I’ve been working in the behavioral health field for about 9 years now. And I was diagnosed with sz about 44 yeasts ago so I have some exience in l this field of sz and recovery. What’s haven’t been able to figure out is why we isolate so much. It was my experience that I preferred sitting around alone in my apartment rather than socializing with friends. This sz does that to us. Some individuals like myself who experience extreme paranoia I suppose we’re just scared of interactions and that we’ll get hurt. What do you think the reason is?
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For me, i used to isolate from social anxiety. I would worry so much about messing up social interactions that i would go out of my way to avoid them. I eventually forced myself to socialize but it took awhile to become comfortable doing it.
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I’m not scared of interactions at all. They exacerbate my symptoms and having to manage socializing and masking and symptom management at the same time burns through my mental energy reserves quickly. I need time alone to recover. I actually rather enjoy paddle boarding or going on a photo shoot with others, but in moderation.
Yep youve hit the nail on the head its fear of socialising and rejection for me from decades of bad paranoid experiences and social awkwardness. I simply dont know how to get over it
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I have like a fear of becoming sz-brand angry which results in making a scene. I avoid that by not going out and not talking to anyone, and in most online spaces not reading replies to my comments. This forum is an exception, I socially fully here.
It’s kind of like being Bruce Banner and trying not to get angry. It’s not that I’d get violent when I am angry though, what I mean is I’m more likely to start behaving in a way that draws attention to myself in an embarrassing way. It sucks but it is what it is. Compared to others I’ve seen I consider myself pretty restrained.
I have had an amazing result socializing with a guild on a MMORPG though, but not without a few snags here and there. Overall though I think I’m doing okay for someone who went 5 years without talking to anyone but family, doctors, and fellow mental ward patients.
I socialize only if I need to with strangers. And I love my friends in small doses. I’m happy when I’m alone. And I never grow tired of being completely alone. It doesn’t have to be because I’m schizophrenic. I’m actually an extreme introvert or recluse.
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Thanks guys for your opinions and feelings!
I isolate because I get disrespected, bullied , invisible restraints , threatened to do stuff against my will , walked all over , suppressed , hated , belittled, violated , lied about , set up , stolen from , excluded , outcast etc
Why would I want to be around people who treat me like that ?
Honestly 
been going on these people don’t deserve me and I don’t even like being on the same foot path as them and their children of arrogance and hate riding their bikes all over one with disrespect .they were born yuck !
I am happy to be around a better people to and for me who treat me with love and respect and kindness and who value me and care for me and include and appreciate me and comfortable together etc
God please surround me with a better people.
There’s a handful true beauts that my oppressors and stealing from me etc don’t own but they sadists and etc own army even to use against unarmed peaceful woman (me)all alone to steal her wings and tentacles of grace and put in a low vibin ugly ones bod to make her feel n seem better than she is
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I want to share my case.
I isolate sometimes but not wayy too often. I avoided (sometimes) my course friends meetings, I felt better when not going there - but sometimes I still went to spend time with my uni friends. Overall, there are days when I just don’t want to talk to anybody (before illness I was very social, I was going to meet my friends everyday, no lie here, I was very communicative teenager and child). But.. even today, with SZ I still like communicating. Idk, sometimes it’s hard for me- but if people are friendly, after few hours of communication I feel more down to earth, more relaxed. It’s just crucial. I repeat in my mind that we people are social beings, we have to talk with each other.
I know if I would totally isolate I would be done, my illness would be worse.
Yeah so I am not a social butterfly anymore but I don’t avoid people.
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With me it’s less a case of deliberately isolating, which I would regard as also cutting off contact with family, and more about not having a wider social network that involves more than just interacting with family members . A large part of that for me is difficulty when it comes to making friends. For me,unlike some here, there were no friends to lose at the onset of severe mental illness. I had no friends. I am ,I reckon, more asocial than average. I’m not however totally asocial. I would get very upset if contact with my ‘chosen family’ was cut off.
Along with the above there is severe social anxiety, and bullying related non bizarre paranoia when it comes to socialising. I have tried socialising F2F with others who have mental illness. It’s been varying degrees of a bad result. I don’t come across well in that short period of time when people assess whether you’re worth knowing more or not.
That is primarily due, IMO, to being a highly intelligent neurodivergent person in a society where most people are neurotypical and of average intelligence. Does that make me a better person? Of course not. I can be a total jerk as much as anyone.
IME most people with a stand alone severe mental illness, are more skilled at socialising than I am.
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