My dr said that if you admit the voices are not real than you’re not schizophrenic. True or false?
I think you should change doctor really…
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He’s just implying insight gives you a step ahead against schizophrenia.
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It is sort of true, if the voices were your only symptom and you knew they were not real then you would not be diagnosed with schizophrenia.
But you can be diagnosed with schizophrenia if you just have negative symptoms and delusions.
People who know there voices are not real often have pseudo hallucinations, which means that the voices come from inside the head and not from outside.
You can have schizophrenia and have enough insight to know the voices are not real.
Your doctor is wrong.
professionals who don’t understand how psychosis works…
Individuals can have varying levels of insight. On the severe end of the psychosis spectrum there is no insight. These people typically live most of their lives in and out of the hospital. On the other end are people with high insight. It can fluctuate depending on if you’re in an episode or not. Most people on this site (ie everyone on here because someone with no insight wouldn’t be on a schizophrenia board) have some level of insight, so unless everyone here is just “faking” their diagnosis…
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People who have schizophrenia have much more insight in their illness now, that people did years ago because of the internet.
If you watch people with schizophrenia who make YouTube videos about their illness, most of them have very good insight about how schizophrenia affects them.
Some doctors aren’t experienced with psychotic disorders. Those doctors tend to think schizophrenics only come in the low-functioning model. Does your doctor specialize in dealing with psychosis? If not, it might be time to ask to be referred to someone who does.
Doctors do not now much about schizophrenia, my official diagnosis by the psychiatrist is, Psychosis NOS.
What is that supposed to mean?
psychosis NOS is a stepping stone to diagnosis.
It can be from genetics, drugs and some other weird medical complaints.
Most schizophrenics are changing in their diagnosis. It’s just the way of the world and the progression of your symptoms under medication.
For example. Here in Australia I’m diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. In America when I lived there for two years in the noughties …I was sz affective.
It’s just the way we are diagnosed and the framework medically behind it. I tend to think that most Americans diagnose sz affective way too much. Here in Australia I agree with my diagnosis. I have a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia with concurrent major depression.
Your told different things but the medications and taking them are the same.
A friend in the struggle,
rogueone.