Hi, I have a B.A. from a pretty crappy college in Psychology of all things and haven’t really gone out in there in the job market yet, so I was wondering are there any of you in graduate school, and how hard is it to manage your SZ with school and other things like LIFE?
I want to go into education, but I want to be realistic and want to hear other people’s reaction towards higher education…
Thanks for your input and advice…
Been there done that. I worked as a mental health worker until I finished my Masters and then worked in the VA hospital as a psychologist until I finished my PhD. Wasn’t easy, but with enough drive you can do it!
Wow @orange that sounds like a dream, at least getting the PhD part~! (Not the work)
But how do you deal with communication problems, I seem to be having a lot of these and agitation on the job. These make me feel very awkward at the job and feel aloof to say the least.
Are you just lucky and don’t have agitation and communication problems? How did you deal with these?
Thanks again.
I’ll be honest it has never been easy. There were many times especially towards the end that I fought the voices and trying to be empathetic to my patients. I will say for most of the time I was on high levels of antipsychotics. For instance 240mg of Geodon for ten years, plus 3mg of klonopin and 200mg of Zoloft and lots of Mountain Dew. But as my psychiatrist said, if you want it, you’ll have to fight for it. Finally the strain became too much, I decompensate dans went into the hospital.
Ya orange that is quite impressive. I know I couldn’t do it. It would be hard enough if I wasn’t ill. If I was interested in psychology I would be worried about the stigma of being mentally ill. What if they bar you from getting your degree, license, or fire you? At least with a math degree it doesn’t matter much. It just depends on how good your math skills are. A large percentage of math majors at my school were slightly autistic and couldn’t dress properly but no one cared. In fact, most of them were better than the rest of us.
I would love to finish my BA in math, but I don’t think I’m smart enough anymore, especially with the medications. I would also love to go to graduate school.
Yeah the challenge of school sounds daunting. I’ve wasted a lot of money trying to pursue that route only to find my own limitations. Life was different back then, I partied and did drugs. Was more worried about social life then getting a degree. So things should be different, but I’m going to wait until I know I’m ready before I take any financial risk. I’m about as close to broke as it gets.
Ya money is a big thing. I definitely wouldn’t go back to school unless I was 100% ready. It would suck to drop out again and have to repay loans. Plus I want to get good grades.
I think I’ll do something that I know I can complete and if I get into the routine of school I could always go for a second degree that was a little more challenging. Engineering of some kind would be great. Computer science would be even better. I know what those course are like though, they are very rigid and challenging. It’s more about understanding they way they want you to instead of the more creative subjects where there is more flexibility.
I don’t mean to dis on the idea of immigrant teachers, but I do find it annoying when a lecturer on a specific and complicated subject has a heavy accent. This happened to me all the time at one of the schools I attended.
I am finishing my master’s thesis as we speak. This is the first time I encounter problems in school that relate to schizophrenia, for motivation is an issue for me. This was not the case when I was still taking classes and seminars. I loved those and was always very engaged in them, one of the most active students and this was reflected in my grades. The routine of classes kept me going, kept the motivation high and this spilled over to other areas as well. In my experience, in order to keep negative symptoms in general at bay, it is good to keep busy (yes there is a chicken and egg situation for me). Doing so in a social environment is easier for me, add to that the genuine reward of learning something you find interesting and it turns out that taking classes is a routine that I find serving my well-being immensely.
Writing the thesis on my own is more difficult, for I have to establish the routine all on my own, rather than just go along with a set routine. Accordingly, motivation has dropped a bit and this has spilled over to other areas as well. I mean, I am more inclined to wake up early, shower, dress up etc. when I am expected to come to class with fellow students in the morning - so I just do it. Now these simple routines have slipped a bit since there is no external pressure to maintain them. Thus, missing the routines of class has some spillover effects on other areas in my life as well, or so my shrink and I think.
It should be noted that I am medicated and am no longer experiencing any positive symptoms.
That’s good to hear man. I was under the impression you still had positive symptoms.
No I had a psychotic break last year, after I had been off medication for half a year, but went back on it and responded well. To be fair I do still have the occasional intrusive thought so that would count as some positive symptom. But that’s only incidentally, like once every other week or so. Nothing to be troubled by.
That’s cool man. My symptoms continue to reach new lows. Sometimes I even feel the choice of hallucinating or not, other times not so much. The internal paranoia is dying as I have removed myself from the environment that kept it afloat(for the most part, I do know I’ll have to re-enter the world, will do so gradually.) When my neighbors are in the hall and exiting the building and stuff it doesn’t trigger my symptoms very often. Sometimes I’ll feel my mind hang on the awareness of their presence, I also feel that is unnecessary and grounds for hallucinations.
Occasionally I’ll here laughter from people upstairs and the idea of reference mode spikes up.
I’m set up to be able to live this way for a year if I have too. I think it’ll pay off.
They are just a different kind of thought. I’m getting better at controlling those.
I will very soon be applying for masters and PhD programs in psychology. I would like to do the PhD but there is only one school I actually really want to go to for that. I have a very solid chance at getting in, my thesis is in line with the research at that school. I have read a lot of the profs work, and I would feel comfortable with him as my boss.
My backup is a specialized masters in rehabilitation, I already spoke with that professor. It would be easier but I always take the high road.
I have like 26 hours left for my senior year, which starts in a week. I am not looking forward to the biology class but I always come through. Last semester was hell, but that was because I had like three months to get a thesis idea and review the literature exhaustively, on top of a full time class schedule AND (it gets worse) I was working as a research assistant for grad students which was supposed to take me 10 hours a week but I did it in like 5 on hella coffee and nicotine.
I’m enjoying my time off to just workout and get ready for another semester…I took summer classes and wrote my research proposal this summer.
I quit smoking but I am staying on the medium patch because it helps my cognitive performance. I don’t wear it while I sleep though, it causes night terrors for me.
I suggest you get in a FUNDED program with a STIPEND if you are having doubts about yourself. Grad school is no cakewalk. Hell no. The last thing you want is to have a crisis, become disabled and have a ton of student loans…my undergrad is covered with scholarships and that’s the only reason I am even in school. If I dropped out in a month, it would leave me with no degree but also no debt.
just recieved an email-
Just to confirm that you will have a place on the Social Care course as an infill student. We will be doing Induction for this course next Thursday 20th August, starting at 9.30am until mid-afternoon. Please come along to Room xxx on that day.
feel a bit flustered now, i went in this morning to find out what was happening and its all ok bc i was worried they had forgotten about me,\
but to say that i am worried about this is an understatement, my symptoms are all under control except this pain in my chest that i get sometimes 
think its anxiety.
and making new friends as well, worried what they will be like and if i’ll have anyone to talk to, i hate being alone with no-one to talk to.
also worried that it will be to hard for me and i’ll fail but i want to try it anyway, i spoke to my old lecturer and she said it was the best decision so i think i made the right choice.
Take it in stride man. I have a tendency to avoid stuff like that, but you’ll never know if you bail out. Don’t let fear get the best of you. It’s going to be alright. Worrying about it now isn’t going to change anything.
Check out this interview:
thank you for posting about Mr. Schweizer. I am amazed at times when I listen to someone who has the same diagnosis but yet is on a different plane as far as attitude, outlook, and goals. I really enjoy hearing how others view their illness and adopt some of the principles from their point of view. Thanks again.
I’ll check it out, thank you @SzAdmin
I have one year left attending college doing management degree
Not the most interesting course
Has been good for me going college
Hard though but a challenge
Keeps me off the streets
Have you reported that to anybody?! You should.