Lack of personality and intelligence due to schizophrenia

Has anyone felt like they lost some personality and intelligence due to schizophrenia? I certainly have.

My personality really changed when I went catatonic for awhile, then my negative symptoms also changed it in much the same way. I used to be a funny, happy kid with many interests. Now, though, I have become somber, less talkative by a whole lot, and scared. It was pretty noticeable at school when all my friends asked if I was taking drugs because I was so different from what I used to be. I practically lost my personality, ripped away by schizophrenia.

And as for intelligence, I was barely able to finish school because of my lack of credits to graduate, and I just feel slowed down. My concentration and focus has been abolished, and my memory is super, super poor compared to what I use to have. For example, I’m really interested in economics, history, and politics and often read many books and articles about those subjects. So I was reading Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell, which is a pretty simple explanation about economics, and I for the life of me can’t seem to learn very much. I have to reread pages twice before I can graspe the subject matter, which was something that I used to be good at.

I was wondering if others had similar experiences with this. I remember I used to want to be a attorney, but now I don’t know if I could survive community college. This has really been bothering me lately.

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what meds are you on ?

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I am the same way, my university grades went from 90+% to 50%, I still graduated but can’t do a master due to low grades now. I also have catatonia, luckily antipsychotics stops it for me.
I wanted to transfer to medschool as my grades in first semester allowed it but I needed at least 2 semesters with labs 85+% and sz hit me end of 1st semester.

I tell myself even thought sz suppressed my personality, at least I don’t have a bad personality. I see many ppl with no mental illness who have very bad and antisocial/psychopathic personalites. I feel better than them even if I have sz. :grinning:

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Risperdal 4mg, zoloft 200mg, buspar 30mg, and Hydroxyzine 150mg. These issues were well before medication, though.

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Antidepressants only made me worse and didn’t help with negative symptoms at all.

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It helps with my OCD and anxiety, plus it helped with my anorexia when I had it.

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That’s great, I don’t have these, only severe negative and moderate cognitive symptoms.

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Yeah it bothers me also, it’s like mania increased my personality or something, and then it went away

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My last psychotic episodes in 2016 did a lot of damage.
I’m a lot less sharp.

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Were all human, even when people have little intelligence or personality, or a awful dx given. We all dont need to movie actors or famous surgeons, though it seems we all want to be. I mean do it if its doable, if its not its not

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Can you ever recover from this?

Hopefully I’ll recover if I don’t get another psychotic episode.
It may take some time.

i think with suitable/proper medications most likely u can get your ability back , though it may not be 100%, but maybe 60-70%

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What if your abilities were never that good or you think you were misdiagnosed because the meds dont work and never worked?

My grades were never the best, but they were fine enough. I hardly ever got a D and a F, but at the end they were common. I don’t think I was misdiagnosed at all. If anything, this could just be a phase.

The medication helped with my positive symptoms a lot also.

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Still think it could be placebo effect.

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I have avolition apathy and can’t focus for long :frowning:

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