hello, this is my first post and i also wasn’t too sure where to post this - so sorry if i got it wrong!
anyway! to continue.
i was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia, around a couple of months ago. and lately i feel like i’m wasting time, life. everybody my age is with friends, having parties, getting drunk/high etc and i just don’t fit in. i don’t have really anyone. and i’m scared when i’m older ill look back and regret not being so social. but i have good ol’ social anxiety that stops me from doing many things. does anybody else experience this? feeling like you don’t fit in, or you’re wasting your life? just want to see if i’m alone i guess
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Well I am 28 so probably a little older than you and I certainly feel that way. I was unwell for three years with schizophrenia. I have experienced social anxiety and depression since I was 13 and so I have isolated myself somewhat. Now, I am on Disability, I live with family, I am struggling to find work. I’m not super productive so yes I feel I am wasting my life. But I hope in a couple of years to return to uni to study psychiatric nursing…
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I feel like I’m wasting my life too. Although I’m mostly past the stage of my old friends going out getting high or drunk while i miss out etc, now days a fair number of them have started getting married and having kids and what not. I’ve started to lose track now of where everyone is in their life though, I’ve deleted most of my old friends from facebook
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Thanks pal. What’s the cake for?
Oh, it means it’s been exactly 3 years since you joined this forum 
It’s your anniversary !!
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Happy forum anniversary zen mind…u are cool man…
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I think that they are wasting their lives…
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Welcome to the community!
I was diagnosed over 25 years ago and told that my case had a “poor prognosis”. That’s doctor-speak for “you’re f----d”. I was told I’d never marry, never have a family, never go to school, never have a career, in fact, they doubted if I would ever be able to live on my own?
Guess what?
I’m married to an awesome lady, I have a wonderful teen daughter, I’ve done schooling, I’ve had different interesting careers, and my wife and I own our home plus some rental property. I’m a published author and photographer and my life is just fine. I still have some issues with positive and negative symptoms and I take my meds as directed (going off of them never ends well).
Do I still have trouble socializing? Sure. Am I different? Sure. Did it matter that much over the past quarter century? Not really. You can be SZ and still have a good life with meaningful and long-lasting relationships.
If you’re doing your best to recover, if you’re trying to find a way to make each day better than the last, you’re not wasting your life.
Hope this helps, and again, welcome.
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Hi @docealissa
You’re diagnosis is fairly recent. Getting your head around what that means for your future won’t happen overnight. And It isn’t uncommon to feel the way you do now about things in this period of your life. Peer groups you used to associate with moving on with their lives, playing the dating game, starting their academic or career paths may leave you thinking ‘what about me? Where do I go next?’. It is natural to feel crestfallen. Our aspirations have been thrown off course. We cannot see what is waiting for us anymore.
It is crucially important to remember life events go in cycles. Remember this: you won’t always be stuck in this confusing position forever. Your life will naturally change direction as you mature and gain experience. For the time being take care of yourself every day, and do not allow yourself to brood too much over what has been lost. There is a tomorrow, something new for you.
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Hello @docealissa my life sucks and I hate Israel.
I can’t even move abroad you know?
I will never forgive Israel, never.
However, my level of functioning is very low and I’ll only move abroad if I’ll be able to live independently.
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Thats smart idea erez… like u buddy u are too young …
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II wouldn’t worry too much about trying to fit in
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Hi, well do you wish you could party/ drink/ do drugs? It is only a temporary and meaningless fun? How would it give meaning to your life?
If you feel like you are not fitting with your friends, pick other hobbies, esp things you want to accomplish in your life.
Absolutely not wasting (I feel I have lost quite some time too) But compared to the years before, those seem like a waste too. 
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I am 31 and is also diagnose with schizophrenia. I feel like iam wasting away. Not living only existing.
All my former friends are married with children. I feel so young for my age. I would like the same thing
on life as everyone else, but I cant see how I will attain that in life so I just waste away reading fantasy books, comics,
and watching TV series and movies.
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Part of me feels like i am wasting my life but a while back i read that the purpose of life is joy so i try to enjoy as much as i can and i don’t worry about what other people are doing and what they have achieved. I am happy to be alive.
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I have an illness but I’m treated with medications and because of that, I’m having a great professional life. But my personal life is so much a disaster! I am unable to make any true friends or to get a girlfriend. I don’t understand why it doesn’t work because I feel I’m an interesting person and that I have many qualities. But people don’t seem to be interested in me at all for some reasons.
So yes, I’m wasting my life and now I’m 39, so I’m thinking that I better hurry and find the cause of the problem quickly before it’s too late.
Well, the medication doesn’t help also. I have many side effects that decrease my social habilities.
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I guess we have different metrics by wasting. I don’t think I will ever get my phd in physics. I don’t think I will discover a new physical phenomena or solve a particularly crucial problem in mathematics. I don’t think I will have children either. So I feel like I am wasting my life too. There doesn’t seem to be much that I’m leaving behind.
However I don’t party and I could care less. So different strokes I guess.
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Since my diagnosis I’ve gone from doing nothing worthwhile living in my parents basement to living on my own partying, drinking, and doing drugs, then back to living in my parents basement. If I had a choice now I would have skipped partying because all it happened to be was a major setback for me and my illness. I’m starting to right the ship now, and hopefully I’ll be back out on my own soon but I won’t be drinking and doing drugs if I have my way. I’d rather try to find the path to recovery then degrade my mental health with booze and drugs.
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