Newly Diagnosed, not sure what to say or do now

DX'd - Other
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Wow, I never thought this would be something I write to anyone about, but I guess there’s a first time for everything…

Since I was little I’d always heard voices. They were always very quiet though, like someone kind of whispering your name. I’d always been told everyone mistakenly hears their name being called so I thought nothing of it and my parents dismissed it altogether with some story about how I’m the daughter of God and that everything’s fine.

Well… Around twelve those friendly whispers got louder. And it started getting me in trouble. I’d sit in class and yell at someone to shut up, only to find out no one was actually speaking and the teacher would punish me by making me sit with them at lunch or something of the sort. So where I once told people about my problems, I spent years with my head down at the desk in tears because the voices won’t quiet down, and if I told someone or reacted to them - punishments ensued.

My parents finally listened to me and got me help about three weeks ago, when voices turned into a physical form. It was late at night and I was on my laptop. I looked out the window and saw someone staring back at me. At first I thought it was my television’s reflection on the glass and paid it no mind. No biggie, right? But that face got closer to the glass and that familiar voice started shouting at me. I was…well…absolutely terrified. I ran out of my room and that figure followed me into the living room. I was screaming and hiding behind things, and I was honestly ready to grab a knife and run out there to scare them away. They were saying things I wouldn’t say to my worst enemy…

A week and another episode later, I was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. I haven’t left the house since then… I honestly have no idea what to do… They said they don’t yet want to put me on medication, and I’ve been told to keep a journal to write in it every time I hear things or have a delusion. It’s just… This to me is terrifying. For years I’ve been told it’s nothing and all of a sudden I’m noted as clinically insane. How do you cope with it…? What changes do you make? How do you live with this your entire life? My parents act strangely around me now, I have no idea how to tell my friends about this… Just… What do I do?

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With the right medication you will feel much better. Make sure your treatment works for you, and that can sometimes take time as everyone is different. When you first start it can take some time to get adjusted so be patient. Your parents are scared for you. Talk with them about this and they will be there for you. With the right treatment it will not be like a lifetime sentence, recovery is possible. Its important to have a dr. that will work with and change medicine when you need to move on to another. You can wait to tell your freinds until you are doing better, and you don’t have to tell them then.

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thought i would say hi,
this is a supportive site…the voices/visuals can not hurt you, yes they are annoying…i’ve been doing this like the others on here for quite a while, since a child…you do get used to it.
know that you are not alone in this, people on here care…keep posting…
reading other posts will help you to understand, like the family section, unusual beliefs etc…
take care
p.s there is nothing to be afraid of…this is your mind …you can learn to control it.

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You have to remember that you’re the same person you were before you got diagnosed. The only thing that changed is a stupid psychiatric label that nobody needs to know about (unless you want them to). With time, the meds will make it better and you will also develop adaptations for dealing with it. It first, it kinda sucks, but everything is hardest in the beginning. Never give up or let it controlled your life.

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I responded to another post, and I feel that post would be apt here too. I was reading down through my “family tree history” and I came across loads of interesting things about people in my family from years ago. It made me think, schizophrenia has got to be a very very interesting thing for people to hear about me. In truth there could not possibly be a more interesting illness to afflict the person. Schizophrenia will probably be the most interesting thing that will ever be said about me in my life and Im sure when people read my family tree in 100 years time, schizophrenia will stand out, riase a few eyebrows maybe.

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Dear -

Do understand some folks who hear the voices will follow orders from the voices in order to be okay - like stalk new victims to harass them about something private, trespass, vandalize, date specific person with intention of abuse, use their work to harm customers, harass/scheme coworkers…This is called gang stalking or cause stalking. You need to be aware of this coping strategy of some closet schizos and google it, read up. Some of the stories are confused and some are well stated.

Next, psych doctors will not help you with this. They call it delusional and refuse to assist. Delusional only means “I won’t discuss this” and takes the victims from confused to insane when strangers start to bother them. We will call this ‘social problems’ of schizo…This policy of psych care is murder and fraud but the policy stands without any challenge from govt. What this means to you? You cannot show any anger or frustration with your mental care staff or you will be forced into the mental hospital at your own expense for month sometimes…If you don’t like your care, switch doctors.

Teachers, employers, church members, social group peoples will gang stalk and as a female, sometimes they only want to use you for sexual needs and do not care what they do to you. This is another terrible discovery of the world and another tool to use to make things harder for women…As you age, I would recommend you not give out a last name or email containing your name or a website username someone could google to limit unwanted attention.

Worst of the ‘social problems’ of schizo are gangs as I mentioned but these gangs are frequently well-to-do families with a family history of sexual abuse…These kind will try WAY too hard to make friends, tell too many stories with too much content missing to be possible (until the terrible part of the story is disclosed to you) and these kind will brag about illegal activity. If you had anyone making threats in your presence prior to the voices starting, you have the wrong people in your church or school. If you are new to town or school, these kind will try to give you mental problems to harm you…You have to quit talking to these, do not return emails, calls or even answer the door…You cannot talk to any of their friends. Some of the psych care is telling victims showing PTSD symptoms of flashbacks to violent stories on only just the topic of one family or group of people that their memories are false and telling the victim to return to the topic of the memories…This got some girl on this board sexually assaulted and the psych doctor claimed her to be incompetent so the cops refused to press charges leaving this poor lady harassed in public all the time by her abuser. If you are in a school or church with a similar situation, I strongly recommend you ask your parents to change your location like use online school or change churches…If you have to remain in the same school, I would NEVER attend any of the social events except in the company of trusted friends and NEVER any of the drinking events because this is where things will get out of hand. If you do not discuss this group’s problems, sometimes your own psychiatric symptoms will get better if you NEVER talk to yourself aloud or follow orders from the voices. I would stick my head in a book and get a scholarship to a school outside the area…You will survive this.

College professors will mistreat people who got mental care and sometimes the Disability Support Services department is not available as the new policy of mental care doctors is to discredit a patient new to the area and doctor instead of intervene to protect your GPA and class success. Get a doctors’ note from your previous mental care before you move to go to school…Also try to take 2-3 classes online paying cash before you get a Federal Student Loan for classes because if the instructor mistreats you resulting in a drop or class failure, you will be required to pay back loans immediately.

Some people will approach a person they want to date with a piece of information private to the you…Many of these persons are VERY abusive as they will follow orders from the voices without any consideration to what will happen to you including battery, financial ruin, cheating abuse…I strongly recommended you stick to old friends for dating purposes (using Facebook) or wait a long time to see if the person is acting crazy (gang stalking) before you date.

Things will get better…Realizing this crap is the REAL situation in the world is the hardest part. Understanding what is wrong with a lot of other people (gang/cause stalking) is second hardest. Keeping yourself okay is easier if you realize it all…

With the psych meds, I strongly recommend you stay away from the white carbs/potato/sugar cravings and only eat 3 times daily with protein, vegetables, dairy and fruit to keep the weight gain under control. Understand a lot of doctors are still prescribing risperdal consta without explaining bad side effects like menstrual stoppage, lactation and frigidity in female and breast development, lactation and erectile dysfunction in males plus irritable bowl syndrome…Seroquel is a nice drug choice to be cut up and taken at night time to assist with insomnia if you get no other result from the other anti-psychotics…I recommend you work back into your previous workout choices to keep the depression away and consider yoga for mind/body/anxiety control…You may like NAMI support groups or your local day program for friend possibilities but do not give into the group demands for illegal activities if any exist as it will ruin all your potential to work successfully/self support financially if you get into legal problems.

I gave up Christian faith after being used for labor so many times but demands for money, time, service never satisfied, then group took to verbally harassing me in front of pastor/other parishioners without comments. I also gave up on voting (although you need to keep your driver’s license and voter registration card addresses current or some have been served with arrest warrant for not showing for jury duty)…this is local torture for someone who moved a lot of times due to whatever. Too much of politics is shady deals, smoke/mirrors, fraud, financial fraud and no way a person could EVER make an informed decision about a candidate so no need to waste my time. This is how I am okay…I’m 40 yo…I’ve heard the voices for 10 years now without relief from the meds after meeting a wealthy woman who said she was going to let her sex abuser screw my brain out…I worked for 15 years before the nervous break and continued to work part-time, go to school and live alone after nervous break. I have relationships and friends…plus met a lot of screwed up folks.

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I wanted to tell people about my illness,I am a immature person so my parent doesn’t trust that I can take care of myself and they are probably right…I am immature mostly because of this illness where it makes me miss big part of my early 20s where I isolate myself alot,but luckily now I am functioning better

I cannot understand why my parent told me not to tell others about the illness but I feel they had their very good reason which is why I obeyed.Up till now feel people know about my illness,but I think no secrets can be kept forever…luckily I had my family and now I think I will make some friends to keep me mentally healthier

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In my opinion, they should have put you on medication immediately. I think that the trauma of hallucinations can cause a lot of damage.

Once you are able to cope with what’s happening (probably after you stabilize on the proper medication and have been in therapy for a while) you will be okay. You will find new ways to accept the world and yourself. You will understand your limitations. Don’t be too hard on yourself!

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Hi Melancholic,

Welcome to our forums. Yes - its scary to first be diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia - but its a common illness (1 out of every 100 people have it - so there are many others in your community with the same problem) - and there are good and proven ways to help yourself get better. There are many people here with a lot of good experience. I also encourage you to watch videos about Elyn Saks and her recovery - they are inspirational for a lot of people here. I’m sure many others here will help you as you need questions answered and need some feedback - we have a great community of people here.

We hope you’ll stay and contribute and participate as you move forward with your treatment and recovery.

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How old are you today? For females the average age of onset is a little higher…but thats just the average. Medication is how life with schizophrenia is possible. I take my medication and do very well in school and am training for a powerlifting competition later this year. Side effects are a problem, but they can also be treated with more medications or just caffeine (sedation and restless legs are my side effects…funny combination of shitty things). My antipsychotic really works, I am a different person that before I took 120mg of Geodon (Ziprasidone) every day.

You can recover to an astonishing degree, function very highly and live a normal life. It is totally possible. I live a normal life. I have friends, I do well in school, I date people, I can go out in public and people would not look at me and think “schizo”. But before medication I reeked of mental illness and hardly functioned, I was an alcoholic. I did well in school but I drank an obscene amount of liquor and skipped class very frequently. I was asocial except for my drinking buddies.

Here’s what to do- do exactly what the doctors say. They are professionals and are there to help you. It is their job to fix you, you just need to trust them. I didnt trust mine for a long time and when I finally did, I quickly improved, I entered remission in less than a year.

There is no cure. I take summers off school to relax and lift weights. I have a 3.9 but it drains me every semester and I have to take time off to recover psychologically. My medications work well but they cause sedation, which makes me drink lots of caffeine or I just fall asleep for a few hours, and I sometimes experience some symptoms. I have a bad day every once in a while. Medications must be taken on schedule no matter what, and the newer ones must be taken with plenty of food, a complete meal, sometimes even twice a day, like mine. But they work and permit me to have a life worth living.

I hope you continue to stay strong and comply with the professionals. You sound like you have a good treatment plan.

But medication is the only lifesaver out there. Im a psychology major and hardly anyone ever has passed as normal or been healthy without medication for schizophrenia. The very few you read about were under care (John Nash, Elyn Saks) and were exceptions for good reasons. Nash was permitted to hangout in the library at Princeton for years and his wife took care of him, Saks had a psychoanalyst see her twice a week…both of those are extremely special privileges…Elyn Saks got on meds later and is on them right now, in her office on a high dose of Zyprexa. John Nash just outlived his schizophrenia. For some people the illness fades away with old age.

Dont be scared. You have already been strong. You are getting help and that is all you can do. When you tell your friends about it, you will find out who is a true friend or not.

And one other thing- this illness is a good reason to be selfish. If something or someone upsets you, get them out of your life. Our minds are strong, but our brains are fragile. We can have willpower to endure symptoms but our brains will produce them when stressed. Live the right life for you. Whether that means being very ambitious or less ambitious than average, whatever keeps you stable and happy.

Good luck, trust your doctors, and stay strong. I would like to see what your situation is in the next couple or few weeks. I am quite sure they are going to start you on a medication. Post which med they put you on in the medications section on this forum and people will tell you what their experience with the drug was- some might be taking it and doing well, some might report it making them worse, but you will be able to make some conclusions from what everyone says about it.

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I agree with trigger, they should be getting you started on medicine immediately. Also, feel free to ask any more questions. I am a mother and that is why I say to focus on treatment. My son’s diagnosis has changed many times, but the first doctor said it doesn’t matter because the medicine is the same for schizophrenia as bipolar. He’s right. It took my son alot of trial and error and 4 years to find the right medicine, but he had given up on the treatment, no meds, and gotten alot worse. Early treatment is very important.

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Welcome to the forums! I’m a long time member who has recently come back after a posting hiatus. Won’t comment on the specifics of your situation since it sounds like you’ve got some pretty good supports in place.

I know the diagnosis sounds horrible, but it’s just a label. You’re the same person this week that you were last week and last year. You will come to realize this soon enough. So will your parents, I’m sure.

If it helps any, I’m male, in my mid-forties, and present to the public as perhaps a bit eccentric (which is chalked up to my being an artist), but otherwise normal. Been married for almost 15 years. Have a daughter who turns 13 in two months. Have had SZ since age 23. I’m med-compliant, taking Geodon (took a WHILE to find a med that really worked for me – that’s the most frustrating part of this illness). I can hold down a job and run my own business. SZ has not been the disaster that I first thought it was. Truth is that I spend more time worrying about my diabetes these days.

So, it’s not all bad. Don’t freak out! You still have a tonne of possibilities in your future and the majority of them are all kinds of awesome. Best thing you can do right now is to work with your treatment team to get the right meds and therapy in place (CBT is very helpful), and to get some stability going.

Look forward to hearing more from you. :smile:

10-96

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