Most of the successful SZs I know have one very common trait: Perserverance. They’re relentless about chasing goals. They are completely recovery oriented. They see failures as signs of progress towards achieving a goal, not signs that the goal is out of their reach. They’ll use every tool within reach to get to where they want to be. Meds, therapy, CBT, you name it, they’re doing it. They not only want to get better, but also live better.
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No, I never heard of flooding. I’m sure, at my age, I’d freak out.
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Thanks for the insight @shutterbug. That could’ve been you today giving the inaugural speech 
It’s funny you mentioned perseverance. I worked a sales job for 4 1/2 years. Some nights on the job, the anxiety got the best of me. But I just kept showing up. Night in, night out, through 100 degree summer nights, dead nights with no sales, I just kept grinding. I knew no other way. Truth be told, I’m no different than anyone I’ve met with sz whether in person or on this forum. I just have a go-go-go motor.
We should all aspire to these words.
@PinCushion: I tried it a few days (pre-covid). I went to a meet-up and was extra friendly at the gym. I don’t think you can outdo anxiety though, I was pretty nervous.
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Oh, I think I flooded about stage fright. It worked, but it only worked once. I didn’t want to do it again.
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Not cheap, but worth the money:
It’s how I learned to read facial cues and body language. The downside is when you realize how much of the time everyone around you is lying. This is not a skill you can shut off once you have it. Something to consider before jumping.
Interesting. Someone I met suggested something similar. To take a magazine and guess facial cues with just the eyes or mouth. If I were in a line of work where reading facial cues/ body language was a thing, I’d invest some time into it. But I’m already cynical, no use dousing the flame with more gas.
This approach only caused more psychosis for Me goal orientation is my best way to another relapse .
Well, you can’t change the past. What you CAN DO is confront the present. Right now, for instance, I’m fighting suicidal thoughts… I’m just not letting it get that far, because my past reminds me it’s not good.
My friend, Aziz, you can get through this. You may feel lost and scared, today. In a few years, I want you to think back and be proud of you.
You’re really a likeable man. Only YOU can change YOU. And, that happens when you commit yourself to change.
If I knew you irl, I’d play video games with you, and encourage you to exercise… WITH me.
Stay strong! You’ve got this! 
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Thanks, I was suicidal at the beginning of my sz then I stopped as it made my parents cry.
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Hun. Funny, that was also my goal.
Thats possible only if you have a functional brain without severe negative symptoms. They’re a medical disease proven in medicine, not psychological. You can’t force yourself to do anything when you lose your will power and motivation due to dopamine blockade. Dopamine is the main neurotransmitter in motivation.
there are lots of high functioning schizophrenics even on this board who you could talk to if you wanted to gain insight. that woman is also high achieving, but that main thing is being high functioning, cause once you get that goal, anything is possible.
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I am talking from my experience of lowering dosage and stopping meds for 1-2y. I had way more motivation. I lost 100lb in a year.
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High functioning is all luck, my psychiatrist told me some get negative symptoms from meds while others don’t, it depends on body chemistry which decides how you will react to meds and how much negative symptoms will hit you.
She also had high intelligence before her sz and cognitive symptoms didn’t hit her hard.
Uh huh. Also did this with a heart crippled from birth, a serious spinal injury at age 23, and autism on top of it all. Last but not least, I didn’t have a family paying my bills and letting me live at home.
Yeah, I’m so much luckier than you with so many more advantages in life.
Dude I am talking about deficits in the brain, things you are talking about can be managed, brain deficits can’t be managed and are treatment resistant.
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I just hate people saying that things are as easy as just forcing yourself to do them, its not true for severe negative symptoms. Its like telling to someone with no legs to walk or to an intellectually disabled to solve complicated math problems.
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I wish I had a functional brain even if I was homeless, I would have found my way out.
You seem to have all the answers aziz.