Dears peers and friends at schizophrenia dot com: after all these years trying to recover, I feel better at this moment. I am on a Trevicta, Melatonin and Trazodone combo. The move from zolpidem (and other sleeping pills I used before) to melatonin made a great difference for me to regulate sleep cycles without too much sedation, which temporarily is working very well.
At this moment I have the project to engage in studies at a University in my country and I am curious if any of you have done the same and how are you doing in relation to your study project. My country is a signatory of the International Convention for People With Disabilities, and Mental Health problems are also considered as a disability. As a student with a mental health disability, under the umbrella of the disability, I have a special statute as a student. It means I can negotiate certain accommodations in the Institution where I will be studying. Knowing, still, that our laws vary (I am not in the USA), I am very curious about the specific accommodations as a student with schizophrenia that are allowed or permitted in a given University/College in your country. I would appreciate it very much if you don`t mind sharing your experience as a student with schizophrenia, with me, especially in relation to accomodations, your expectations, outcomes and so on. It would be helpful for me.
Thanks for sharing, we are always learning, sharing and socializing even if online. Many thanks and my votes of good health!
Here in the usa most schools with give you accommodations for mental illness like extensions, more time to take tests, take tests in a different room, meet with a counselor. And any other requests will be considered.
Unfortunately for me is that I never had a problem with not enough time on tests or getting it in on time.
I didn’t utilize these resources well enough last time but next time it I had the chance I would
Here where I live is pretty much the same. In my previous experience I also did not apply for accommodations, but now I am considering. I have some concerns about my memory. With memory, basically there is no learning. I do have some overall memory but some specific memory (work memory) problems hinder a bit learning fast, in the time they assign for the semesters, etc. So I have some doubts about what kind of help I might ask for, e.g. some memory aids, such as “maps of knowledge”, schemes, etc. Putting the situation simply, if you are deaf, for example, and still want to run the marathon, they will just change the sign at the start, instead of hearing a shot you would see a visual sign. This is just an analogy, I do not know what you can ask for exactly in terms of memory, my main mental handicap. If you are somehow at a disadvantage for having poorer memory skills, they may or not concede some help dependending on the rules and interpretation of the problem. There are no prosthetics for memory as far as I know!
My memory has also taken a toll in recent years. However I think as long as there is some capacity and the desire to still learn you can do great things regardless and I wish you much success. I usually read books and process mostly all the information but then if I read it again it’s almost foreign. A completely new experience. But I still get something out of it every time. It can be frustrating when I used to have such a good memory. But sometimes we sacrifice one skill for another.
My disassociation and concentration is much better but my memory is now worse. Do you have advice to improve memory back to where it used to be or is it something we just must live with??
Well @Jonnybegood, hypnotics such as benzos and so on make memory worse at a certain point, but if they are needed we can not do much about it. I personally changed to melatonin from a z-drug (zolpidem) and had a slightly good improvement but still very modest. I have heard some people have wondered about using memantine, but I am concerned about the pros and cons, because side effects might worsen the situation, and also supercharge your body, for example kidneys or liver (not exactly sure about this). Memantine is used for Alzheimer’s disease too. There are reports of schizophrenics who have tried, but anyway no one testified it was a memory miracle drug. Also, I have heard about smart drugs but for the same reasons and because they in cases mess up with dopamine I prefer to stay this way and try to find concrete learning aids. We don’t have any doubt about this fact, but maybe we learn not so fast or at least we learn differently. Then there is something, we tend to forget what we do not use, what we do not find a priority, what we do not use or even what we find not useful or interesting, our mind and memory can be tricky and selective! But it is also truth, that context, spaced repetition, and relevance are important for memory. Also if you apply knowledge you tend to remember more, or if you associate ideas together and have understanding also it increases memory outcomes. Also if you are under stress to memorize large amounts of disconnected information on study materials it is harder, according to my experience. If it makes sense, it seems to be easier, as well when you connect new knowledge to previous consolidated one. This information is general and kind of empiric. But I hope you make sense of what I am explaining. There are also two important principles we use to say “use it or lose it” or “firstly, do no harm” a basic idea from prevention in medicine e.g. tobacco and alcohol are not good for memory. I would say, unfortunately there is no magic pill for memory, but there are remediation techniques for the memory, and in fact it can be like training a muscle in part. Practicing learning and then retrieving, recalling is a good process, the more times you learn and recall, more memories are able to be stored in long term memory. Besides, of course we must be aware that antipsychotics may cause side effects, as well untreated the schizophrenia might perhaps be toxic and damage the brain, two things to learn and to consider probably! Just my opinion! When we share one bread we still have one bread, but if we one share idea with each other we “own” at least too!
Hi @Joker, that can be an interesting accommodation for students suffering from schizophrenia. Having information and tools at disposal doesn’t mean we do not have to be smart anyway! Perhaps it is appliable.Thanks.
Welcome back! Been a while. My daughter has some of my autism and finally got a formal diagnosis to get some accommodations. Extra time while writing tests, a quiet environment, and extra consideration for roomies in residence. She specifically asks for ones that are quiet, who don’t drink and party. The uni screwed up on the last one – she got a party head that they wound up evicting. They gave her three months free rent by way of apology for failing to meet with her accommodations.
Hi @velociraptor very good to hear from you and to know that the system in Canada is also delivering the support people need in terms of education, disabilities and specifically mental health conditions. It has been a long path, but I do believe some good changes are occurring in several parts of the world. You are pioneers too. I am in Europe, Portugal, and since our government ratified the Convention and since we belong to the European Union many things have changed for the better. Also new national laws were made. We seem to tend to a more inclusive society and to celebrate diversity as well. Some youths like to party, but of course we people with disabilities/mental illnesses should be respected. Well done, free rent is fair!
I am going for an Associates degree. I need two more classes. I never used accommodations until my last class. It was a hard class where you had to learn a lot of information and I had taken it two times before and failed once and dropped out the other time. My school doesn’t allow you to take the same class more than three times and this class (Geography) was required for my degree. So I had to pass it this time.
I would have done anything to pass it and my family and my counselors talked me into using accommodations and tutors for the first time. It was an online class and the accommodations I got was double the normal time on exams. I got four hours each to take the midterm and the final while the rest of the class only got two hours. I also dropped into the tutoring room a few times. I ended up passing the class with a B. My current class consists mostly of writing essays. I got five hours to write an assignment while the rest of the class got two. I went my whole college career without using accommodations until these last two classes. I am so close to getting buy degree and I am not taking any chances and I’m using all the help I available.
Thanks that was helpful and informative. I take Benzos for a while now. Maybe it’s hurting my memory but not much else I can do. my memory loss was definitely mostly chemically induced. Various substances. I can work on that more but I like the other advices you give too. The more holistic approaches. Since the damage is done, but I’m being wise mostly about what I put into my body now, it’s gotta be more holistic and natural healing at this point.
I must say I recently cut down on the legal stimulant drugs caffeine as well as nicotine too and I feel a little lost without it but I think it’ll benefit me in the long term when I retrain my brain to function without them better. As I was really reliant on coffee for along time but now i just had my second and last cup of the day.
Maybe I could try propanol instead of the benzos for my anxiety but the idea of switching with my doctor really overwhelms me. Maybe that’s just I need a new psychiatrist though.
I’ve definitely been psychotic. But I tend to think it’s drug induced psychosis not schizophrenia. I do take abilify still. Recently lowered the dose tho. But my psychosis is mostly in remission. I give great thanks to meds like abilify, and naltrexone for helping me to heal somehow.
If I went off my abilify I’d probably first become very anxious. Irritated. Eventually psychosis possibly??? But it’s possible I’d just exhibit symptoms of anxiety. I dunno. I’m not going off of it. But Lsd which I did 12 years ago caused my psychosis in the first place. But I was self medicating my anxiety/trauma disorders. That was until I had the experience out of hell and became psychotic.
I’m just sharing because you seem down to earth and understanding of certain issues and good advice/feedback.
Sorry if I strayed off the topic a little
Hope you get straight a’s back in school !!!
Me myself I’m starting a job tonight in less than 4 hours. But I hope to go back to school one day.
Hi @Jonnybegood I gave up on benzos, melatonin is working so so for me.
Thanks for your answer. You need to see all those things with your PDoc, but remember you also can try to make consensus. For example, my PDoc never told me about melatonin or whatever, but I studied a little bit about my situation, my z-drugs were not working, and for now I am out of the benzo and z-drug effect. Melatonin doesn’t cause addiction and there are some studies that confirm schizophrenics might have melatonin decreased. On the other hand, it regulates sleep cycles, people suffering from jet lag for example use this drug. I notice I do not sleep so much, but I still feel ok. I do not sleep so well one day, the next day I compensate again. This is what works for me, so you have to find what works for you according to the options and discuss it with your doctor. Psychiatry is much like alchemy, you need a kind of alchemy to achieve good mental health which in turn is the gold you need. Best wishes, I hope you recover well and soon.
Thanks @InnerCircle for the reply. And how is it going? Very good that they have conceded you the right accommodations you need. I am doing a battery of psychological tests to make a complete report to send to a specific department at my future University. Regards.
but next time it I had the chance I would
and I wish you much success. I usually read books and process mostly all the information but then if I read it again it’s almost foreign. A completely new experience. But I still get something out of it every time. It can be frustrating when I used to have such a good memory. But sometimes we sacrifice one skill for another.
my memory loss was definitely mostly chemically induced. Various substances. I can work on that more but I like the other advices you give too. The more holistic approaches. Since the damage is done, but I’m being wise mostly about what I put into my body now, it’s gotta be more holistic and natural healing at this point.
!!!