I have had two ‘episodes’ (lasting days/weeks) this year which featured extreme paranoia, bizarre ideas, hallucinated voices etc. I am in my early 50s. I have never had anything like this before in my life. I understand this is unusual, but I’m trying to get an idea just how rare this is. I should add that I was not taking drugs, had no traumas physical or emotional, or anything else I could possibly attribute as a cause. I am currently on Risperidone 4 mg, no symptoms at present.
Schizophrenia can develop later in life. Late-onset schizophrenia is diagnosed after age 45. People who have it are more likely to have symptoms like delusions and hallucinations. They’re less likely to have negative symptoms, disorganized thoughts, impaired learning, or trouble understanding information.
Have you actually been diagnosed with schizophrenia?
Welcome to the forum. It is very unusual for sure. Do you have any history of mental illness like schizophrenia in your family? Or perhaps you took something medication wise different?
No, I was on no medication at all. My grandmother was institutionalized for bipolar (manic depression). No schizophrenia/schizoaffective in my family that I am aware of.
It’s unusual but not unheard of. Most of us here with SZ got whomped in our 20s (age 23 for me and I’m 54 now). Try not to panic over it - there are some great treatment options these days.
I was hospitalized twice this year. In the first they verbally diagnosed me as schizoaffective, and the discharge papers say schizophrenia. In the second…well I have no idea, they didn’t give me anything stating what they thought I have.
My brother in law did not have hallucinations or delusions until his late 50s. He had depression before that and panic attacks and he ruined his brain with excessive unnecessary medication.
My schizophrenia related symptoms came as a sudden onset in my mid thirties after periods of very stressful circumstances. While it is not always the case, profound stresses can precede it. Something to consider.
I am 46 and was diagnosed 4 months ago with sz. Two years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar manic depresion. Now that I look back, i had depression for past few years.
Looks like untreated a bipolar can develop into sz.
It was very hard for me to accept the diagnose.
Welcome to the forum.
I saw a famous actress on TV who has gone mad, I think the name is Shelley Long, she was in THE SHINING. I don’t think she had been diagnosed early in life. It was sad and I thought it was bad they showed it, she was talking about some crazy stuff, or, maybe, nonsense.
I learned early on what people believe is crazy and to watch my tongue around people. That helped me eventually to drop those ideas.
If I am sane today, I’m still not the person I used to be. But then, I was always a fake. I’m trying to not lie these days.