Negative Sx or Depression - How Do You Know?

DX'd - Sz/SzA
1

Lack of drive - difficult to force myself to shower and shave and trim nails, difficult to motivate to put on clean clothes, etc, difficult to motivate myself to do chores and go to appointments
Lack of pleasure - normal things that I’ve enjoyed in the past aren’t enjoyable anymore, such as food, sex, music, driving, etc.
Sleep disturbance - some days no sleep, some days sleep all day
Difficulty concentrating

How do I, or how does my doctor, know whether these are symptoms of depression or negative symptoms of Schizophrenia?

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I have the same problems you have @Sooner88.
Lack of Motivation, lack of Pleasure etc…
I have been trying to figure it all out myself and it’s almost impossible to pinpoint.

For me the Risperidone zaps a lot of my energy but I have lack of pleasure also.

Maybe it’s a combination of depression, the meds, and Negative Symptoms.

Frankly my psychiatrist is more concerned with treating the Positive Symptoms.

She seems indifferent towards my Negative Symptoms.

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if they go away when you take an anti depressant than it was depression

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Also, depressed people often have depressing thoughts, sadness, even suicidality. Those with negative symptoms on the other hand don’t usually deal with dark thoughts.

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I have suicidal thoughts/self harming thoughts but it’s because I’m in such pain from the voices. That’s not depression.

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For me it’s the combination of all three.
I can’t take Antidepressants.
They will make me Manic and Psychotic.

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What about mood stabilizers? Are they of any help ?

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I’m on a mood stabilizer now - Depakote.
It is helping with depression a little bit but it’s also sedating so it doesn’t help with motivation.

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I see yah… negs are a tough nut to crack…

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@Sooner88

This is a difficult question. First, comorbidity is possible. A flat affect and an inability to express what one does find pleasure in may lead a pdoc to diagnose negative symptoms of schizophrenia rather than major depression.

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I always seen it this way - when it’s negative symptoms of sz one doesn’t feel extreme emotions but rather feels nothing - dead. With depression one feels strong emotions. But a pdoc needs to do a thorough examination as its tricky.

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Well in my case my dx is SzA so I mean it could be depressive or negative, doesn’t really matter I guess. What I’ve had recently is a lot of back and forth where I’ll be sort of numb and then I’ll be very agitated to the point I snap and yell at people over very small things. Not sure what that means!

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@Sooner88

It could be many things, but we all know that snapping and yelling at people is not good. You’re expressing your emotions, so maybe there’s a way to get those emotions out in a way that doesn’t emotionally hurt people. Writing? Punching bag? Exercise? Music? You tell me.

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