I’m a 16 year old male who in the past few months has experienced increasing schizophrenic symptoms. At first, I played everything off as just my mind acting crazy and stuff like that, but the symptoms got to a point where it became obvious I should get a diagnosis just to make sure I’m not schizophrenic.
I get hallucinations more and more often, mostly tactile, with some odd combination of visual. I feel things that aren’t real, normally incredibly horrible things like my veins squirming trying to leave my body or my fingernails melting off, that sort of stuff. I say that they are kind of visual because I kind of see the hallucination but at the same time I don’t? It is really hard to explain in like human language. I sometimes receive audible hallucinations, but they aren’t telling me to do things, rather they are random people having random conversations, often about mundane things. The horrible part is they overlap and are played directly into my head, like more direct than headphones its like code being transmitted into my brain directly. I also sometimes get taste hallucinations but they aren’t really an issue, its more like sometimes I can taste the invisible waves in the air, like the internet (it doesn’t taste great).
I also deal with great paranoia and anxiety, and for certain things, psychosis. I only sort of believe my delusions, it is kind of hard to explain because I realize some of them are not real later but I constantly fall for them. The oddest in my opinion is about doctors in submarines trying to control me, which I first heard from a schizophrenic character in a sci-fi show called The 4400. I said it as a joke at first with friends when they would call me a schizophrenic as a joke, but I began to actually believe in submarine doctors. I had bloodwork done a few weeks ago and after the shots I thought that the submarine doctors had injected me with something and I had really weird pains and hallucinations surrounding being drugged for like 8-10 hours, it was not fun. I constantly check places for bugs that the submarine doctors may have placed. I know this is crazy, because why would there be doctors IN SUBMARINES trying to spy on me, some 16 year old boy.
Okay so at this point I am finally realizing that I am actually ranting hard and this has nothing to do with my issue. So I want to get a diagnosis and hopefully get some form of treatment as I am being attracted to hard drugs to stop the symptoms and I do not want that. I finally worked up the courage to tell my parents that I think I’m schizophrenic and want a diagnosis. They just think I have drug-induced anxiety and spend to much time on the internet and they disregarded everything I said. No matter how hard I try they will not listen to me. I really need help as my mental state is very rapidly declining and I am very much so in pain.
TL;DR
How can I get a diagnosis from a psychiatrist for schizophrenia if my parents will not allow me. I am 16 years old and American, so keep in mind I am a minor.
Soo… I honestly don’t know how to help you… since you’re a minor and your parents won’t take you to a psychiatrist…
I didn’t have the insight like you when I became schizophrenic… I had to go to the behavioral health unit/mental ward at the hospital… maybe try going to the ER? If your local hospital has a behavioral health unit and tell them your symptoms.
Hi. I think one important thing you could tell your parents is that drug-induced psychosis is actually a disorder that requires treatment, similar to the treatment for schizophrenia. It does not go away on its own.
I would also like to add that having primarily tactile hallucination is very uncommon, and that the way you describe it sounds more like a sensory processing issue, which would point more towards autism/ADHD. Having auditory hallucinations that are just background conversations of people muttering is a sign of tinnitus, more often than schizophrenia.
I don’t think you necessarily should jump to the conclusion of schizophrenia. It is also almost impossible for a minor to get a diagnosis of schizophrenia. If you have a psychotic disorder, odds are you will get one of dozens of other, less permanent disorders.
Drug-induced psychosis is a good bet, if you have done drugs. The good news with that is, it is usually temporary. If you stick to your treatment for a full 1-2 years, you can usually be weaned off the meds with no lasting effects.
Drug induced psychosis has a 25% chance to become permanent sz. Non-drug induced 36%. Pretty close.
“A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis by Murrie et al found that the pooled proportion of transition from substance-induced psychosis to schizophrenia was 25% (95% CI 18%–35%), compared with 36% (95% CI 30%–43%) for brief, atypical and not otherwise specified psychoses. Type of substance was the primary predictor of transition from drug-induced psychosis to schizophrenia, with highest rates associated with cannabis (6 studies, 34%, CI 25%–46%), hallucinogens (3 studies, 26%, CI 14%–43%) and amphetamines (5 studies, 22%, CI 14%–34%). Lower rates were reported for opioid (12%), alcohol (10%) and sedative (9%) induced psychoses”
I know I do not have ADHD, and I really doubt I have autism, unless it is a very minor form, as I have never had any autism-like behavior. I really don’t know where I would get tinnitus, as I don’t go near loud noises. I have barely done drugs unless alcohol counts, so I doubt it is any for of drug-induced psychosis. However, I am very glad to hear that it can be different psychotic disorder, as I really do not want to be schizophrenic. What I am experiencing is already horrible and I really do not want it to be worse and especially not permanent.
Also, my parents just won’t get me treatment for any disorder, no matter which I claim. They don’t believe in mental health unless it applies to them.
I did alcohol and I did mdma only once, then three months later I started getting mild symptoms of psychosis until it was full blown.
People react differently to drugs. Some are more sensitive than others to drugs.
So who knows you may have drug induced psychosis.
Tell your parents that if you don’t seek advice from a psychiatrist it could get much worse so it’s better to be preventative. This is coming from me, someone who has psychotic disorder and did drugs only once.
I think your symptoms are to complicated to be drug induced.
Have a frank and deep conversations with you parents. Tell them that a doctor can tell whether you have a drug induced psychosis or schizophrenia, and even what it is causing your problem and how to make you feel better, you definitively needs help as soon as possible.
Early intervention is crucial no matter what it is.