In my son, the very first symptom was lack of motivation. From my point of view, in the prodromal period all our conflicts were about that. After his psychosis, in the first year I started to “nudge” him (as SurprisedJ said this worked for him from his mom and sis), but it was to no avail really. Then suddenly he started to get more active, and actually like my " nudges." But it was no mysterious process. The medical team switched him from Risperidone ( which sedated him but not much else of benefit) to Abilify. Bam! I got my son back! I want to kiss whoever came up with Abilify! I suppose at some time we can hope that, thanks to his own efforts and the wonders of neuro plasticity, he may be OK on other meds, if the Abilify stops working.
But, yeah, I am not sure that “nagging” or “nudging” served much purpose before the med change. Maybe just made him feel worse.
I’ve been on both meds and I can tell you: the switch to Abilify made wonders for my personality too.
However, even if on traditional or antagonist antipsychotis, I did efforts, though they were not so visible from the outside. The nagging/nudging helped get in accord with what was expected of me, even if it was painful and at times made me think I was being discriminated against. But I’m with you on Abilify. Perfect for me. I’ve seen it not work for others, but for my type of SZ, it’s great as a drug.
I had my first psychosis in 2004 and been relapsing often ever since. I only came to terms with my illness last year, two years into my marriage. I really know how it feels to be at the end of the rope, don’t misinterpret my apparent positive experience. You don’t get lucky. You try hard and find people, places and info that can help. You set a standard for yourself then go get that kind of life, no matter how painful it is and how many people diaceiminate against you. You focus on the few people who are there for you, if any. If not, you focus on your own self.
Someone once told me that having your own self is something that no one can take away feom you. I begged to differ, I had a warped, schizophrenic self I hated at the time. But in time I realized somehow that I can build stuff for myself and made the right choices. I let the door open and other people slowly invited themselves in, because even if I was an emotional trainwreck, my ambitions fitted those they nurtured for themselves.
I don’t know what else to tell you. Be strong, it gets better, if you want it to.