what to pack in your ’ miffy ’ dufflebag…
accept your illness and limitations
find your awesome sense of humour…laughing helps you heal
exercise…i just started…feeling better already.
set small achievable goals
a good carer/friend/family
don’t do recreational drugs…
eat a healthy balanced diet…take your meds
pack your tin foil hat ( optional )
always have a back up plan…if you go wierd in town etc…
educate those around you
thank those around you for understanding and helping you
remember to put things in perspective…muggles suffer too.
practice a random act of kindness.
take care
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If by optional you mean, yes do this! then we are two steps ahead.
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Don’t forget your Kindle.
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I think of recovery from SZ as working like a lever…
Medication is the fulcrum, Symptoms are the load. A positive attitude is the force effort you apply to lift the symptoms away from you.
10-96
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I thought long and hard about this one, because I really wanted to contribute something to this survival guide for all the new people suffering this illness. This is what I came up with: put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.
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i am going to send you a ’ miffy dufflebag ’ to put all your negativity in…lol
dark sith awards you an A+ for trying, it made me laugh.
take care
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you were good at physics weren’t you.
i remember having physics in the chemistry lab , i spent my whole time turning the gas taps on and lightening it up…aaahhhhhh…the good old days !?!
take care
Avoid costly relationships.
Be careful who you associate with.
Stay away from online trolls.
Do not get in debt, get a 500$ credit card for expenses.
Trust you caregivers and be grateful for them.
Your clinic team is here for support, don’t hesitate to contact them.
Try to gradually volunteer or work part time without affecting your benefits or taking a student loan.
Don’t lose hope.
See the good in life.
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hahaha @darksith you’re the man.
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Hold on tight and ride it like a wave! Surfs up!
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I would say Never give up hope.
I’ve been through some very rough periods where I was too paranoid to even open the door to my apartment. Or suffering from negative symptoms to the point where I couldn’t even bathe myself for a month at a time.
But what kept me going was the Hope that things would get better. That I would find the right doctor, the right medication, the right support team, to get me well again.
Honestly, it took me 8 years. But I FINALLY got there. Now I’m working again, living independently, managing my own finances, and even in a serious relationship.
What got me through all of that suffering and torture was hope.
So never give up, friends.
Blessings,
Anthony
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lololol muggles
Uh I think caffeine belongs in here somewhere. Energy drinks, coffee, preworkout, ect.
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Caffeine increases hallucinations
Coffee addicts beware - new research suggests too much of the liquid gold may bring on hallucinations.
Those most at risk of hallucinating are people who are highly stressed or who consume more than five cups of coffee a day, researchers from Melbourne’s La Trobe University found.
Psychology Professor Simon Crowe and colleagues at the university’s School of Psychological Sciences measured the effect of stress and caffeine with 92 non-clinical participants in the study “The effect of caffeine and stress on auditory hallucinations in a non-clinical sample”.
Caffeinated drinks including coffee, tea, soft-drinks and energy drinks accessed the stimulant and, taken in large quantities, increased tendencies to hallucinate, Professor Crowe said.
“High caffeine levels in association with high levels of stressful life events interacted to produce higher levels of ‘hallucination’ in non-clinical participants, indication that further caution needs to be exercised with the use of this overtly ‘safe’ drug,” he said.
"There is a link between high levels of stress and psychosis, and caffeine was found to correlate with hallucination proneness.
“The combination of caffeine and stress affect the likelihood of an individual experiencing a psychosis-like symptom.”
During the study, participants were assigned to either a “high- or low-stress condition and a high- or a low-caffeine condition on the basis of self-report”.
The participants were then asked to listen to white noise and to report each time they heard Bing Crosby’s song White Christmas.
Although the song was never actually played, the results indicated that the interaction of stress and caffeine had a significant effect on the reported frequency of hearing White Christmas, researchers said.
Participants with high levels of stress or who consumed high levels of caffeine were more likely to hear the song.
Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive drug, research has found.
“Considering the frequency of caffeine use and the numerous side effects associated with the drug, it is clear that the potential health risks of caffeine consumption in large quantities warrant further investigation,” Professor Crowe said.
"Recent reports have indicated that the consumption of caffeine as well as of high levels of stress, can lead to an increased proneness to psychosis-like experiences in non-clinical samples.
“Stress has long been implicated in both the development and the expression of schizophrenia, however, the mechanism of action by which this process occurs remains unknown.”
While the relationship between mood and caffeine intake varied across the population, a link had been established between caffeine consumption and stress, Professor Crowe said.
Fifty per cent of people who are stressed will increase their caffeine consumption, a previous study has found.
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If you’re on antipsychotics, you are pretty safe, I wrote a paper about caffeine and meds, I noticed before meds, caffeine made me super saiyan insane
And we are just to take your word for it are we?
I mean I referred to a study that I had to pay to view, that’s how research papers work
they were using thorazine in the study and subjects were unknowingly switched to decaf and their symptoms didnt significantly change
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/szb/15/2/339/
here take a doctor’s word for it
This is a great list. I have no idea what I could add. I might to add…
don’t feel you can’t ask for help.
I know there are a lot of people who feel that if they open up and tell their loved ones what’s happening… they will immediately get slapped into a hospital or rejected.
So many times that isn’t the case. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
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Had to laugh though as the old troopers bring our own coffee in the open wards as they always used decaf. But cool ty.
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