Hello, currently living is Spain, I would like to know if there is any type of psychological study anywhere in the world, where people with schizophrenia are formed or given work and allow not to take the medication to do the relevant tests and studies for elderly patients who wish to participate. As a minicity or community made for them but always treating us as normal people full of energy, creativity and illusion. Not like the current measures of containment to something that we do not know how to explain but that we carry within us. I believe that with a correct channeling of our full potential we can achieve amazing results both formatively and workfully. You only have to have a team of psychologists who create and know how to approach these types of projects. Do you know or is there something like this?
You want to know if there’s a community of unmedicated schizophrenics?
I hope not.
I would say many cults probably qualify, though I wouldn’t view them as models to aspire to.
=) No, I would like to know if there is any kind of program or study that through psychological therapy treat patients with schizophrenia without medication. More or less that, I think schizophrenia gives talents that need to be learned to channel. Today’s medication is too aggressive a measure to maintain calm and order that could well be maintained with an understanding of the feelings and ideas that arise in our heads and learn to counter them with common sense.
I know a psychologist with two episodes of psychosis and a diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia that has been successfully off medication for 20 years. I am currently seeing how I do without medication but am not sure how it’s going to go. I’ve found this site is very pro-medication but there are a few that are trying without medication or want to eventually try. A lot of people have had a bad experience trying to get off meds. From what I’m read, I think there’s about 10% or so of people that don’t need medication after a first psychotic break, but I couldn’t cite the specific study. Of course there’s John Nash whom from my understanding didn’t want to be on meds so he learned to live with his symptoms.
I know of a community, Soteria (sp?), that was focused on providing care for individuals in psychosis w/o medication or minimal medication. I think they’re based in California but I don’t know if they are still in operation.
There’s some in a peer recovery community about supporting people to have a better life/prognosis. That’s hopeful. And I know in the USA there’s support for people to get employed again (with or w/o medication) with programs like vocational rehabilitation.
I would say that it is more necessary for the patient to understand what is happening to him and how to control his impulses psychologically, than to leave his brain asleep with medication.
Schizophrenia is more a medical/psychiatric disease than a psychological one. Its 80% genetic, drug use can cause SZ. Unless you have a psy trauma like PTSD, you won’t benefit from psychologists. I wasted lots of money and time with psychologists without any benefit. I am the psychologist of myself. I don’t need someone to tell me what to do in my life.
Those 10% that can live without meds got SZ from drugs or they didn’t have negative and cognitive symptoms or any serious positive symptoms.
I quit my meds many times only to end up close to kill someone or myself and ended up in psychiatric hospital brought involuntarily by 4 cops. Religion made me worse instead of helping me.
Anyways, other than risking your and other’s life, meds side effects are not serious. I only get nausea if I take my Latuda on an empty stomach.
Quitting your meds won’t make you better at best and its probably dangerous for those around you and yourself.
I believe that life in today’s society is not prepared for people with schizophrenia, stress, haste and too many forced obligations, our mind is more open, so I think that if there was a minicity or community of study to understand all this that passes us without medication would be enriching. But I guess this would cost a lot of time and money, plus the impact on your life to be a part of it.
Learning to live with symptoms is the side I profess or support but you need a team of psychologists and funding for this. That Soteria thing in California sounds good, I’ll look for information about it.
Yeah I’m interested in alternatives to medication as well.
Quitting meds is a very dangerous thing that the vast majority of schizophrenics will never manage successfully. Only ever do it with a pdoc’s help.
That said, I’m on a particular supplement regimen that seems to be working well enough (Daily Essential Nutrients 125% dosage and Amyloban 3399,) 4 months after starting, that I’m trying to stop my 2 mg Haldol dosage. It’s already been successful enough to allow me to gradually reduce my meds from 9 mg Paliperidone to 2 mg Haldol (I switched to Haldol because it was good for the intense head pressure I was feeling at the time.)
It’s day 1 so far, and no flareups have happened. If I remain voice-free without meds for a prolonged period I’ll consider it a successful wean.
I keep trying to get off the antipsychotics for a day, and end up getting a flareup a few hours later, and restarting my Haldol. But this time feels pretty different. I don’t hear any hallucinations at all.
Too early to tell for sure though.
That’s great! Wishing you the best.
Thank you! sounds very interesting
I’m not saying to leave the doctors for you alone freely. I say to participate in a study with researchers, psychologists, psychiatrists, who try to find an alternative solution to medication through occupation and study tasks.
I understand the problem, fixed ideas, frustrations and reactions that we are not able to control. But neither does anyone teach us to live with these symptoms and to separate ourselves from the sensations and feelings that come to us in an enhanced way. It’s also not life to be in a psychiatric hospital all your life because there are no alternative actions or studies to understand what’s wrong with us.
I used to think like you when I wanted to stop my meds until I realized its a danger for other’s life and mine after stopping for a year. Good luck with quitting your meds and I hope you don’t end up in the psychiatric hospital or worse.
Hello @apzyx .You might be interested in my opinion as I’m schizophrenic( experienced auditory hallucinations, delusions, psychosis) and I have been off medications for the lion’s share of the duration
of my illness. I am doing pretty well. From my standpoint the optimal solution for schizophrenics is as follows: to try to control the positive symptoms with safe, non-medicative methods like clothing and supplements. And to try to recover this way. This method is better than controlling positive symptoms
through APs, for APs are bad for physical health and drain your energy, and thus lower
your chances of recovery and increase the chance of a poor outcome.
Thank you for your comment, you have to keep everything in mind. I’m not saying quit the medication for yourself. It would be something in time with a team of specialists behind it in addition to a 100% mini society involved and aware of the problem.