats. I hate going out even to the market for groceries. I need to take my cat to the groomers twice a month for nail trims and a brushing since he has long hair and won’t let me brush him or trim his nails at home. I go to the doctor and therapist very rarely and usually have my sessions over the phone. I try to meet my Parents once a week for dinner, but, I don’t always make it. The phone is my life line right now. If I didn’t use it and go outside my apartment and sit on the wall and talk with people there, I wuol be really isolated.
