Before all this happened to me I was smart and now I’m stupid. I’m frustrated and angry with myself and embarrassed.
Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone else feel this way or am I the only one…
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Yep , we all take a hit of some kind cognitively. But the good news is you can get alot of it back. How old r u. Are you on meds
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When they put me on Haldol it totally killed my creativity. I couldn’t write at all. Thankfully, on Geodon and Seroquel I can.
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Your NOT stupid. Cognitive loss is part of this head circus. It begins to effect reading, how the words string together… how fast we process information… all of it. It takes a hit.
It took some work, but my cognitive has managed to come back to a functional point. It takes me longer to read these days… but I understand what I’m reading.
I write better then I speak. But with work that gets better too.
Plus… I’m on a Seroquel / Latuda combo… that really helped me start to heal.
I know how frustrating it is… but Meteor is right… it can come back as you get stronger.
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Sometimes I stumble over my words when I’m speaking. Sometimes I don’t complete sentences. My analytical skills are (now) subpar. The cognitive decline hasn’t been overwhelming. I never had an amazing memory, though it’s worse now.
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I’m right there with you man. I feel dumb as hell I used to dream and thought experiment and invent but all the voices and telepathy have worn me down to the point I barely think. I think it will come back to me in time
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It’s likely not you, but a medicine side effect. You might want to shop around for a different med. I’ve lived with it for years. They are working on drugs for cognition + negative symptoms.
I’m 25 and I’m on clozeril and lamictal.
You’re not stupid. For other people you may seem quiet and an introvert which is a normal thing to be. If I were you I would start searching for things to do that I may enjoy and be creative like reading or cooking or even exercising. Activities that don’t involve huge cignition you will start to feel better about yourself. We all have thought that one day but it isn’t true. We were diagnosed with the most misunderstood disease there is and we have to struggle through so chose carefully how you spend your time when and with who to ensure you feel the most confident of yourself even if sleeping is attractive get up and start doing. Keep well.
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i have always been stupid…but hey, i can still make a sandwich or 
!?!
take care 
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You are not stupid. You might feel like it but you’re not. I feel like a retard too sometimes. Especially when I’m heading inte a new episode. Like now. Takes forever to write a post. But I won’t give up. I’ll make it through this too.
I’m on Abilify and Seroquel. Abilify made my mind flexible again. I was a real zombie on Flupentixol.
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i have always been stupid so no change lol
Ok , being schiz with all that brings can be depressing very depressing. I personally find that depression causes serious cognitive problems for me. When im motivated im generally smarter. And to be motivate for me at leaat takes action , to get out and about every day. Your on a drug that is a powerful tranquiliser , so being inactive wont help you , it will make you very tired. Elyn sacks you can google her has done quite well on this drug. Being inactive , if you are , is not going to help you get your spark back. Can you just try and get semi comfortable in social circumstances by gradually reintroducing yourself. Get a cofee in a coffee shop , goto the library , do the odd short course in a local college , nothing too demanding , browsing in shops .
I feel stupid on the meds, my concentration is better off the meds, but if I go off then other bad things happen, so its better to just accept the brain fog! Its not stupidity its just fog.
This is the first comment I have made on this forum and what you had posted caught my immediate attention.
Since my diagnosis a few years ago, I’ve felt the same that you do. I used to be a 4.0 GPA student in college, had a grand social life, and various talents/abilities that I seem to no longer grasp, such as writing extensively, forming simple sentences verbally when talking to others, and even reading as I had once enjoyed. In that sense, I’ve even developed a phobia of talking to people for the fear that they may realize there is something wrong or damaged with me.
However, I hope that you don’t give up in the ways that I have. I am only a year younger than you and due to shame, embarrassment, and self loathing, I took up hiding in my home, lost my college degree, all my friends, family despise me, and having any disorder is considered ‘weakness’ or ‘stupid’ to the people in the community I live in.
I would like to see everyone on this forum succeed; I believe you can, without a doubt.
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This illness can leave us feeling at a low ebb. I do think some people think Im stupid but in truth they don’t understand this illness.
Don’t be so tough on you. You are not stupid, there are times when we struggle in understanding things.
You’re not stupid. I asked my psychiatrist about the same thing. He said, with the illness comes cognitive impairment but no deficit in intelligence. I asked him to explain the cognitive impairment and he said it affects the executive functions of the brain. He tried to explain that by saying that in order to start his car he first has to put his foot on the brake, turn the ignition on, and then push a button. So he said our minds mix up the order of that. It’s hard to understand but according to him, you have the same IQ after the illness as you did before. He said its been proven many times by giving mentally ill people intelligence tests. And no matter how disorganized their minds were during their treatment, they tested with the same IQ as they had before. As a side note, he said, refusing medication treatment leads to mental deterioration. In other words, you might still have the same IQ as you had before but it would be wasted on thinking about delusions and what not.
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Youre not alone in this. 4 yrs ago I was very intelligent guy, and now, because I off clozapine to fast, Im stupid and I must live with this. It`s very hard but I can handle it… for now.
I feel the same way but I make the most of it. I know I’ll never be the same.