How delusional can you be without psychosis?

I woke up this morning determined that my so-called delusions will never take over my life. I’ve also experienced a slight improvement in my negative symptoms, all of this without taking APs. I have never heard voices, except for the odd, non-psychotic experience of hearing my name called out or a few words after waking up or before falling asleep. Is it possible to have these so-called delusions (my belief that I co-created the universe and that I am everyone else, only more enlightened) running at the back of my mind, more or less under control, without being regarded as psychotic? Does such a mild experience qualify? I want to move on with my life. Very bored with the sz label.

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Any delusion qualifies for psychosis, and if you have negative symptoms then it’s schizophrenia or schizophreniform. But with that said it might not be a delusion.

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A label can’t define you. Are you holding down a job? In a relationship? Have hobbies? Friends?

These are the things you should measure your life by.

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Everyone else here seems to think I’m delusional.

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I’ve not worked in decades, I was schizotypal and severely OCD before my late-onset sz was diagnosed. But I am married, have some friends and interests.

Well that’s good but it seems to me that if your symptoms are such that you don’t need meds you should be able to function in a work environment.

But 3 out of 4 ain’t bad. Do you know you are delusional or do you often need a reality check by those around you?

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To be honest, @NotSeksoEmpirico believing you co-created the universe is quite heavy. If you do not hear voices though I say your outlook may be quite good.

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I know others think I am delusional. I have no intention of “refuting” my so-called delusions. I have perfect social insight, I know how others think about me and my claims, but I also know when to be quiet about them.

Your so called delusion about having lived the lives of every person on earth is far from unique.
It’s possible…there are quite a few folks out there who have written about it.

That’s all that the Sz lable sticks to you with?

My advice is to talk to your doctor right away about all this stuff.

Your belief is a delusion because it’s firmly held, and it contradicts what is generally accepted as reality.

That said, I believe you can have this belief and still live a normal life. For example, there are people who are conspiracy theorists or conspiracy deniers. They will tell you that man never landed on the moon; the Holocaust didn’t happen; and Sandy Hook didn’t happen.

As long as your delusion doesn’t interfere with your activities of daily living, I don’t see a problem.

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That others should express similar beliefs doesn’t belittle my sense of cosmic purpose. As I see it I was sent by God and got tricked by the devil. This universe is nothing more than the bacdrop of the dialogue I currently hold in the desert with my enemy. “Other people” aren’t just me, they don’t truly exist. Their “uniqueness”, in my cosmology, is the work of the devil. The same is true about their souls. Only the divine spark, the spirit, shared by I/we is truly our own. I don’t bring a message, as I see it, of universal redemption but of resistence. The challenges are not so much ethical as they are ontological. I am trapped in a “soul”, and even “normal life”, the way Jesus is represented as being trapped in a human body. Your soul is my body.

They know, and think I’m sick. I do have some negative and even cognitive symptoms, and I have experienced a number of visual hallucinations and numerous disturbances. And other more fleeting delusions. At hospital I was convinced for 2 days that one of my organs was being shrunk and I could visualise just as I thought it stood at the moment. But still, small potatoes compared to what I read hear about other people.

If you are everyone else, but can’t live or believe you are everyone else, then the message gets lost in the translation.

Kinda defeats the whole purpose of being here.

What I mean is that there is only one person; the devil’s power only goes so far. But the illusion of multiciplicity is a compelling one. They are me, literally, but interpellated in what in human terms could described as a different plane, but mean to appear in synchrony as if taking place simultaneously. Leibniz would have described it as a “preestablished harmony”, only this harmony is no harmony at all.

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Even if your delusions aren’t as bad as compared to other people’s, you should still take medicine so you don’t have any delusions. The good news for you is if your delusions are on a smaller scale, this also means you can try taking a smaller dose of medicine to control your situation too. It is never good to have any amount of delusions, because during this time you can’t fully enjoy your life and while your brain isn’t fully working properly you may be developing brain damage/ loss of brain cells during this period so you want to get on meds as soon as possible. My doctor told me that during the time someone is delusional, they start losing brain cells/ “gray matter.” Holes start to form in their brain. If you get on medicine and the delusions thus go away, you probably won’t have to worry about loss of brain cells.

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The evidence seems to go both ways on that. I don’t feel sick, therefore I’m not sick

Anosognosia maybe?

I have plenty of insight. I understand why others might think that I’m sz, but I happen to disagree. I don’t feel angry or agitated about it, and I seldom feel paranoid. For me it;s the plain truth, but then again I’m always 2 different people, the divine being, and the old me, atheistic, rationalist and the rest. My divine spirit dwells in a secular soul.

What are you doing here if you don’t believe that you’re schizophrenic?

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