I had difficulty with the PD diagnoses that were given. 1st PD NOS & then paranoid PD . Those were clear examples of something that happens all too often in psychiatry . A patient is not liked, and thus a PD dx is attached to him or her.
If the sz-a dx had been kept and avoidant pd had been added that would have been far better.
So they took away your sz-a dx? I also have an avoidant personality but it could be dependent on our upbringing considering generational influences around time we received diagnosis. I mean I know that’s why I didn’t want to open up about my symptoms which ultimately led to reclusiveness and avoidance. I can be bubbly and outgoing at times though…
Typically I’m reserved and shy and don’t take well to criticism or negativity. It’s all very interesting how similar ASD, Schizophrenia, Trauma and so many things are linked together and overlap. I’ve been scratching my head about this one for years. 
Yes. I had a Swedish consultant who was very much into PDs. That, and mutual animosity between the mental health team and I , were the breeding grounds for the sz-a dx to be ditched.
In Sept 2017 I moved, and saw my new pdoc in Oct 2018. He was better mannered,more amiable and more intelligent . He was very thorough re asking questions. The subject of autism was raised by me.My stepdaughter ,who has worked with people on the spectrum, backed me up.
Instead of dismissing the subject, as would have happened with my previous MH trust, he asked questions . He also did a test with my hands and said I was quite dyspraxic. His initial opinion was that the best fit was schizophrenia and ASD. . Very soon after that I received a letter for an ASD assessment. The Asperger’s dx was given in May 2019.
In Oct 2019 the pdoc brought back to review the dx. Based on further exploration, that showed I had had past phases of low and high mood with concurrently occurring psychotic symptoms, the sz was changed to sz-a.
I haven’t accepted my diagnosis yet, and I probably never will. I simply don’t meet the requirements.
What are you basing that on?
My symptoms, if you can call them that, are simply too mild or even non-existent. Existential worries coupled with OCD/anxiety. As for my negative symptoms they are nothing more than character flaws. What’s your educated guess about the matter?
In my case I got worse whenever I fought my diagnosis. I fought it for 8 years, stopped my meds with the help of my pdr and got psychotic nearly died. I accepted my diagnosis 2 years ago. I feel much better on meds and I think most ppl do. Positive symptoms are worse than negative symptoms. I can live with negatives but not positives, positives make me homicidal and suicidal.
Yeah i think they dont know much about the brain.
To me the dsm was more limiting for good treatment than helpful. It seemed like they jumped to conclusions, picked a random label (sz, autism, borderline, bipolar) and then interpreted all my behaviour through that lens. E.g. when i “had borderline” for a few months, they suddenly saw manipulation, splitting and attentionseeking in all my behaviour, while i thought “the intention behind this is totally different”. When i “had autism”, they tought i didnt understand anything and started to talk as if i were a deaf imbecile.
Because i “had sz” most of the time, they refused to treat my problems, like trauma, with therapy. Since i on the other hand didnt (and dont) want their pills, we were kind of stuck.
I wonder if diagnoses that describe simple symptoms “anxiety”, “psychosis”, “anger”, “mania” and a simple clues to their origin “trauma”, “drug abuse” “organic damage” wouldnt do more justice to many people. 
I certainly didn’t get sick that young but when I did I thought there was nothing wrong with me. I thought there was a conspiracy against me. I thought when the harassment ended I would go back to normal. Boy was that wrong.
It only took me about six years to figure it out. But that was a long six years.
I blow hot and cold on the psychosis issue. My main reason for accepting it is that they don’t put people on oral or depot APs like they’re doling out smarties (despite what the Whitaker fan club says).
So you appeal to the argument of authority (the “Chinese argument” as Jeremy Bentham labelled it). I guess I don’t think much of psychiatry. The SZ diagnosis itself is an extremely blunt category including many different conditions.
It’s not about ‘authority’ it’s about an intelligent appraisal of the situation .
https://livingwithschizophreniauk.org/shortage-of-psychiatrists-in-the-uk-gets-worse/ That’s not a situation where they’re going to go overboard diagnosing people based on very flimsy grounds.
Yet above you explain what your “main reason” is for accepting their authority. You take it as fully established that pdocs wouldn’t hand out meds as as if they were smarties, and that’s precisely what needs to be explained. Sorry to say your reason for trusting those people constitutes a circular argument.
It’s not circular at all. It’s about looking at things intelligently based on the facts at hand. Mental health services in the UK are not going to keep a person on their books unless there’s a good reason for doling so. There is no grand conspiracy to mass medicate the UK…
Things aren’t perfect(they seldom are) but I’m comparatively better on a regular depot than when I was taking oral meds 40-50% of the time.
I don’t believe in a grand conspiracy either, more a case of systemic and cultural reasons.
Haha I put this in the wrong thread!!! Could mods move this to say anything.
I’m paranoid sz and fought it for years. Now I welcome it as a defense.
Sorry guys, I wasn’t trying to be weird.
It took me about 20 years to understand my sza. Was diagnosed with bipolar and sz at stages too. I accepted the fact that I was and still am mentally ill but found I often had lack of insight and denied my sza because of it. Not because I didn’t want it but because I couldn’t understand I had it. Sometimes I still have this problem especially when I’m doing well.
I too was givens a formal ASD dx or High Functioning Autism dx. Asperger’s. Also Sz. I think the ASD manifested first in my aversion to things sensory and then I developed childhood schizophrenia. I was highly “imaginative” but the lines are blurred on what was imaginary and what I was experiencing early on as hallucinations. My first earliest memory of hallucinations was 5 so it’s really debatable but my first sensory aversion was before that and I would freak out and have meltdowns if certain things touched me.
To this day I compulsively wash my hands if I get sticky or dirty. I don’t like being touched a lot. I too found a good psychiatrist that listened to my history and made the diagnosis of ASD and Sz.
I’m still not 100% on board with the ASD dx but I know for sure about the Sz dx.