i was initially diagnosed with bipolar with psychotic features, when i was unable to sleep for six days and ended up in a state psych ward for two weeks. the next pshyciatrist caled me schizoaffective, for the next nine years. then he died. then i saw a nurse practitioner for a few months, and she called me schizophrenic. i told her stressful events trigger my mood to elevate, but i guess she didn’t consider that important enough to keep the old diagnosis. today i just saw another nurse practitioner and she insisted i’ve always been schizophrenic. she also said i can’t be bipolar too. i thnk she is just splitting hairs saying i can’t be bipolar too, as if it should just be called schizoaffective but not both those things. but i wonder if she would conceded i may be schizoaffective. i think it’s obvious i am. i wonder if she just saw the old diagnosis and went with it. i doubt she went through my records much. if i stopped taking medication i know i’d have an elevated mood and inability to sleep a lot. i strongly suspect my psychosis would increase, but i’m not a hundred percent sure of that.
i trust the two psych docs ive seen for a lot longer than this nurse who saw me for ten minutes.
I’m always and always told that I have psychosis with depression, not sza. Even though I initially had psychosis for a year then later relapsed for a month, they still think I’m not sza because I am on 5 mg abilify, relatively low dose.
Maybe I have recovered but I’ll never know cos I could relapse any day.
originally i was diagnosed schizophrenic, which never accounted for my moods and manic streaks. then my last doctor changed it to schizoaffective bipolar type which i think is a better fit. even though meds normalize my moods and i no longer have the urge to go out and see the world like i used to or get into arguments with family. now im onto my 3rd doctor, so who knows what he will think. the meds help combat hallucinations for me as well as they sedate me and stabilize my moods. so i think im sza.
My first diagnosis was just psychosis, but after six months, it was changed to just straight schizophrenia. This all happened in 2018, so I wasn’t diagnosed with a subset of schizophrenia.
My advice is to not worry much about your diagnosis, but rather focus on getting your symptoms treated, which I find as the most important thing you can do for your mental health.
I was first diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood during my first hospitalization then delusional disorder during my second and then paranoid schizophrenia during my third.
They made a big deal about the diagnosis. They called my wife in and there were several mental health professionals in the meeting. My second psychiatrist told me “your diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenia “. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about or what that was so I didn’t have much of a reaction. Then the other psychiatrist in the room told me if I didn’t like that diagnosis she could change it to PTSD. I didn’t say anything.
I didn’t think I was sick the first 7 years but I finally figured it out and that’s what it was all along. I have never had any mood issues so I think it’s pretty accurate.
The VA would later add chronic to it but still paranoid schizophrenia.
Now I understand it’s just schizophrenia.
Psychiatry isn’t an exact science. My fourth hospitalization the doctor said I had psychotic disorder NOS so I guess it could be that too but schizophrenia has stuck with over 7 different psychiatrists so I go with that.
I don’t get hung up on it. It’s just a label that I don’t disclose to anyone so only people really close to me know anything about it.
I still have yet to receive a diagnosis other than psychotic episode. I believe I have nearly all of the symptoms of schizophrenia (no word salad though, and one other thing), so I fear that it’s only a matter of time before the doctor diagnoses me. My hallucinations are so real and so constant and affect so many aspects of my life and I’m losing my sense of reality. I used to be able to say with 100% certainty that it was all in my head, but as time goes on and the hallucinations develop more and become more intense and intrusive, that certainty is beginning to waiver and I’m not so sure it is in my head. I am starting to wonder if maybe I do have a telepathic connection to these people and maybe there actually are hidden cameras all over my house, and maybe I’m not mentally ill after all…but, I realize that is probably just a part of the disease as it progresses and develops.
I also wonder if I might be schizoaffective (is that the one with bipolar?) or maybe I’m just bipolar with psychotic episodes…I really need a good, competent doctor to help me figure this out. But, I’m on medi-cal and the quality of care isn’t exactly great. So far, I’m on my third psychiatrist since the voices started. However, I’ve only been completely honest and open with this most recent. A previous psych diagnosed me with complex ptsd, but those delusions I think were directly related to the sexual assault I experienced.
It’s all very frustrating because I just want to know what is wrong with me so that i can get better and work my way out of this as best as I can and maybe regain a sense of normalcy in my life.
The criteria for SZ is having experienced more than one psychosis in 6 months.
If you only experience psychosis once in your lifetime without meds, you’re not considered schizophrenic.
I quit my meds after my 1st psychosis and I experienced another psychosis before 6 months has passed unmedicated. Then my psychiatrist wrote SZ with negative symptoms, apathy, avolition and anhedonia in my diagnosis report. I tried quitting meds another time and I had paranoia, hallucinations and delusions for a year until I experienced acute psychosis and was brought the mental hospital by 4 cops because I was aggressive.
After that, I decided to never quit my meds again to avoid killing or suicide.
Mine has been going on for three years now. The episodes used to be short lived, but eventually got longer and longer in duration until it became a constant, everyday thing. I’ve been in active psychosis without a solid break or remission for probably a year now. The hallucinations and delusions have been evolving in that time and have become so intense and I’m questioning whether or not it’s actually real.
I don’t know i’m not a doctor, but to me it sounds like SZA, but a diagnose is important in your case, because if your’e bipolar you should benefit from a mood stabilizer.
If not, you might still benefit with a mood stabilizer, but only a thorough professional judgement and you own experience, could tell… take care if they want you to take lithium, for some it’s a very good drug. For me it was a disaster.
My diagnoses in short: 20 years ago borderline, depressive type, then SZA, then paranoic SZ, and now, finally i feel i have got the right diagnosis: Schizotypic personality disorder with mood swings.
I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. I have no mood symptoms, but I need mood stabilizers and antidepressants to not be psychotic, so he kept that diagnosis.