Schizophrenia - General Discussion

What are your thoughts on people living with schizophrenia having children?
Do any of you have kids?

How much of an impact do you think a parent's diagnosis might have on their child?
Do you think there could be any long-term consequences?

Where do you all stand on the idea of those dealing with schizophrenia starting families?

I personally know quite a few people who grew up with a parent living with schizophrenia, and honestly, they turn out to be wonderful individuals. It’s tough, of course, watching a mother or father struggle with an illness, but these kids don't carry some sort of inherent dysfunction; they grow up to be completely well-adjusted, successful adults.
I also know two women who were under the care of psychiatrists during their pregnancies to manage medication, and everything went perfectly fine.
Then there are some older women I know who actually regret not choosing to have children back then because they were too worried about the medication risks.
Even though the media and medical community constantly harp on the genetic component and the risk of passing down schizophrenia, I suspect these children actually have a very high probability of staying healthy. It really seems to come down to the individual child. At the end of the day, you have all sorts of eccentric personalities raising kids, and frankly, anyone can become a parent. The modern obsession with creating this "perfect," hyper-idealized environment for child-rearing adds a layer of unnecessary pressure; if you're dealing with schizophrenia, you might feel like you're already failing the prerequisite checklist for modern parenting, which is a heavy burden to carry. How are you supposed to meet every single one of a child's needs when you're fighting your own battles? I’m certain these kids won't lack for love, but people tend to second-guess that because emotional blunting is one of the symptoms of the disorder.
Anything is possible 😉

I have two kids, a nine-year-old daughter and a seven-year-old son, both of whom seem perfectly fine, though my daughter did give me one genuine scare a while back, if I recall correctly mentioning that here.

My diagnosis is bipolar disorder, which carries a much stronger hereditary link than schizophrenia, and since I haven't had a schizophrenia diagnosis confirmed for quite some time, it’s pretty clear that the bipolar diagnosis essentially rules it out.

The issue isn't really about my own condition, but rather the rest of my family; I won't claim to be the most stable person in the room, but others in my lineage are difficult cases who refuse to seek treatment, whereas at least I am managing mine.

We will eventually sit the children down to explain everything, likely sooner rather than later, though I expect that conversation to happen maybe three or four years from now. My intention is to teach them how to recognize the warning signs so they can take action themselves, providing them with more practical insight than any random search on Google could ever offer.

Eric Mitchell55 said:What are your thoughts on people living with schizophrenia having children?
Do any of you have kids?

How much of an impact do you think a parent's diagnosis might have on their child?
Do you think there could be any long-term consequences?

Where do you all stand on the idea of those dealing with schizophrenia starting families?

Theoretically speaking—if just one parent has Sch, there's about a 10% chance the child will too. If both parents have it, that jumps up to nearly 50%.
Keep in mind that people living with Sch can be highly functional, so it really varies from person to person—it's hard to make broad strokes here.

Personally, I don't really support the idea of many "neurotypical" people having kids 🙄 but honestly, that’s just my own issue talking 😳 a highly functional person with Sch can actually be a great parent. They just need to be fully aware of the risk that their child might develop symptoms down the road.

Eric Gray2 said:Theoretically speaking—if just one parent has Sch, there's about a 10% chance the child will too. If both parents have it, that jumps up to nearly 50%.
Keep in mind that people living with Sch can be highly functional, so it really varies from person to person—it's hard to make broad strokes here.

Personally, I don't really support the idea of many "neurotypical" people having kids 🙄 but honestly, that’s just my own issue talking 😳 a highly functional person with Sch can actually be a great parent. They just need to be fully aware of the risk that their child might develop symptoms down the road.

Just to throw another thought in there—there isn't a single person on this planet who doesn't have at least one psychotic relative somewhere in their last seven generations. Basically, anyone could potentially have a child with psychosis.

David Vaughn75 said:Just to throw another thought in there—there isn't a single person on this planet who doesn't have at least one psychotic relative somewhere in their last seven generations. Basically, anyone could potentially have a child with psychosis.

I mean, obviously. Especially since these things are rarely black and white—it’s almost never just one isolated cause, and half the time, you can't even pin down what the actual trigger was.

Eric Gray2 said:I mean, obviously. Especially since these things are rarely black and white—it’s almost never just one isolated cause, and half the time, you can't even pin down what the actual trigger was.

Alright, let’s play devil’s advocate for a second and assume we aren't looking at a genetic blueprint here, but rather some traumatic event—or maybe a cascade of them—that fundamentally shifted someone's brain chemistry.
In theory, if specific circumstances triggered this chemical imbalance, shouldn't we be able to use specific circumstances to steer that chemistry back toward a baseline?

We already know this works through psychotherapy when dealing with "neurotypical" individuals.
If someone is living under constant pressure, the logical fix is to lower the stress levels, right?
What I'm getting at is that our brain chemistry reacts to every single thing that happens to us. So why does schizophrenia seem to be such an irreversible sentence?

Schizophrenia can push a person right to the fringes of society—straight into poverty—and I have to ask, what happens to a five or six-year-old kid in that situation?

You all keep talking about how you can "function perfectly fine" with schizophrenia, but if you ask me—and believe me, I know plenty of people dealing with this—maybe 10% of patients can actually pull that off, if even that.

When a friend of mine was trying to land a decent job recently, his crew started feeding him all this nonsense about me and my condition, and of course, he backed out. It’s the same old story: I'm already screwed from the jump, and I don't stand a prayer of getting hired just because I carry this diagnosis. So, what am I supposed to do—provide for kids? How am I supposed to feed them?

If I manage to even put food on my own table in this life, I'll consider it winning the lottery.

It isn't enough that I'm suffering through this garbage; apparently, I also have to be "crazy" and liable to owe someone something for no reason at all. Honestly, please—spare me the theorizing and the statistics, because real life is something else entirely.

And honestly, it’s pretty much common knowledge at this point that people who act completely unhinged are usually the ones solely responsible for their own madness. ☕

Larry Lewis said:Schizophrenia can push a person right to the fringes of society—straight into poverty—and I have to ask, what happens to a five or six-year-old kid in that situation?

You all keep talking about how you can "function perfectly fine" with schizophrenia, but if you ask me—and believe me, I know plenty of people dealing with this—maybe 10% of patients can actually pull that off, if even that.

When a friend of mine was trying to land a decent job recently, his crew started feeding him all this nonsense about me and my condition, and of course, he backed out. It’s the same old story: I'm already screwed from the jump, and I don't stand a prayer of getting hired just because I carry this diagnosis. So, what am I supposed to do—provide for kids? How am I supposed to feed them?

If I manage to even put food on my own table in this life, I'll consider it winning the lottery.

It isn't enough that I'm suffering through this garbage; apparently, I also have to be "crazy" and liable to owe someone something for no reason at all. Honestly, please—spare me the theorizing and the statistics, because real life is something else entirely.

We’re on a forum, after all. I’m just laying out some statistical data here. I truly am sorry that things are so rough for you right now, but I'm going to answer the question as it was actually asked—theoretically speaking.

Yeah, unfortunately, a huge percentage of people end up on the fringes of society—some because of their symptoms, others because of the stigma—but that isn't the only way a life with Sch can play out.

At the end of the day, we’re all just cogs in this massive, grinding machine—some of us happen to smell nice enough that the system harvests our essence to sell as overpriced luxury fragrances, while the rest of us? Well, the machine just flushes us down the drain like yesterday's trash.
I honestly have nothing but contempt for this entire concept of "civilization" and every soul-crushing thing humanity has ever managed to build—and don't even get me started on God; I have plenty of thoughts there, but I suspect the moderators would ban me before I could finish my sentence.

Just keep consuming and bowing down... Hallelujah!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbh5l0b2-0o

This is pretty much what I had in mind.

Larry Lewis said:At the end of the day, we’re all just cogs in this massive, grinding machine—some of us happen to smell nice enough that the system harvests our essence to sell as overpriced luxury fragrances, while the rest of us? Well, the machine just flushes us down the drain like yesterday's trash.
I honestly have nothing but contempt for this entire concept of "civilization" and every soul-crushing thing humanity has ever managed to build—and don't even get me started on God; I have plenty of thoughts there, but I suspect the moderators would ban me before I could finish my sentence.

Just keep consuming and bowing down... Hallelujah!

It’s truly a shame that a whole crowd of people will read this and immediately think, "Oh man, this guy has completely lost his mind."
A person is simply allowed to express an opinion. 😛

Noah Garcia4 said:It’s truly a shame that a whole crowd of people will read this and immediately think, "Oh man, this guy has completely lost his mind."
A person is simply allowed to express an opinion. 😛

I'm not crazy—perish the thought—I actually have full-blown schizophrenia... or whatever it is you're implying, I haven't the slightest clue what you're getting at myself.😉

Larry Lewis said:I'm not crazy—perish the thought—I actually have full-blown schizophrenia... or whatever it is you're implying, I haven't the slightest clue what you're getting at myself.😉

Well, you aren't exactly a complete idiot, are you? 🤣 😉

Noah Garcia4 said:Alright, let’s play devil’s advocate for a second and assume we aren't looking at a genetic blueprint here, but rather some traumatic event—or maybe a cascade of them—that fundamentally shifted someone's brain chemistry.
In theory, if specific circumstances triggered this chemical imbalance, shouldn't we be able to use specific circumstances to steer that chemistry back toward a baseline?

We already know this works through psychotherapy when dealing with "neurotypical" individuals.
If someone is living under constant pressure, the logical fix is to lower the stress levels, right?
What I'm getting at is that our brain chemistry reacts to every single thing that happens to us. So why does schizophrenia seem to be such an irreversible sentence?

Stressful events might crank up the odds of sliding into psychosis, but they aren't the actual cause.

It's kind of like how having a bunch of different sexual partners increases your risk of catching an STI, but the behavior itself isn't the disease—the virus is what actually makes you sick.

David Vaughn75 said:Stressful events might crank up the odds of sliding into psychosis, but they aren't the actual cause.

It's kind of like how having a bunch of different sexual partners increases your risk of catching an STI, but the behavior itself isn't the disease—the virus is what actually makes you sick.

I was under the impression that any significant event effectively rewires your brain chemistry.

Noah Garcia4 said:I was under the impression that any significant event effectively rewires your brain chemistry.

Look, what I was trying to get at is that science still hasn't actually pinned down the exact trigger for psychosis

We all know there's a genetic component—it runs in families—and obviously, massive stress spikes the odds, but the actual "why" behind the onset? That's still pretty much a giant question mark

David Vaughn75 said:Look, what I was trying to get at is that science still hasn't actually pinned down the exact trigger for psychosis

We all know there's a genetic component—it runs in families—and obviously, massive stress spikes the odds, but the actual "why" behind the onset? That's still pretty much a giant question mark

I’m well aware that science doesn't have a definitive answer for what causes psychosis. However, the consensus is that brain chemistry becomes "imbalanced."

My point is simply that the brain is an engine that never stops running, constantly churning through chemical reactions.

If you look closely, the brains of someone experiencing psychosis and a "neurotypical" person aren't worlds apart; there's significant overlap there.

This isn't some radical theory I cooked up—it's just the reality of the situation, much like the documented case of John Nash. It's just how it works. 😉

Setting aside all the talk about alternative medicine or finding a way to eliminate the trigger and heal completely, we have to remember that brain chemistry is active every single day, even when someone is in remission. 🍿

Noah Garcia4 said:Well, you aren't exactly a complete idiot, are you? 🤣 😉

Stupid?? How dare you even suggest such a thing!!🙂

If I actually sat down to catalog every single idiomatic blunder and lapse in judgment I've committed throughout my life—really took the time to audit them—I’d probably be stuck thinking about it
for at least a week straight.