My brain is best described as a 1st class orchestra conducted by a drunken, third rate, conductor. That’s always been how things are. It’s not a ‘on developing severe mental illness’ thing. There’s been very little clinical recognition, and even less help and support for it. Although not schizoid or schizotypal - I definitely fit into the ‘smart cookie with significant problems’ category. It’s certainly been more disabling than any positive or negative symptoms.
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hell yes it’s a disability…I can’t concentrate or read books anymore due to brain damage from psychosis…I also can’t sit still for long periods of time, which is why I don’t watch t.v.
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Love that drunken conductor analogy! So cool!
Well said @Schztuna
TY for this
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It different from person to person and age.
As years go by it gets easier, but there is a catch…
When you are young,you try different meds,struggle with sexuality, trying meds.
In 40’s you already know your meds that suit you,and hormones aren’t that wild…
I’m 51 and I have my meds,done good jobs,and only thing that is more difficult is simple aging.Meds keep you stable,but you need glasses more than before…
So in short you might fight getting old…
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Adapting to a disability doesn’t negate it.
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It’s a significant enough barrier to put at a disadvantage to what typical people deal with in terms of effects
I work but there have been many illness related reasons that my career got torched to the ground and I had to start over
Same with life
Just because you found a way to manage doesn’t mean that you are not disabled
If you can’t walk you use a wheelchair. You can get around but you still can’t walk on your own without it
Same for us. Stop taking major tranquillisers and descend back into madness. The medicine is our wheelchair
Think how much it cost them to lock us all up in the past
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I am mostly not handicapped by my disabilities.
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Yes it’s a disability. I worked every day showed up never late or sick for 8 years. Now I can barely do anything.
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We don’t think to overcome it. Surrender to the medicine. Sz is a mind related disease, so answers come in mind. We actually will have to try it. By trial and error method, some of the hope generates.
For the country like ours, where not any disability money. We are doing our life. Me is the exception case.
My life becomes good enough with very little medicine. My psychiatrist doctor understand and honour me. My family progressing but you know their behaviour are not good for me. But they care and me too.
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It’s a mental impairment not a physical impairment. So I’d class it as disability. Although lots of schizophrenics cope well on medication.
yes, I agree with this 100 percent I also can’t concentrate or focus long enough to read books but some tv I can concentrate on go figure if it interests me and I consider schizophrenia a Disability as well I haven’t worked in years since I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Been getting SSI since I was in my 20s.Can’t work due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks when dealing with people feels like the walls are closing in and I have to leave right away when I do have to talk or interact with people so working is absolutely not an option for me.
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I can’t jog or run. Not enough circulation. I discovered that paddling a kayak or board is my sweet spot because I can push hard and have that exhilaration without crashing. So I’m not doing anything I can’t because the heart disability is a hard limit, but I’ve found a new way to push hard within my limits and experience joy doing it.
Tried that, wound up so medicated I had no life. Now I use just enough medication to maintain insight and a holistic approach to manage the rest of my SZ and health problems. It’s working for me.
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This is just straight up science denial. If your illness doesn’t really affect you that much you’re extremely lucky.
When I was with early intervention in psychosis they were full of extremely positive attitudes. While Im sure it is beneficial to some, a few years later I came to realise that whole attitude of “you can achieve anything” is a dishonest false premise and actually makes patients like me feel way worse for not being able to achieve what we want.
Of course trying to achieve things that are important to you is good, but pretending that there is nothing standing in your way in your way despite having a very serious medical condition is just a recipe for disaster.
Pretending that you are just as able bodied/minded as those without this condition is unlikely to actually help you as an individual. Things like patience, self forgiveness etc are much stronger tools.
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I concur with you, @simpjeff1. Once I labeled myself as disabled back when the illness was diagnosed, I closed my mind to several possibilities, opportunities, and mindsets. Ultimately, labeling yourself is not conducive to any real gain, and is antithetical to improving the condition. As a general rule, I see myself just like anyone else, but I experience a trial in life, like we all do in this mortal sphere. I am not unique. And I think once we stop trying to find ourselves to be “unique” or “different”, we can more adequately allow ourselves to work and conquer our afflictions. Tribulations aren’t new to the human condition, and I want to express my view that we all have some sort of trial in this life.
But I suppose this is abhorrent to the ideologies of the victimhood culture. It’s where they want to personally label everyone as oppressed and under the tyrannical, draconian influence of their oppressors. Once we stop seeing ourselves as victims, we can accept life as it is, and as it ever was, a test to gain knowledge and help our fellow man.
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Haha! That was funny.
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The problem is that I am very different. I have discovered that I come at things sideways to most people. Makes me valuable in some situations and others not so much. My heart condition is so unique it’s hard to find a doctor who can treat it. Apparently most other folks don’t see music like I do. And yes, I do mean I “see” music when I listen to it. I see everything I hear. You probably don’t.
That makes me unique. Just like you.
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I don’t like labeling myself as being crazy. I don’t think I am crazy. It is different than labeling yourself to be disabled. I don’t think about being disabled very much because it might affect my self image. I don’t like it when people say normies…. It affects my self image. It might be just me.
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A simple question for you all. How would you be doing without the medication? IMO being the best you can be with sz/sz-a requires a combo of medication adherence and a good mindset. Those requirements make sz/sz-a a disability, IMO. In my case I wasn’t anti meds, but I was forgetful about meds. Switching to a depot fixed that problem . As for having a good mindset; mine has improved with age but is not as good as it should be.
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I would say it is a disability. I can’t live independently, I don’t control my money. I’m forced to take antipsychotic injections every 4 weeks. But I like routine and stability taking antipsychotics because my mind is clear without voices and constant delusions that I get lost in and I’m out of hospital which is a big bonus.
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