Not sure how to begin this. But my therapist just told me I wasnt approved for early psychosis intervention services because I had been using pot. I had an episode in January and applied for those services, and I had been smoking heavily up until about a month before hospitalization. Like pretty much every night for 2 years.
They said they couldnt tell if it was genuinely schizophrenia, personality disorder, or substance abuse. I also did lsd several times last year.
BUT I also have had psychosis before without any pot. I did lsd the first time in 2013. Next year I was hospitalized several times for suicidal thinking and some psychosis. I wasnt doing any drugs by that time, and I hadn’t smoked pot in several years prior.
I quit smoking in November for my surgery. Then I had 6 weeks off from work and my mental health improved. I started smoking again when I went back to work because I was so stressed. Now I’m having some psychosis issues and my therapist is just now telling me all of this because of the suspicious timing.
So yeah I’m definitely quitting and seeing how much it helps. I’m sure its contributing some. But as I’ve posted before I’m also under too much stress and I dont cope with stress well.
Does anyone have any insight into this ? I feel like they made a snap decision on me. I’m tired of professionals questioning my diagnosis too. I’ve been in therapy since 2012 and none of them agree or keep their opinion. My newer psychiatrist seems pretty convinced its sz or sza but my therapist, who I’ve been seeing for a lot longer, says shes still not sure what’s causing it. Shes a great therapist, dont get me wrong, and I never presented psychosis to her until this year, so things changed.
Psychiatrists are trained to make that evaluation
Therapists aren’t.
Drug use complicates or convolutes any picture I think, it’s pretty hard to determine what is drug use and what it mental health stuff. Does your psychiatrist know your full drug history?
That sounds reasonable thank you. I do remember my therapist saying she doesnt have a ton of experience with schizophrenia too
I believe she does. She reads notes from my therapist and I think I have told her. I’ve told her at least about the lsd because I had a complication with a medication that brought lsd flashbacks. I see her tomorrow so I will ask her opinion about it all
I was very quickly labelled with drug induced psychosis on a similar road to what you tread.
They didn’t diagnose me with sz until a few years later.
I walked around with pretty much untreated psychosis for nearly a year. You have to present with it for more than 6 months here to get a diagnosis.
I can appreciate how difficult it must be to have them fussing over what to call it. I would ignore all this. The important thing is that you get on the right treatment plan for whatever illness the doctor thinks, not the therapist.
I had a therapist for a long time, and even at one point she refused to let me see the doctor after I had an appointment cancelled. She was wrong to do that, and I complained about her.
I got the treatment I deserved after that, and continue to benefit from it. I guess what I am trying to say is that you need to not put much stock in your therapist when it comes to diagnosis.
That’s entirely the doctors domain, and the therapist needs to accept the diagnosis. Be careful about them trying to lord it over you. This is not their area of expertise.
I appreciate this reply thank you. It helps knowing other people have had this happen. I’m kind of obsessive about my illness label because I have a lot of trouble comprehending what’s going on and having a label to pin symptoms to makes it feel less chaotic, if that makes any sense.
But you’re right, I can imagine psychiatrists need more education on that stuff for medication uses and therapists mainly focus on improving lives.
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