Hello everyone. I am a diagnosed and medicated schizophrenic, recovering alcoholic, I work and live independently. A lot of my time is consumed with volunteer organizations Im involved with, and these are things that bring me joy and pride. Lately though, Ive been running out of steam. To work, to stay sober, to exist among the masses, to be an uncle and a friend. My disease has been getting worse with age, and the voices have been becoming more violent and disruptive due to stress, which is getting in the way of my volunteer work. To any of you who work and engage in many time consuming activities that involve the general population, how do you manage your illness and stay motivated to be a part of the world? It feels like every new thing I fall in love with and put my time into, its just another jenga block being pulled from my tower of sanity. I typically come to this board for advice, and I am asking again politely for any advice. Thanks.
Whatever else happens, stay sober. Other mistakes can be corrected, but not staying sober could become permanent.
Cheers mate. I’m someone with SZ who works, volunteers, etc., and I have ongoing positive symptoms. Here’s what I have on short notice as I am still at work…
- If you’re not in a 12 Step program, please consider it. You don’t have to be religious to attend and they can give you some tools that help manage problems that will affect your SZ in addition to keeping you sober. Saying this as someone sober over 32 years in AA.
- Stress management. It’s critical. Avoid stuff that winds you up. For example, I no longer watch the news AT ALL. I have stopped visiting with people who annoy me. Anything that ups my stress level is cut out of my life when I can.
- Therapy will also help reduce stress. As your stress goes down your positive symptoms will go down and your insight will improve. Finding coping strategies for your stress is the biggest bang for your buck treatment wise. If you can’t find or afford a therapist, I can recommend therapy workbooks on Amazon that have been very helpful for me.
Hope this helps.
Staying positive mindset, looking on the bright side, volunteering with the goal of satisfaction to be make someone’s day better and brighter. These things all help. It is a struggle, but the less we focus on the difficulties and concentrate on the little positives, it can slowly turn around.
Maybe pdoc needs to adjust your meds too
Someone once told me, focus on what you have achieved, not what you don’t have
Definitely what I needed to hear today! Ive been neglecting meetings after having to cut ties with the practice where my SMART Recovery group was held, I can no longer be in the group. Im so stubborn about sticking to the SMART model because I feel it really encompasses how to keep yourself going with a co-occurring addiction disorder, but 12 Step is so much easier to find in-person meetings. I’ll wind up giving it a shot when I have free time. Ive got a new “peer advocate”, so at least I have some one on one recovery talk, but I miss the community I found going to in-person meetings. It feels easier to hold yourself accountable when you have to actually be there rather than just hopping on Zoom. Thanks for the reply 
Ive come to the med adjustment conclusion as well. Serotonin syndrome be damned, Ive found a combination of meds that work for me. But I think a raise of my antipsychotic might be what I need. Its always such a hassle to fiddle with my medications, I have the tendency to downplay a lot of my symptoms which just winds up biting me in the butt. I am working with my therapist to stop fixating on my brain nonsense, sometimes I just get stuck in a rut and start spiraling when comparing myself to my peers in my organizations who dont have this illness. Also working with the therapist to stop putting myself up against my peers. My poor self image is very deep rooted, but I need to put more work into getting out of my own head! Thanks for the response, this was a reminder to ask my psychiatrist to raise my Zyprexa again.
Ive had a few benders over the past few months, but after my last one Ive realized that I need to stay on this track for the sake of my health, both mental and physical. I hold on to the belief that in time it will get easier. When I first got out of detox, I got to 90 days. And I felt good. At the time I was experiencing abuse, but my sobriety was what i clung to. I’d like to get back to that point again, Im slowly getting there. One day at a time, as the saying goes… hope you are doing well today !
Please PM me if you need to. Always okay with chatting with other program members.
Welcome to the forum!
Congratulations on remaining sober!
That’s a good way to put it, and you’re right it is important to be honest with yourself and the doc.
To me it feels like layers are being unfolded and I keep having to readjust with it.
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