I just made an account here, and thought I’d introduce myself. I live in Virginia, am a male, and am 38 years old. Be 39 next month. I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1994, so, what, 21 years ago. Man time has zipped by. Anyway, I am here to try to be more among like-minded people. I isolate a lot, and find socializing very difficult. I also have a very hard time getting what’s in my head “out,” that is to say, it is hard for me to vocalize what I’m saying. I’ve already been slaving over this single post for over 10 minutes and I’m not done. My psychiatrist (who is excellent at what he does), believes that as long as I keep taking my medication, I will likely do well. I won’t become famous or rich overnight or anything, but I can still make out a decent life for myself after getting hit by this crippling disease.
I find writing to be very expressive of what’s on my mind. If you like to journal or write, I’d like to hear from you on how that helps (I am NOT asking you to tell me private things you write about). Just people who need to jot things down when the zoo in the old noodle gets to actin up. I hope to spend more time here. It seems like a decent forum from what I can tell.
As they say in the programming world, “Hello World!”
Welcome to our forums. I think you’ll find most people here are very supportive and helpful.
The social-life challenges are of course very common in schizophrenia - and lots of people here are working to overcome them. The support and interaction here seems to be helpful, people say.
Anyway - welcome and join in and add your thoughts to any of the other topics here!
Thank you for the welcome @SzAdmin. My name is not Virginia though, I am FROM Virginia. No matter, I just didn’t want to have everyone accidentally call me Virginia.
time does fly. welcome to the forum. It’s a very helpful, informative place to be. Anything worthwhile takes time, and that’s how we all heal with time Again welcome
Yes, I agree. “All good things to those who wait,” as they say, is very true. I don’t notice it day to day, or even week to week, but if I look back at a period of time of a month or more, I find that I continue to make progress. I’m all about recovery and overcoming.
The only things I’ve done today are write in my “Hallucination Log,” go to Baskin Robbins, and sign up for this site. I am going to a family function this weekend (which I am dreading), and I’m kinda worried that the conditions I will be staying in will kinda suck.
Hi @mellowyellow and @Patrick! Well, what I’m doing is going to a reunion of a family friend. She is a little, errr, not well, shall we say (my family suspects she is an undiagnosed bipolar patient). The reunion runs Friday through Monday. It’s basically an excuse for everyone to goof off and get drunk. Except me. I never drink. I will be the DD. It’s not that I’m a prude or look down on it, I just prefer for everyone to be safe and enjoy themselves. I don’t derive much pleasure from it, quite honestly. And yes @mellowyellow, I do have a soft spot for NYC in my heart. It’s a zoo, but I have had a lot of good times up there when my family lived on Long Island. Used to go to the Bronx and watch the Yankees all the time as a kid. Ahh yes, me and my poor ole dad.
No, not a euphamism at all. I used to love eating a million bananas as a kid, so much so that my Dad called me “Monkey.” Not the best user name, so I went with bananalover.
No matter, I just didn’t want to have everyone accidentally call me Virginia. 
Again welcome
