What do you do for negative symptoms?

I drink coffee sometimes. It definitely helps with the energy part and I’m motivated enough by drinking it to do stuff. Post what helps you, and what doesn’t, etc.

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A lot of the folks on this forum have a lot of experience with negative symptoms, so you’ll hear plenty that’s potentially useful.

Beyond the forum, we see a lot of people on Abilify arapiprazole for negative sz symptons (see http://www.drugs.com/comments/aripiprazole/abilify-for-schizophrenia.html). Latuda lurasidone (which is much newer than Abilify) is also being explored for negative sz symptom management (see http://www.drugs.com/comments/lurasidone/latuda-for-schizophrenia.html).

We also see a fair # of sz pts on medicinal cocktails that combine anti-Ds with anti-Ps to get a so-called “compression effect” …meaning some stimulation and some retardation of neural activity in the limbic (emotion regulation) system just above the brain stem. They key is reduce the rampage in the LS below the thought & behavioral control downlinks from the pre-frontal cortex so that those downlinks are effective… but also provide enough stimulation below those downlinks to provide the pt with some motivation.

Once an effective balance is established (it may take some experimentation with relative dose levels), one can dig into the cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies that very often rewire the circuitry sufficiently to reduce the need for the meds to deal with the negative symptoms.

Hi, what do you do for a living?

I’m a student in college.

Apply what I have learned.

Still trying to figure that out. I self-medicate, but that’s no actual help. I know that these feelings are sometimes without ground, so I wish I could just move on and over them, but, that’s just not how it is I guess. Not how I feel at least. This being a human thing is a bit silly sometimes.

At first it was the Latuda that helped me get out of the worst patch of negative I spiraled into.

After that… it was therapy and finding ways to stay motivated… finding ways not to slip back into depression,

Sheer will power didn’t do it… I really needed the help of meds…

Now that I have a few years on Latuda behind me… a negative patch will last a day or two… not weeks.

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I used to self medicate. for years. Then I learned I was self medicating with something that actually amplifies the long term overall condition. Be careful. I was however told by a few therapists it’s not so bad if its an occasional recreational use. but not for medication man.