I was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few months ago. I was put on an anti-depressant, an anti-anxiety, a sleep aid, but the main one I’m taking is Invega. I was put on 9mg and after a few weeks I noticed a significant drop in activity in terms of voices that used to talk to me. So significant they are practically gone. I am very very grateful of this.
But the thing that hasn’t changed, at all, is my thoughts. I’ll spare details because I don’t want this to be a long wall of text but needless to say I think people are after me. I am pretty convinced of this, despite what my doctor and father say to the contrary. I live in almost complete fear, never leaving my apartment, cut off friends and most of my family. My doctor has just upped me to 12 mg of invega, but I just don’t understand how a medicine is going to make me stop having these thoughts. How exactly does it work? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
I’ll spare details because I don’t want this to be a long wall of text but needless to say I think people are after me. I am pretty convinced of this, despite what my doctor and father say to the contrary.
I had that problem too before, It turned out, Synchronicities happen to me enough that it ■■■■■■ up my view of reality. It became a sort of gaslighting. I became, like you, paranoid.
E.G.
I was regularly writing into my diary. And after each time, I go to my class and the student beside me would say the exact part of what I just wrote. It persisted the whole semester. It somehow had me thinking that someone was hacking into my diary, the students and a television channel were part of it. Eventually I learned about Synchronicity. It’s a force that have us all humans connected. It has access to everything in your head, and has everyone in its control somehow. Awareness of it, how it works, and learning how to cope with it, cured the paranoid thoughts.
I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia as well. I take similar medicines as you are now taking. I do pretty well.
I don't think they know how or why the medicines work, just that they often change the behaviors of schizophrenics so that society is more comfortable and the schizophrenic is often benefitted as well.
When I was diagnosed my psychiatrist explained to me how the thoughts in my mind of the paranoia has formed tracks in my mind. She said that the old thougths will always come back to me. I am not paranoid anymore but when I see something that reminds me of my old paranoia I still get an uneasy feeling. My advice to you is to hang in there with the medication. …it does get better with time.
I think paranoia takes the longest to go away, because it becomes a habit to think these thoughts. Like I believed my mother in law was trying to poison me, it comes and goes but when I’m stressed or mother in law is upset about something, the paranoia comes back. Yesterday I was in the car with my parents in law and my father in law was scolding me. then later they were talking about their son and his bad behaviour since I got married to him. I got it in my mind that they were out to get me that they were against me, that they didn’t like me. And I was really scared and uneasy around them. Stress, arguments, again the paranoia came up. It still returns, despite the meds I’m on which took the voices away. It’s hard to get over delusions! I think psychotherapy may help with these, just a thought…
I’ve been stable and med compliant for a while and the paranoia wave still hits me once in a while. You really do have to sort of retrain the brain out of that. Also, my paranoia opens up during panic.
I’m also on Xanax for the panic and when I’m not panicking, I can sort of talk myself out of the paranoia.
But I really needed therapy in the beginning of all this so I could learn how to talk myself out of it.