Ive been doing research on schizophrenia and it’s making me really sad. Finding out about the amount of brain tissue that’s lost in schizophrenia patients makes me really anxious about losing my mind.
I already feel stupid. I cant keep track of anything, i cant even tell the difference between my imagination and reality. My consciousness lapses into daydreams all the time and my memories feel less real. Everyone used to have high expectations from me because i had a high iq and got the best test scores in my high school but im getting stupider every year. The brain tissue that’s lost to psychosis never comes back, so true recovery is impossible. The best case scenario is that brain loss is just slowed down, it cant ever be stopped, let alone reversed. Ive already gone without any help for way too long.
People with schizophrenia have a 20 year shorter life expectancy and it makes me feel like im going to have a horrible decline for the next 30 years and die completely lost and useless. I will never be able to reach self-actualization, im going to lose more of myself progressively for the rest of my life.
The guy in the podcast said that schizophrenia is a type of developmental dementia, that it starts in the womb and causes progressive brain loss over time, and that antipsychotics and a healthy lifestyle only slow down the brain loss.
Thanks, I listened to it a bit, will continue later. But in medicine sz is not considered a neurodegenerative disease like dementia. Studies I read said some patients showed small brain abnormalities between pre and postsz but no change after, so there is no brain tissue loss after once sz happens. My cognition and brain function haven’t gotten worse or better since I got sz 11 years ago.
I think we have 100 trillion brain cells between our ears, or maybe it is just one trillion, but the point is that we use only a tiny fraction of our brain cells compared to what we have inside us. The brain is regenerative in the sense that when one part of the brain gets damaged another part can take over that function. Someone who has a bullet graze their brain is likely to have another part of the brain take over that function. A lot of our diminished capacity is due to emotional turmoil. Take it easy. Read a few periodicals. Surf the internet for serious subjects. You’ll get better.
Well if it doesn’t end then how come many here can work and be fully functional even some are 80y.o. Idk maybe the brain tissue loss affects different ppl differently.
I just saw that, I would believe my psychiatrist over any psychologist. Maybe ask your psychiatrist? Psychiatrists know about sz much more than psychologists.
Well, I can tell you that I don’t believe I have had any decline in cognitive function since being stable.
I do believe that I did have some pre sz onset and possibly during my initial psychosis.
I don’t believe that I am declining mentally currently.
I’m not sure if I can make you feel better to be honest. There are a lot of unknowns with sz. You are just going to have to live your life and find out for yourself how it will affect you.
I too got really scared about the potentially neurodegenerative aspects of SZ when I first got my diagnosis. Only 8 months in here since my diagnosis, but I don’t think I’ve had any cognitive decline and if anything have been more productive since then. I personally think the key is to stay engaged with cognitively challenging activities, and exercise.
I think you are relying too much on that one podcast. I think you should branch out to other sources of information. Here is a sample of a conflicting article that should give you some hope:
"Third, while patients do show cognitive deficits compared with controls, cognitive functioning does not appear to deteriorate over time. The majority of people with schizophrenia have the potential to achieve long-term remission and functional recovery. The fact that some experience deterioration in functioning over time may reflect poor access, or adherence, to treatment, the effects of concurrent conditions, and social and financial impoverishment. "
I think part of the problem is that when someone is actively psychotic, they can exhibit the same symptoms of dementia, which when encountered in elderly patients is almost always a downhill thing that gets worse over time.
I was getting lost, going out wandering, spouting gibberish, my family thought my brain was irreparibly broken. But then after a few years of meds I came out of it and now I’m the same me I always was, just with benign voices in my head and difficulty concentrating. Even the memory problems went away.
Well not to be overly simplistic, but regardless of doctor’s opinions I’ll be making the best I can with whatever I have along the way. As of 57, I feel an actual upswing in mental acuity due to the fact that I’ve had more time to indulge my mind.