I am 22 years old male. I have a father suffering from schizophrenia since I was a kid. A few years ago, my older sister also started suffering from this disease. She was hospitalised a few times and now is on the antipsychotic medication.
During the last few years I developed “anhedonia”. I rarely feel happiness or pleasure. I feel kinda empty and lazy most of the time, and I am not being able to be looking forward to things. I don’t feel happiness when I succeed in something, I also don’t feel much pleasure from doing things including masturbation (I only do it cos I’m horny). I don’t enjoy having sex (even though I am not asexual, I am actually attracted to males ).
My feelings are also kinda flat. I rarely miss people, I am introverted, sociophobic. I also have never been “in love” and I can’t seem to make myself fall in love with anybody I tried to date. I often feel very unmotivated and frustrated (even though I still have life goals of being independent, successful in work etc), I have lack of positive emotions. Usually I only feel regret, self-hate, worries about my future and sadness. I also have anxiety and suicidal thoughts sometimes.
I looked up these symptoms and this all falls for “negative symptoms of schizophrenia”. Considering my father and sister already developped this illness, I am REALLY worried it will happen to me too, and that sooner or later I will get hallucinations, go to hospital and then live this miserable life my sister is living.
Do you think there is a serious chance of me developping the illness in the future? Can I do something about it already? I read that antipsychotic mediactions block D receptors in mesocortical pathway which can worsen the negative symptoms…so that can actually even make things worse. Should I consider antidepressants or anxiolytics?..or should I just “forget about it all - cos I will surely not develop it” like someone who loves me advised me? I don’t want to develop schizophrenia, because everyday I see what it (+ the medication) did to my family members. My sister is not the same anymore and she can’t work anymore and is totally reliant on my mom’s care and directing.
You can’t “catch” schizophrenia but you can develop it. (Some claim to even be born with it)
Having mental illness in the family does increase your chances of getting mental illness too. But…in my opinion, I think it’s best to get your mind of things and live your life to the fullest. Don’t let your family’s illnesses get you thinking in a downward spiral. However, if you start feeling worse, then it’s best to see a psych before you go into a full-on episode. Early intervention is possible.
You should go and see a psychiatrist very soon. There’s been a lot of research that shows that if you get treatment early, the illness often won’t get as bad. Seek treatment now and hopefully you’ll be ok.
I was misdiagnosed with depression early on, as I had the symptoms you described. Talk to a doctor to get a diagnosis, and explain everything to them. We can’t really diagnose you here, as we’re not doctors. Best of luck @Oli
It is possible you are in the prodromal stage of this disease, given your family history. It is also possible you’re experiencing depression, which also needs to be treated. There are a few things you can do now, to help yourself.
Go to a doctor, tell them your family history and current symptoms, and seek treatment. They probably won’t put you on medication yet, since meds only treat the positive symptoms and you don’t have any. But if someone is monitoring your progression, they can intervene early. They can also teach you various coping methods and grounding techniques.
Start taking sarcosine daily. It is an amino acid, and you can read all about it on the thread that has been pinned to the top of the forum.
Start taking EPA fish oil daily.
Studies have shown that people in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia who follow these steps are less likely to progress into a full psychotic episode. This illness can be scary, but there is a lot of variation in functioning level from person to person. We have users here who have full-time jobs, graduate degrees, spouses, and children. It is possible to develop this disease and live a totally normal life.
sounds like depression, maybe your in shock as well, talk to a doctor a tell them, they will know what to do, sorry about your dad and sister, it affects the best people in society but just bc they have it doesnt mean you will get it, it just means that they have been extremely unlucky.
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