When it comes being successful or unsuccessful at whatever it is you want to do in life.
I can safely say that the religious delusions I had early on with the illness did a lot of damage to my life. But then again, i’ve seen people without schizophrenia do the same damage to theirs.
It doesn’t mean we aren’t culpable for the decisions we make. It does mean we suffer all sorts of setbacks that healthy people aren’t troubled by.
Definitely is a problem to have sz
This poll is gonna be a landslide unfortunately.
This illness single handedly made me most unliked person though I like myself feel I deserve better in life.
I think both are valid.
I mean,
You can 100% blame this illness for damn near everything in your life and be right.
It’s an incredibly difficult life in these brains.
You can also do your best to not let it hinder you.
Many years ago on this forum we had this big argument about “high functioning” and “low functioning”.
Some people were very proud of what they’d achieved and were vocal.
Some people felt they were unable to do those things and were also vocal.
The argument is dumb because both are true,
Yet,
They’re not exclusive.
Being somewhere in the middle is really where a lot of people land.
Having to accept we can’t do somethings,
And still pushing ourselves to live as normally as we can/want to.
I have days I just wallow around crying and feeling sorry for myself.
It’s fair and warranted.
Other days I kill it and get all sorts of stuff done, go places, look fabs.
I deserve that normalcy too.
It just depends.
Lol….I guess I’m “that person” 
Honestly my life is effed up due to physical health. My mental health is a problem but doesn’t really stop me from very much.
I was fortunate to get schizophrenia late in life. I may have had some paranoid tendencies before that but never really had a full psychotic break until around 40 , 41.
So this gives me a fairly lengthy amount of time to compare it too. I have probably wasted a couple years worth of time in psychosis, but the real killer for me is negatives.
If it wasnt for them, I would be living a fairly normal life on meds. I still, even after some improvement have difficulty enjoying some of the things I used to much of the time.
I also used to be highly motivated, working 2 jobs, one of 40 hours and another of over 20 hours for years. Now I often struggle with motivation.
I’m not going vote in poll, becasue I don’t want to be too negative, but the “no big deal” option is not viable. If I was forced to vote, I would have to go with the “can damge the outcome of life” option.
I appreciate you @sweetpotatocasserole I am on your voting side as well. 
Interesting. I’ve read studies saying that those who develop later have a better course. I think the idea behind that is more time to cultivate a life with normal functionality of the brain. Then again, I don’t buy into most studies I read, think many are bias
@Charles_Foster I like that post. It reminds me too of how some people can be really good at one thing, but when they are, kinda suck at a lot of other things. I like the perspective on that. But yeah I feel you, I feel like there are so many limitations, and I can’t help but wonder where they come from. It’s sad.
Schizophrenia is an excuse for me otherwise I would be lazy or working, I guess. I used to be a ‘normie’ as they say.
I still have bad delusions that affect my well-being.
I mean it does depend on what kind of success, happiness or goals you want. If you have goals you can never achieve, or dreams you can never have, then yeah you will be bitter and unhappy. But if you set realistic achievable goals and focus on those, then you can achieve them. This is true for everyone regardless of illnesses or setbacks. So that’s why I say schizophrenia doesn’t keep you from happiness unless you let. You can have dreams, but ultimately you have to be realistic about them. @anon87144867
I guess if I had never gotten schizophrenia I wouldn’t be just a 63 year old janitor. I most likely would have gotten my degree a lot sooner than age 62. I’ve done a lot of things including the aforementioned job and education but everything I’ve done is on a lower scale. I’ve had friends but very few of them. I’ve traveled but not that much. I’ve really only had two girlfriends in my life and only dated a handful of times. I’ve had a lot of fun in my disease but missed out on a lot.
I had some good years but not as many as my sisters, their friends and other people I’ve known. I’m not complaining, it’s all relative and perspective. I’m lucky to do what I’ve done and at age 63 my life still isn’t over. When I had friends I was out of the house almost every day and going places and doing things. I’ve slipped though in the last 5 or 6 years, I guess I could blame the isolation on schizophrenia, but it’s also about the choices I’ve made.
oh…and my sleep issues.
@sweetpotatocasserole Yeah. I’m a taurus, and love fitness. So obviously my dreams are very shallow and unrealistic. But there, nonetheless. I can gauge my happiness and success on just that.
Overall health > habits > overall happiness > micromanaging finances best I can through not splurging on unhealthy/useless things
I was a successful adult and then went insane.
My hopes and dreams were crushed and continue to be crushed because of sz and horrid anxiety disorders. I’ve lost just about everything in my life and missed out on so much too. Thus it’s definitely done major damage to my life sadly.
For me personally my mental illness and how things panned out for me is a big deal.
I got hit with SZA at an early age and it affected my life negatively in so many ways.
But I am on the right meds now and kept my expectations low.
I’m in a much better place now but it wasn’t easy.
It still isn’t easy but I’ve adapted to navigating walking through the maze in the dark
I still have opportunity in my life. Just having my own child is out of my future.
I think you have to make the best of it given your disability.
I wouldn’t be able anymore to function in a high stress corporate job.
But there is life outside of high pressure jobs.
I still have some dreams and trying to achieve them.
But I dread that I’ll be on disability for life.
SZ is one of many health problems I deal with. It’s manageable.
For someone with a severe MI like sza, I’ve done an awful lot of things, and have been to an awful lot of places, even for a normie. It’s just sad that I failed at 99% of everything I tried to do.