It is easier

DX'd - Other
1

i find it is easier if you don’t remember having a life before this illness.
i see people on here who remember a different time before the sz, when they were normal, they seem to struggle more and i feel for you all.
i personally am gratefull that all i remember is this illness or being mentally ill…it sounds funny but it is true.
take care from the perplexed :alien: and the :bug: bug.

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2

I just think of my SZ as a way of life.
I don’t know any different. Was always a little different due to family life at home, so I felt disconnected from the “normal” kids. Kind of like knowing a bad secret, but not able to tell anyone. Looked normal on the outside, but my mind was in a place, far away from home (thank my lucky stars)

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I have had mental illness over half my life, so I feel used to it, and it doesn’t bother me much, as I am usually on top of it and coping ok. I can’t imagine my life without sz, because it has been a part of me for years, and shaped who I became. Its been both a blessing and a curse.

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4

I sometimes think I have it easier as well. Some of the people I’ve seen in my support group deeply lament the life they had before.

I didn’t have an identity to loose. I was born hyper and scattered and out of step with life.

I’m glad I’m not the only one.

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I sometimes feel like I’ve lost my life. The life I had before. I’m not the same person anymore. I can’t do the same things. I function somewhat ok atm, even though I’m pre psychotic, but I have a grip of reality. I’m terrified of losing it again. I don’t know if I can keep my job if I do. I love my job. I don’t know if I get more brain damage if I go psychotic again. It took me two years to recover enough to work. I don’t know if I can do that again. It was a very tough time to learn everything again.

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6

when you describe yourself you could be describing my life…thank goodness we both had big imaginations.
take care from :alien: and hugs from jedi :rabbit: bunny.

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7

that is a good outlook, that how i look at it as well just going with the flow of things

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I look at my life like "Before…and after. I have good and bad memories of “Before”.
And I have good and bad memories of “after”.

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9

To me, I was always sickly. So, there is no better place than the present.

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10

A big Squeezy hug back for the jedi bunny!:sparkles::star2::star::stars:

If I had to pick one of the most important things to survive in this life, I’d pick (my) imagination
The biggest plus? It can’t ever be taken away.

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11

I would keep my good memory before sz aside, and collect the good memory after sz altogether.
As for the bad memory (after sz), just blame the illness.

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12

But there are advantages that some people who had their onset after a normal life encounter such as employment. Dwelling is true because you basically lost your life to a grey one but you can still function well based on the skills you have learnt before. Even people who had sz their entire lives can learn new skills but it’s easier for those who were diagnosed at a later stage of their lives.

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13

I say to myself: If you really want to get well, keep mental illness at its place. Mental illness has been part of my life, it ain’t my life! After all, everyone here knows how to use computer and access the Internet, speaking and writing English, and perhaps each of you have different approach to deal with and understand the schizophrenia better. Look, computer and schizophrenia are already two different subjects, so our lives aren’t all about mental illness. Take different approach, live different lifestyle, and get as healthy as possible.

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14

I don’t remember a life before, I guess that’s a good thing.

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15

It does seem easier if you don’t remember your life before the illness. I find it hard because I remember life before the illness and it was better not perfect but better.

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16

I suffered from awful panic attacks as a kid and throughout my teen years and more. I always had mood symptoms and depression before I got full blown BP/SZ.
I was never ‘normal’ before the big illness - always had paranoia/fears/depression/panic/anxiety and agoraphobia

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17

Well, if we can do away with the terms Sz and illness, there is no time in my life I have not had the experiences associated with it, that means as a child too. So I would not know what life was like before anything…what I do know is I attempted to fit into the normal world with dreadful results. that is, working a job, socializing, being in a family…but everything was so superficial.
Almost as soon as i started revealing my deeper beliefs I was considered a freak…
I would often escape to the wilderness where i would talk to things in nature, communicate with wild animals, commune with the spirits, get messages, and lay under the stars hoping to see a spaceship or get an alien revelation.
While the city and its materialistic shallow human lifestyles got me down and made me anxious, going into the wilderness and experiencing what I did gave me peace and usually lasted for a few days in the city until it was time to flee the artificial plastic civilization again for the peace of the forest and maybe a few like minded people, usually natives who also understood the deeper things and wouldn’t judge me craze…

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