I was misdiagnosed with depression when I was about 20ish. So at least I was trying to get myself sorted.
But no doubt I wouldn’t have taken pills anyway regardless , if I could have survived without them. Which I did until I was 38.
I wonder what difference a correct diagnosis at 20 would have meant.
I don’t know , may be the impact could have been less.
I was DXd at 21, but it literally took me 10 years to find the right med combo.
I had sub-clinical depression symptoms for much of my 20s. Didn’t take a single pill for it.
Maybe living abroad after 27 yo and experiencing a different culture / language put extra pressure on my psyche, who knows. Cognition slowly degraded.
Got diagnosed at 30 and a year later started taking abilify, which I’m still on right now. Positives subsides quickly. However, as veterans here might remember, for about 3 years I kept complaining about crippling negatives. And rarely left my room.
Around age 34 I messed with my treatment for the first of 2 times. Relapsed. Negatives improved though.
I’m in a fairly good headspace now, at 40. In a job. Mildly optimistic. Could haves and should haves abound. I push them to the back of my mind and live in the moment.
Some ancient hot shot - Buddha or a Greek philosopher- argues that we become what we devote our thoughts to. Mental discipline is hard to achieve and maintain. It’s what I focus on. Still a noob in this respect.
I’m happy and free of paranoia now. Though sometimes I doubt that I have sz. I’m 19
I like to say everything works out at the right time, but wish I knew and had treatment earlier in life. It was such a mess in between the beginning and now.
It’s hard to separate the problems of early adulthood from problems with mental health for me. But I had a decade of bouncing up and down after my first diagnosis before I found some stability with a med. After that my problem was mostly alcohol and being a knobhead
@everhopeful: you had unmedicated sz for 18 years ? Maybe you can take some comfort knowing your illness wasn’t severe enough for you to make antipsychotics a necessity.
i was put on antipsychotics at age 11. dont think things turned out better for me but i dont have access to a time machine. but i feel braindamaged. i cant think. i cant remember. i cant hardly speak. i kinda wish id not been but on them til a lot later.
I always had a heart for those with mental illness starting young like schizophrenia. It’s really sad. Some (rare) people are born with it and others get it in high school. I got mine in college.
Yeah it’s cruel sometimes. I had issues since 14. Just passed them by but had a depressive break as you called them back then at 23. Didn’t get dxed after psychosis at 29.
I guess I came to the conclusion that I can’t change the past but I can the now and future so just soldiered on. I still find it hard not to wonder sometimes if I got that proper dx way back then and appropriate meds…I think that is life in general for most.
I’ll introduce this perspective. I was born in the early 80s in secluded part of Oregon coast. We lived three hours from good medical care. I was sick starting age 10 but I wasn’t treated until 20. My parents grieved that I suffered so many years without treatment due to them not understanding but I told them it’s okay because even I had gotten treatment it would have been limited and medication choices were severely limited.
So I’m glad I was diagnosed as an adult because we moved to the east coast when I was 16 and close to top notch medical care. I think I recovered quickly after diagnosed due to health care and options.
In essence I think we were diagnosed when we needed to be because everything such as understanding by the medical community is improving. I’m at peace over my very rough childhood. I’m extremely grateful for what I have now.
I get what you’re saying,
But these symptoms are a moving target.
Even if you get right for a little,
You’re going to have to make adjustments that put you back to square one every time.
I got a diagnosis at 19, symptoms starting as a child, still figuring it out.
Still, I get what you’re saying.
I got diagnosed in 2012 or 2013 with paranoid schizophrenia or something. I was 23 or 24. I started having symptoms my senior year in college due to pot use and salvia use. I was drinking alcohol too because I was depressed. My grades sucked and I couldn’t get a girlfriend. I also was poor and ate too much McDoubles from Mcdonalds every day.
College was a big thing for me. I mean I tried hard for 3 years at community college. I guess processing my thoughts and feelings and emotions are bad now especially online sometimes I think.
I was totally miserable for 5 years or so until I tried Vraylar and stuck with it. It keeps me out of the hospital and I swear I won’t go back anymore. I don’t need too. I wish I could be off meds, but I need them.
I tried the mood stabilizers and they make me worse and sicker than a dog. I’m only on 2 meds now but drink energy drinks like water or by the gallon. It’s sick and sad.
I take cymbalta and Vraylar and that’s it. Keeps me stable. If I cut down or quit drinking monsters, I might feel better and do better in life.
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