#7341 ·
If you could actually provide some financial stability to someone living with schizophrenia, they’d be better off immediately—but what does "financial stability" even mean? Having some kind of steady income if you're unemployed? Honestly, back when I had zero income, my episodes were way worse than they are now that I have something coming in. Even though, because of how we handled things, we're sitting in debt right now. If I'd had a regular check coming in, we could have just paid the utility bills and wouldn't be facing this massive hole. Our debt is about one-fifth of our house's value. We managed to shave about 10% off it recently, mostly by dealing with those collectors who were actually threatening to seize the property and kick us out.
The three of us were basically surviving on minimum Social Security. Luckily, my mom used to work and still does; she's always figured a way to keep us afloat, and now she's supporting both me and herself. My own benefits wouldn't even come close to covering the household expenses.
I've been doing pretty well for almost two years straight. Every once in a while, something hits me—I don't know how to describe it... it isn't an episode, it isn't anxiety, it's more like this crushing sense of guilt or sickness. It gets so bad I feel like I'm breathing fire or I start hitting myself in the head, hurling insults at myself.
Every case of schizophrenia is different, much like autism, and there's a link between them. Some institute discovered it recently. A lot of people who had milder forms of autism ended up developing schizophrenia later in life.
There’s a reason "schizophrenia" translates to a "split mind." We have to live with this and fight it just like any other illness, or anything else in life, really. Unfortunately, we're stuck dealing with this crap.
For me personally, several different things probably contributed to the diagnosis. I had penicillin in my system as a kid, I dealt with seizures... it's possible the seeds of schizophrenia were planted early on, and then things spiraled when my liver and vision started failing.
Look, I'm no genius—I don't claim to be—I'm just saying what I've read, what I've realized, and what I've gathered about this disease so far. I might be wrong.
I don't know.
The three of us were basically surviving on minimum Social Security. Luckily, my mom used to work and still does; she's always figured a way to keep us afloat, and now she's supporting both me and herself. My own benefits wouldn't even come close to covering the household expenses.
I've been doing pretty well for almost two years straight. Every once in a while, something hits me—I don't know how to describe it... it isn't an episode, it isn't anxiety, it's more like this crushing sense of guilt or sickness. It gets so bad I feel like I'm breathing fire or I start hitting myself in the head, hurling insults at myself.
Every case of schizophrenia is different, much like autism, and there's a link between them. Some institute discovered it recently. A lot of people who had milder forms of autism ended up developing schizophrenia later in life.
There’s a reason "schizophrenia" translates to a "split mind." We have to live with this and fight it just like any other illness, or anything else in life, really. Unfortunately, we're stuck dealing with this crap.
For me personally, several different things probably contributed to the diagnosis. I had penicillin in my system as a kid, I dealt with seizures... it's possible the seeds of schizophrenia were planted early on, and then things spiraled when my liver and vision started failing.
Look, I'm no genius—I don't claim to be—I'm just saying what I've read, what I've realized, and what I've gathered about this disease so far. I might be wrong.
I don't know.
