I’m surprised there is not more psychological research on this to be honest. Especially since the symptoms of both overlap a lot.
I am becoming very concerned about the fact that I relate to ALL of the negative symptoms that come with schizophrenia. I can’t snap out of them, I can’t stop them from happening automatically. Things like sadness and suicidal thoughts, they have practically gone since I started my SSRI. But I’m wondering why my SSRI hasn’t helped with any negative symptoms… I spend most of my days in bed now and feel exhausted and out of energy. I have inappropriate emotional reactions to stuff. I still barely speak sometimes and withdraw from people.
And I keep having thoughts that my family and friends are just being paid to pretend to be my family and friends. And that there are bad people outside my house employed to hurt me.
Ugh I just don’t know what the ■■■■ is happening to me and no doctors or mental health professionals will take me seriously
Sorry you are struggling so much. I have negative symptoms as well. Hopefully soon, if we hang in there, they will come out with an ap that also treats negative symptoms. I wonder if something off label would work for negatives too.
I have a hard time telling the difference between the negatives and depression also. I keep telling my self as long as I have hope the depression is under control and the rest of it will sort itself out. What SSRI are you on and what’s your dose? How long have you been taking it?
Please learn to train your logical mind. If anybody wanted to hurt you, especially members of your own family, they would have succeeded by now. You are just a young girl, not superman or wonder woman. You would be defenseless if they wanted to hurt you. But nobody means you harm. Nobody.
the depression is usually caused/followed by a strong feeling of guilt and catastrophe.
the depressive symptoms are metaphysically “positive”: you feel these bad symptoms and you complain a lot (check a depression forum).
While the negative symptoms are the purest apathy/void: you don’t feel anything because your willpower, your motivation and your whole personality are vanishing.
My depression (low mood, suicidal thoughts, guilt) has got better but I was just reading through the negative symptoms of schizophrenia earlier and thought wow, that is me, for each symptom.
Not sure if there’s any point mentioning it to the doctor though…
I noticed that anything I considered depression, didn’t exactly go away with an SSRI. Issues such as motivation and apathy for me, as well as anhedonia, didn’t really go away with an SSRI. I did notice my AP helped me out though on those issues. I wonder if all along I had negative symptoms…I never did feel feelings of guilt or sadness, though from time to time I would.
I thought that there wasn’t much point in mentioning the negatives to my pdoc also, but I wrote them down in a note to her and read it to her anyway. Her response was to change my SSRI. On the new SSRI I was actually feeling a little better, not as tired and a little more motivated. When I told her I was still struggling to find the energy to do the things I want to do she added a little more of the SSRI. We do have to be careful with it because I have sza and am prone to hypomania from SSRI’s and too much has made manic, which is always followed by depression. It just gets that pendulum effect going so I’m not stable.
I think it’s worth telling your pdoc, there might be something they can do. Maybe change SSRI or increase it. Or I’ve heard of another medicine they prescribe sometimes similar to an ADHD med, but I forget the name. Maybe that would work for you. I doesn’t hurt to ask.
