So I’ve recently hit a phase of a cycling and general direction to relapse… it’ll never be like that first time I really can’t entertain 98% of the stuff my mind had floating around in it before I had my first break. I still get delusional and wrapped up, trying to understand that which isn’t even real. But I’ve jsut found some new tactic and I need to write them out… they might help. I’ve had this illness for about 3 years now and it’s taking me this long to gather these… so any newly diagnosed or those worried of being diagnosed… allow me to share…
This shall pass: (Thanks @sarad)
Good and bad… the mind is amazing and can pull through… don’t be drastic in bad times things will always get better, it might only be relatively better, but better all the same.
Recovery is a full time job: (Group therapy instructor)
This could be extended to health in general. Always be as mindful as you can about what you are putting in your body and try to track your mental cycles… for me caffeine leaves me wired and prone to entertain delusion… i typically only drink it when I have no social contact around. This leads me to my next point…
Simplify your chemistry (Cut out the drugs and external neuro-chemicals):
Regarding alcohol I’m not strict. Alcohol isn’t a neurotransmitter itself, its a blood thinner which safely chokes the brain a bit creating an altered state. Nicotine and marijuana and god forbid any other drug… they gotta go. Caffeine isn’t good for an erratic mind either, but just like alcohol I’m lax with it too. Life isn’t about having a good time any more… you have a mental illness it’s time to grow up and get stable. (this one takes a lot of effort and learning to live without these things, find people on the same path MI or not… they will work with you and not against you.)
It’s not real:
Obviously, we’re on a rock revolving around a star… we don’t know much else and not much else needs to be known… Live well… that’s the ultimate goal… Telepathy, aliens, multiple dimensions… yadda yadda… not real in the slightest no confirmation ever existed… its just the collective humanity’s psuedo schizophrenic tendencies that keep that stuff alive…
Get out of the house for an hour or more a day. (new one for me):
Psychosis… it is neuroplastic(based on changeable neural pathways)… sz will tell you voices change and come and go… Sitting in one environment (even though it feels safer) will allow psychosis to really set in especially if the psychosis is the mental focus even in the background… Mix it up… go outside and get a fresh perspective… take a walk, visit a friend, remind yourself of what is real.
Neuroplasticity & Meds:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and neuroplasticity go hand in hand… brain training in essence… imagine how you want your brain to be and work to embody it by entertaining it and falling back to that image. Medications are also a great way to control chemical balances and cycling issues… These two combined can allow a great many of us to return to comfortably functional lives, with freedom from torment.
If you have a symptom… talk about it:
Especially on here… detail it as best as you can and ask if anyone has struggled with or overcome said symptom(s). It took me 3 years before I finally started hearing about people that totally got the reigns on “thought broadcasting” which is my primary symptom…
Here are some helpful terms:
Ideas of reference: When you believe something is referring to you.
Ideas of control: When you feel like someone is controlling you
Thought insertion: you feel like your thoughts are be created by someone else
Stereotypy: Nervous repetitive ticks typical to autism and disorganized SZ (hebephrenia).
Delusion: A belief that lies far outside normal thinking… typically not hypothetical exploration.
Delusions of grandeur: Thinking you are special or even god endowed or a god yourself… (no one is special)
Hallucinations:
Tactile - physically feeling things that aren’t there… temperature changes included
Visual - seeing things ** (that aren’t there)
Auditory - Hearing things **
Inner audio(my word) - Hearing things that are clearly perceived as being heard with the head and not ears
Vocies - thoughts or “inner audio” that you do not control
Olfactory - smelling things **
People have gotten over just about every symptom of this illness… maybe not the whole illness itself… we all get hung up on this or that… but each symptom… it has been overcome by thousands if not millions… If you just can get around it… don’t be discouraged… like I said we all run into those issues we are at a loss for… which leads me to my last point…
Don’t give up:
Rest when you need too… but keep fighting and be patient… you have decades to slowly reverse the bad ends… and if you are diligent… like a lot of the older folks here were… you’ll find that you;ve figured out how to live right and well and the illness is hardly a factor in your life anymore (at least I hope).
It might be hell for 20 years… but after that you might have 20 normal ass years which is a total bliss for anyone with psychosis.
There are others… but they are more minor…
Don’t panic & don’t hurt yourself
this community is loving and forgiving… join us as we fight this, we are the only ones who know how.
