After you were diagnosed what happened after? Any Improvements? What are your choices and so on?
I’ve done better. Before I was diagnosed I had several major psychotic episodes where I eventually tried to kill myself or tried to hurt other people because of my delusions. I was committed twice (should have been committed a third time but I ran from the cops). Now that I take meds regularly I still have a lot of symptoms but I’m much more stable than I ever was before.
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After I managed psychotic behaviour and paranoia, I do not have any achievements, nothing remarkable at all.
I went from being a lunatic in a locked psychiatric hospital for 8 months when I was 20 years old, to living on my own for 20 years (mostly renting rooms in private homes), owning and driving cars since 1995, enrolling myself in community colleges (I need three more classes for my AA degree), working almost steadily (albeit mostly part-time) since 1983.
Flying from the west coast to the east coast a few times with my dad for vacations, I went water skiing for the first time, hanging out on Stanford University campus and going to the parties in the frat houses, seeing rock concerts like R.E.M., Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen etc. . Driving two hundred + miles by myself occasionally to visit my dad and my stepmom.
A real proud moment for me was being best man at my dads wedding and then giving a toast at the reception in the hotel room afterwards in front of 20 people.
One thing I’m very proud of is that even though I am 55 years old and I have had paranoid schizophrenia for 35 years, a lot of people tend to like me and I get told often that I’m a nice, polite, respectful guy.
This is very important to me. Also something that’s very important is that my two older sisters like me and love me even though we have known each other for my 55 years. When you know someone for 55 years and you still like each other, that is a big deal.
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I went from job to job from 2008 to 2013. Had seven different jobs that I failed at. Now I am on SSDI and am going to school to learn a trade. I plan on trying to go back to work in the summer. We will see.
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I was bedridden, delusional and dumb for about a year, within the next half of a year I regained my full cognitive functioning and the medications eliminated all but one of my negative symptoms. I have returned to community college for my 4th semester earning decent grades. I started the semester with easy 3 credit online courses and hope to go on to fulfill the transfer curriculum goals and go to our state university eventually.
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I sat down, had a good cry, and then got comfortable in my bunker where I’ve been hiding out for the last fifteen years. With tv, radio, Internet, food, water and animals. The occasional visit from a woman and infrequent trips to the Caribbean over the Holliday season. Otherwise you can find me in my bunker watching the world go up in flames.
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Officially diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2005. At the time, I was working minimum wage (back when minimum wage was $5.15/hr) at Burger King. Hated it. Wasn’t even good at it. Tried me on Abilify. Got Dystonic reaction. Easy cure with injection of Benadryl. My doctor at the time got help from another doctor in a brief meeting with me in the same room and decided the Zoloft/Seroquel combination would have a synergistic effect. He was absolutely right. This combination works well for me to this day. Later in 2005, got a job at Walmart. Was there for about one and a half years. While taking the meds combination. Seemed to help. Wanted to work there, long term. Would’ve been an improvement to have a stable full-time job for the long run. Didn’t work out as there were other forces in effect. Ultimately, it’s difficult for me to fit in an occupational environment in the long run. I’m simply not all there, and sometimes other co-workers notice slow verbal response times. They did not know what SZ is.
After that job, I couldn’t get another job and eventually went through application processes through SSA and VA channels. During this time, I was living alone in an apartment. As soon as I got evicted for running out of rent money and moved to another apartment and then was about to run out of money, then I got notices in the mail notifying I was approved for disability income. This happened in December of 2008. I remember I saw NIN in concert that month (best show I’ve ever seen). Lights in the Sky tour.
Since then, haven’t had a job. But, got improvements in income and live comfortably and alone in another apartment. Now, it’s just TV, music, video games. Once in a while travel to see a concert or ball game. Donate what I can to organizations. I think, in the long run, I’ll be able to afford a house. Then, I’ll have much more money to be able to donate. I don’t plan to go back to school or anything like that. I got a bachelors degree and that’s as far as I can possibly go.
Having SZ isn’t so bad. I like living alone and in my own little world.
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@SlowMotional do you think you reached your limit, or are you just taking a break, there is a real difference between those 2 sentiments. You have your bachelors, you can get your MA or MS. But I’m glad you’re stable. I don’t want to tell you what to do, but don’t settle. Maybe I just did tell you what to do, lol
As for me I was catatonic for about 8 months, and 1-2 years on and off of medication. I found a good doctor, or a couple good doctors and they put me on abilify and some benzos and I recovered. I am currently trying to get my MS in Education. You can do it.
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Well, after I got my BS in the field of Business, I was wondering about MBA (Masters of Business Administration). If I decided (back in 2002/2003) to go for that, maybe I could’ve done it. What deterred me was that I wanted to get a job first with my bachelors, but couldn’t. So it seemed going higher in education was moot/pointless.
I look at it all now and I’ve lost all interest in academia. The extent of what I wound up (for whatever reasons) reaching with my degree was that I joined the US Army at rank E4. So I tried the military route to getting a job/career. Unfortunately, ran into problems when I was stationed in Germany. Things didn’t work out. I wanted to make it a career but I had difficulty learning. Seems odd. A kid with a 4-year University degree can’t learn a regular job/occupation? This lead to confusion and eventually psychiatric diagnoses.
In retrospect, I realize now the reason I was able to get a bachelors degree was because I spent time studying alone, often re-reading a lot. Rote-rehearsal. It would take me longer to study or do assignments and such. Like an alternate route to finding some level of academic success. I guess I hid behind a “mask” out in public. Maybe why the SZ diagnosis was not diagnosed when I was in college. I managed to hide SZ. But I realize I had SZ the whole time, looking back.
But I can’t seem to find success in employment. That alternate route doesn’t work in the “real world” like it could to an extent in trivial academia. Can’t hide the SZ in occupations/jobs. Inabilities seemed to gravitate me toward psychological help (while I was in the Army).
Anyhow, now, I don’t believe in going for an MBA. If I tried, it would only be for academic purposes. And I’m not interested in that anymore. Plus, I know that would require a lot of “group work projects” and I don’t want to interact with people like that anymore.
Any intellectual success (while very limited) has to be derived in isolation/loneliness. There’s no other way for me.
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It should be a crime that a 4 year degree can’t get you a job. Maybe there is a mentoring program around your place, or something you can do to put on your resume as a mentor or not even for your resume, but some way of giving back. I don’t mean you have to give back, but do you have problems with addiction too? I know most sz do, I do too. I just think its a shame you can’t get a job. I mean really maybe you should go into IT my friend only has an AA degree and is making 50,000 but he works alone most of the time, I dunno. Thanks for your post though.
Or move overseas? Why didn’t Germany work out? because of SZ?
Started day dreaming and then dream chasing
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Yep. Even the first mental health professional I ever saw (in the Army) diagnosed me Schizoid instead of Schizophrenia. But looking back, I know she really saw SZ. I can tell as this is how I’ve always been since I was born. I guess they wanted to keep trying to get me to find job success but didn’t work out and was honorably discharged after 2 years of service. The military can be a good test to see if you can work or not. You don’t get discharged early until you prove that there is absolutely nothing that can be done to keep you. If you can’t do a Military job to the extreme of my case, eventually doesn’t work. And proves will have the exact same difficulty in the civilian sector or wherever.
So going into something like IT wouldn’t work either. Too much difficulty learning the “real world.”
No, I don’t have addiction problems.
Made a bologna sandwich, phoned the post office, took a nap and made plans for the weekend.
I was dead and i am still in coffin…mannnnnnnnnnn…!!!
It seems you’ve tried your best exhaustively. Maybe time will heal if I dare say there is anything to be healed. Maybe there isn’t. Are you reading nowadays? I’m trying to read Chirstopher Hitchens , but he might be too much of a giant for me intellectually speaking. I get bored, because I’m not stimulated by his cursory writing in french and roma, lol. I want a good read but this is over my head, lol.
Thanks. Well, the daily meds help a lot. Each day I wake up I feel a certain level of neurotransmitter balance restoration, thanks to the meds of synergy! Wish more patients could experience this synergy – it’s great! I actually could work a basic, menial job like Walmart, if they would hire me. I’m just too different. They probably know I’m on disability so it’s almost as if I’m “black-listed.” However the system works, I guess.
TBH, this schizophrenia website gives me more than enough to read. So I don’t read books much. Some of the deep research articles posted are over my head, but I try to read some of them.
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Good positive thought…!!!
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I was diagnosed with schizhoprenia around 2000…
Been on Meds ever since…
But the beggining i wasnt taking my meds properly so i was still out of it day to day…
but now for a good few years i been taking my meds everyday now i like to say im sane but every now and then i get a panic attack but they dont last long only about 5mins or so…
I been on benefits ever since i was diagnosed in 2000…
But im off benefits and working now as a stock counter since 14/05/15
I like to say im quite sain now if i take my meds every day 
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