Hello, I was just curious to ask some of you guys if you think it’s possible to recover completely medicine free? I’ve been fighting with mental illness of various kinds beginning about a year and a half ago, beginning with intrusive thoughts, which led to psychosis, which eventually led to the diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, pretty mild case. I’ve been able to somewhat function without medicine, of course I’m not my old self but I haven’t been able to do what I used to. Would and of you think it’s a safe bet to try and fight without the medication? My family wants me to try it, but I’m scared of not being able to ever leave it. Any advice? Thanks for your time
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Generally not. Those who recover without meds are so rare they’re basically unicorns. Odds are you’ll make yourself much sicker.
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I can function somewhat without meds. It just gets harder to leave the bed because i’d rather just stare at the ceiling. Sometimes it may make the symptoms worse and youll have to go on a higher dosage of meds if you decide to quit them.
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There is some evidence that suggests schizophrenia is not a homogenous diagnosis as we think it is. Instead, schizophrenia might contain subsets of conditions that fall within that broad category.
In addition, having one episode of psychosis does not mean you have schizophrenia. I imagine that some people with only one episode of psychosis without having it recurring again may have gotten misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia.
Every person with schizophrenia may exhibit a different combination of symptoms. Therefore, each person’s experience with schizophrenia is different.
Traditionally, anti-psychotics are better at treating positive symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions, than negative symptoms such as amotivation and memory/concentration issues.
Therefore, if a person has schizophrenia where positive symptoms are much less of an issue, then him/her living a relatively calm life without taking anti-psychotics may be possible.
I’ve never taken medication, but I do wonder how much life I lost as a result. Many years are now blurred as I struggled with demons and suicidal ideation and self-harm. My life (I’m 52 now) has been one of subsistence.
I do recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. That made a huge difference in my relationship to my hallucinations and perceptions…
But, I would never tell someone they can recover without meds. I’m not recovered. I function better than some for sure, but the suffering, longing to escape, is always with me. I wonder what would’ve been different with meds and I encourage you to stick with something if it’s working.
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Yeah thanks for the advice! It may have turned out for the better, I sort of hope for the best. According to some of the statistics say 50 percent sort of recover, but in reality I have no idea how accurate that stat is, after all that’s just stats, but hopefully that is true.
Ive mostly recovered from the positive symptoms after 9 years, but the negative symptoms/ depression is worse than before.
If u don’t care if I ask, do you still have delusions and paranoia? Or is just a lot more mild?
I currently don’t have delusions or paranoia. I spent years dismantling delusions. It was the delusions that brought about my hallucinations a lot.
I occasionally hear voices or my surroundings look strange/foreign. Sometimes I hear bits of music,movie lines, or people I’ve heard all jumbled up.
Sounds like you’re improving. I think we all have trouble seeing the light from time to time. Hang in there!
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I would say improved in the positive symptoms but I worsened in the past few years in lack of motivation and avolition. That’s what I’m trying to improve now it’s tough
Sometimes I wonder if I had proper treatment for psychosis then maybe I would be more functional now.
Oh well can’t turn back time 
I tried and I am a much happier person with the right meds
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I think it’s possible, but it depends on many factors that you have to either figure out yourself or get help with from someone. Health, vitamins, deficiencies, exercise, environment, friends, support, being social, drug usage, and general self improvement - all these things and more play a factor as well. I also don’t think “schizophrenia” is a one size fits all and is sometimes misdiagnosed. I have 4 different diagnosis, so I just took it upon myself to fix myself, and it’s working.
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It’s possible I’m unmedicated. And I function decently.
I am a pretty rare case though.
I would only suggest trying under a doctor’s supervision and care. So if things don’t work out disaster can be avoided.
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I know John Nash tried to fight sz without meds, but he still had symptoms till his dying day. RIP.
I actually know someone deemed disabled… she has sz, and no aps worked. She was evaluated, and she was approved to take no meds and live on her own. I used to always admire her. I should have told her. I don’t know her contact info anymore.
I almost forgot about this girl people know her as black coffee (racist hill folk call her this). I don’t know her real name, but anyway. She was once a very successful young woman/well liked, pageant queen. She was medicated for several years until she tried to live without the meds. Well, now she walks up and down the roads moaning and crying about aliens, spies and hellish things. That’s what happened to her for going off her meds. This is the only case of untreated Schizophrenia I know of.
personally i would be a complete paranoid delusional mess without my meds (and maybe worse), i take a small dose but it does so much, keeps the evil at bay, its a constant fight but the meds make it so much easier,
i’m lucky i found a med as good as this though for me as i was taking another one before and it wasn’t good at all.
I tried without meds several times and it caused a lot of damage to me and my loved ones, because i did it in an uncautious way, impulsively and from a place of extreme fear of meds. I still have deep regrets when i look back.
What CAUSED this fear in the first place though, was that they overdrugged me, nobody warned me of side effects and i got horrible responses and none of the doctors listened or cared.
I now carefully withdrew to very, very little meds…and to this day i still doubt whether that is right or not. Barely using meds allowed me to be active, to work, to enjoy things, to feel, to think, to connect (a bit). To process and express and learn to deal with things i otherwise would have just numbed, denied and suppressed. It also makes me feel horrible at times. Paranoid, distrustful, fearful, guilty, withdrawn, overwhelmed. Though i “want” to feel these emotions if they are there…it is hard. And i dont know if for people around me it would be better if i increased meds. I really dont know.
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