Schizophrenia - General Discussion

Just stay chill, folks—take your meds if you need them, it’s a lifelong thing, no biggie.
I know people who have been on stuff for 40 years and still make it to a great old age, while others... well, you know how it goes.
You can't really change reality—you either accept it or you fight it head-on like a man.
NEVER GIVE UP,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Larry Howard8 said:I didn't mean literal fairytales,
I was just talking about relationships...

I totally get what you mean. Honestly, I spent plenty of time living in that romanticized relationship bubble myself—though, to be fair, I was actually reading fairy tales while doing it.

Quick question—how do you actually tell the difference between being imaginative and having schizophrenia? I tend to escape into my own head a lot, just constant daydreaming. Sometimes the lines get blurry with reality, though I think I still know where the edge is... hopefully. Over the years, though, that boundary feels like it’s getting thinner. Plus, I deal with these random, disconnected thoughts that just pop up out of nowhere. My brain basically runs ten different tracks at once. Not to mention that total high I get when I’m lost in a fantasy. I’m struggling to figure out where creativity ends and actual illness begins. Where does being "weird" stop and being sick start?
If anyone can weigh in, that would be huge...

Thomas Rogers87 said:Quick question—how do you actually tell the difference between being imaginative and having schizophrenia? I tend to escape into my own head a lot, just constant daydreaming. Sometimes the lines get blurry with reality, though I think I still know where the edge is... hopefully. Over the years, though, that boundary feels like it’s getting thinner. Plus, I deal with these random, disconnected thoughts that just pop up out of nowhere. My brain basically runs ten different tracks at once. Not to mention that total high I get when I’m lost in a fantasy. I’m struggling to figure out where creativity ends and actual illness begins. Where does being "weird" stop and being sick start?
If anyone can weigh in, that would be huge...

Use that as your metric. As long as you maintain the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy, you are fine.

Don't get too caught up in the debates. Honestly, when you're in the middle of a mental health crisis, it's all about balance. I always say you should pair your medication with your faith—especially if you're Catholic. For me, combining medicine with things like Holy Communion and Anointing of the Sick makes a world of difference. It’s like giving your soul a little extra boost alongside the prescription. I swear by it! No matter what kind of illness you're facing, just keep the faith and see how much better you feel...

Sending my love to my buddies, Duke and Zack!

I actually posted this earlier under the Health—Urgent Treatment—Schizophrenia thread, but I noticed there’s way more discussion happening here and plenty of people sharing their experiences with this illness—so I’ll just copy-paste it.

Please, I am begging for advice, help, anything at all!! My younger brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia by his primary care physician. It all started about 12 years ago when he completely shut himself away at home—he wouldn't leave his room, stopped practicing basic hygiene, and refused to speak to anyone. He basically spiraled for five years. Then, after those five years, he started claiming he could hear voices—voices that would actually answer his questions—and he'd spend hours staring at walls, talking to them. His behavior shifted suddenly—hysterical laughter, outbursts of rage, this terrifying look in his eyes. He started making strange facial expressions, making threats about killing everyone, and developing these odd physical tics... chasing goals that have absolutely nothing to do with reality.

I have to mention that he lives with his mother, who insists he is perfectly fine and just ignores everything he's going through. She has completely neglected him—she only thinks about herself and how he makes her look. It is incredibly selfish! She's ashamed that her son is like this because she doesn't want her coworkers at her job to know she has a son suffering from schizophrenia. For all these years, we've been trying to convince her to help him. We went to see doctors, but everyone tells us the same thing—that she is the only one who can take action—but the problem is, she simply refuses to.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Is it truly possible that our hands are tied? We can't just sit by and watch him fall apart. I honestly feel like she ruined his life—if she had gotten him professional help sooner, maybe he could have pulled through.

To make matters even worse, about a year ago, she sold the house (which was falling apart anyway) because she was drowning in debt. We bought the place from her and gave her $85,000, which she blew through in a single year—not once did she buy a simple shirt for her poor son. Last week, she was evicted from her rental because she ran out of money to pay the rent. She managed to secure herself a spot in corporate housing, yet she left her own son out on the street to sleep. We had no idea—we just stumbled upon him sleeping on a park bench. We were absolutely shell-shocked. We paid for a hostel for him for a week, but they kicked him out. We can't take him into our home because we're scared—we have small children, and we're terrified he might hurt them during one of his episodes.

We went to the police, but they just tell us that since the mother is his guardian, she is the only one who can do something.
God, what kind of law is that! PLEASE, I am asking one more time for some advice.

Look, honey, unfortunately, you can't just force him into the hospital, and even if you call the cops, they aren't going to haul him off there either. According to the law here in the States, they can only step in and mandate hospitalization once someone actually starts making threats or putting people in danger through physical attacks or something similar.

It’s such a brainless law, honestly! 👎 Your best bet is to try and coax him into going to the psychiatric ER voluntarily before he ends up hurting himself or someone else. And man, I don't even know what to say about his mother... she isn't a mother, she's a complete monster. Even animals treat their young better than that woman does. 🙂 🤮

Robert Collins2 said:Look, honey, unfortunately, you can't just force him into the hospital, and even if you call the cops, they aren't going to haul him off there either. According to the law here in the States, they can only step in and mandate hospitalization once someone actually starts making threats or putting people in danger through physical attacks or something similar.

It’s such a brainless law, honestly! 👎 Your best bet is to try and coax him into going to the psychiatric ER voluntarily before he ends up hurting himself or someone else. And man, I don't even know what to say about his mother... she isn't a mother, she's a complete monster. Even animals treat their young better than that woman does. 🙂 🤮

It's crazy how animals treat their offspring. Like with hamsters, a mother might eat a sick pup just so it doesn't jeopardize the rest of the litter, or most mothers will just kick their young out of the nest the second they become independent.😁

Man, how old is this guy even? How is it possible that you can't take him to a psychiatric facility to get an official diagnosis? If it turns out he's truly incapable of looking after himself, it's only logical that he stays hospitalized. 🤷
I mean, hospitals shouldn't be allowed to just dump someone with a diagnosis like that back onto the streets. That seems pretty messed up to me...

Look, the cops can't just swoop in and "forcibly detain" him, and even if his family tries to talk them into taking him away, they won't budge unless he's making an immediate, direct threat to someone's life. I know exactly what I’m talking about here—a close friend's brother deals with schizophrenia, and it's brutal. He’ll go all night without sleeping, singing at the top of his lungs in the middle of the street or pounding on the neighbors' windows like crazy. His family has called 911 more times than I can count, but honestly, the police can't do a damn thing until he actually hurts someone or starts targeting himself...

When I said those kids were being eaten up, I was using a figure of speech. I fully realize that some parents actually do end up destroying their own children; it isn't just some grand revolution that devours them... ☕

Anonymous said:It's crazy how animals treat their offspring. Like with hamsters, a mother might eat a sick pup just so it doesn't jeopardize the rest of the litter, or most mothers will just kick their young out of the nest the second they become independent.😁

Man, how old is this guy even? How is it possible that you can't take him to a psychiatric facility to get an official diagnosis? If it turns out he's truly incapable of looking after himself, it's only logical that he stays hospitalized. 🤷
I mean, hospitals shouldn't be allowed to just dump someone with a diagnosis like that back onto the streets. That seems pretty messed up to me...

He's 30. We actually tried to trick him into going to the ER once, but he caught on immediately when he saw the psychiatric ward sign; he started threatening everyone and refused to get out of the car. We went looking for hospital staff to help, but they told us they didn't have the authority to intervene outside the building—apparently, we need the police for that. So, we filed a report, and the cops even showed up once, but since his "mother" works at the local precinct and everyone knows her, she just politely sent them home, claiming it was all a misunderstanding and asking them not to come back and bother her.

We're just stuck—there's absolutely nothing we can do to get him in front of a specialist for an evaluation.

Then you’re basically stuck with zero options but to just sit there and watch him spiral, watching him hit rock bottom and suffer through it all until pure desperation finally kicks his ass into gear and forces him to actually seek help. And the worst part is, there’s a way out, there's actual treatment available, so it just kills me seeing him struggle like this when it doesn't even have to be this way... it's just so damn unnecessary.

Man, this is heavy...
I wouldn't even chime in if I hadn't personally gone through what it's like having someone in the family struggle with this.
Even though this is just the internet and we're all anonymous, it's still kind of tough for me to talk about today.
Back then, I didn't even realize what was actually happening. When I was little, they’d explain things to me by saying certain injections were just "vitamins," and I didn't find out the truth about what they really were until much later on.
Even back then, there were these weird moments—episodes where they'd get paranoid, thinking everyone was out to get them, like the whole world was against them. It ended... really badly. Tragically.
How it happened or how things got to that point, honestly, I still don't get it. I don't know if I ever will. It's just a lot of shock and disbelief.
I remember spending hours upon hours, nights upon nights, just trying to be there—giving advice, staying calm, just trying my best to be a support system during all those crises. And yet, it still ended in tragedy.
Sometimes I wonder if any of it was my fault, but then I realize there's no magic wand for this stuff. All I could do was give everything I had to help, try to cheer them up, and just hope for the best.
We were different people, you know? Even though we were close blood relatives, I was raised from day one to believe you have to fight for everything in life. Everything I've achieved, I worked for—grit, sweat, pure stubbornness. Nothing was ever handed to me on a silver platter. I can't say my childhood or early years were exactly a dream, but I guess through all that struggle, I grew a thick skin. Things are pretty okay now, thankfully, so I'm not complaining. Not that I'm trying to brag or anything, I just mention it because that person was my complete opposite.
They grew up in a wealthy family, everything served on a silver platter, but they ran with the wrong crowd when they were younger and struggled with drinking—a slow slide into alcoholism that lasted a lifetime.
Personally, I think that was part of why things kept getting worse.
No real goals in life, just drifting around, which meant there was way too much empty time for the illness to take hold.
It went from minor episodes to a total, sudden explosion of symptoms that culminated in that tragic end. Whether it was building up over years or just one massive "flare-up"... man, I truly don't know.

Looking back on it now, I don't even know what to tell you guys. This subject is just brutal. First off, to anyone out there struggling right now: please, don't give up. Don't let the illness run your life; you need to be the one driving it. Even if society feels pretty judgmental or primitive sometimes, don't let that push you into a depression so deep that you start thinking about the worst.
And don't ever feel like you're cast aside. We're all just tiny little fish in a massive ocean. No matter how small or insignificant you might feel, every single person matters. Especially to your family and the ones who love you most.
Life can be harsh and ugly, but you gotta look for the bright spots.
There are so many little things that can lift your spirits. Just think about something small that you love, and I bet—no matter how dark it feels—it'll bring at least a tiny smile to your face. Let that little smile be what carries you forward.
Don't bury yourself. Live a little. Open a window. No matter how gray the sky looks, try to find a little sliver of sunlight peeking through.🙂
Don't stress about what people will say. Don't worry about whether people will think you're "crazy," or if they'll judge you or look down on you.
Man, pffft... who cares? As long as you're finding your own happiness, don't waste energy on people who don't appreciate you.
Find something to do. Get a hobby, find something that makes you happy.
Find your purpose.
Don't let the illness take control, or end up facing a tragic end like we did.
(Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm just speaking from my own experience and what I've felt.)
Believe me, your family will suffer the most. And it's not because they're ashamed of you—it's the 21st century, medicine has come a long way—it's because they love you. For you, and for the sake of everyone who holds you dear.
Stand up for yourselves, look out for the people you care about, and just... don't quit.
I know things get heavy, really heavy, but running away isn't gonna fix a damn thing. It’s not an option. You've gotta face the music, stay gritty, and find that inner strength to actually beat the problem instead of dodging it.
Think of life's hurdles as challenges to tackle, not just reasons to feel defeated.
They're always gonna show up. That's just how it goes. It's normal.
I always try to live by that old saying—what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Pretty cliché, I know, but it works.

Just sending some good vibes your way late at night 🙂

Basically just copying and pasting my previous post here too...
"From what I can tell, there are plenty of you with more experience than me... so I'm looking for some advice...
How do you convince the rest of the family—and the patient themselves—that medication is actually necessary? Like, how do you prove that pharmacotherapy actually works after they've lived with a diagnosis for 10 years?
It's my brother I'm dealing with, but my whole family is struggling to accept it. It’s not even necessarily the diagnosis itself, but more about how they define schizophrenia and the whole idea of treating it.
Things have been escalating again lately... we've had outbursts at home, and the tension has been building for a week straight. We're all just sitting there waiting for the next explosion.
I feel like I'm losing my mind because I don't know how to explain the reality of this to them, and honestly, my nerves are shot from the constant aggression and just waiting for the worst to happen.
I'm seriously at a loss for words... I'm beyond desperate at this point!
Please, if anyone has advice—for families or for the patients themselves—I need it!"
Since I posted that last time, we've already gone through two full episodes. During the first one, Mom insisted she wouldn't let him go to the hospital, so he didn't see a doctor at all. For a few days after that, he seemed totally fine... he even went out for coffee with friends... until everything started spiraling again. It was this slow build of aggressive behavior until he finally snapped, trashed half the apartment, threw stuff out the window, and threatened to throw both himself and our parents right out of it. He was even demanding self-mutilation... and he physically attacked both of my parents during the chaos.
This time, we had to call 911 and the police (because the paramedics wouldn't come without backup since he was being so violent). He ended up being hospitalized. The worst part is that Mom still thinks doctors are useless and that all they do is push pills without understanding anything. She's convinced his issues stem from her not giving him enough love when he was a toddler because she was stressed and depressed back then. She thinks anyone who disagrees is just projecting their own childhood trauma onto the situation. Lately, I'm starting to wonder if she's hitting a breaking point herself... maybe she's having a psychotic break too... or maybe it's already happening?! 😕
If anyone knows a good psychiatrist or a support group, please let me know!

Thomas Rogers87 said:Quick question—how do you actually tell the difference between being imaginative and having schizophrenia? I tend to escape into my own head a lot, just constant daydreaming. Sometimes the lines get blurry with reality, though I think I still know where the edge is... hopefully. Over the years, though, that boundary feels like it’s getting thinner. Plus, I deal with these random, disconnected thoughts that just pop up out of nowhere. My brain basically runs ten different tracks at once. Not to mention that total high I get when I’m lost in a fantasy. I’m struggling to figure out where creativity ends and actual illness begins. Where does being "weird" stop and being sick start?
If anyone can weigh in, that would be huge...

How to tell imagination from schizo? Easy. As long as you're aware you're just daydreaming, and you feel like you can spot the boundary, then you aren't drifting too far into actual mental illness. With schizophrenia, those worlds—the fantasy and the reality—get tangled up. Most patients can't tell what's what; they lose themselves in the mess and can't find the line you're talking about. It's like when people talk about "borderline" cases—it's that red line between neurosis and psychosis. Those patients are usually a therapist's worst nightmare because even if meds help a little, it's hard to actually steer them back to safety.

Thomas Martinez said:I actually posted this earlier under the Health—Urgent Treatment—Schizophrenia thread, but I noticed there’s way more discussion happening here and plenty of people sharing their experiences with this illness—so I’ll just copy-paste it.

Please, I am begging for advice, help, anything at all!! My younger brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia by his primary care physician. It all started about 12 years ago when he completely shut himself away at home—he wouldn't leave his room, stopped practicing basic hygiene, and refused to speak to anyone. He basically spiraled for five years. Then, after those five years, he started claiming he could hear voices—voices that would actually answer his questions—and he'd spend hours staring at walls, talking to them. His behavior shifted suddenly—hysterical laughter, outbursts of rage, this terrifying look in his eyes. He started making strange facial expressions, making threats about killing everyone, and developing these odd physical tics... chasing goals that have absolutely nothing to do with reality.

I have to mention that he lives with his mother, who insists he is perfectly fine and just ignores everything he's going through. She has completely neglected him—she only thinks about herself and how he makes her look. It is incredibly selfish! She's ashamed that her son is like this because she doesn't want her coworkers at her job to know she has a son suffering from schizophrenia. For all these years, we've been trying to convince her to help him. We went to see doctors, but everyone tells us the same thing—that she is the only one who can take action—but the problem is, she simply refuses to.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? Is it truly possible that our hands are tied? We can't just sit by and watch him fall apart. I honestly feel like she ruined his life—if she had gotten him professional help sooner, maybe he could have pulled through.

To make matters even worse, about a year ago, she sold the house (which was falling apart anyway) because she was drowning in debt. We bought the place from her and gave her $85,000, which she blew through in a single year—not once did she buy a simple shirt for her poor son. Last week, she was evicted from her rental because she ran out of money to pay the rent. She managed to secure herself a spot in corporate housing, yet she left her own son out on the street to sleep. We had no idea—we just stumbled upon him sleeping on a park bench. We were absolutely shell-shocked. We paid for a hostel for him for a week, but they kicked him out. We can't take him into our home because we're scared—we have small children, and we're terrified he might hurt them during one of his episodes.

We went to the police, but they just tell us that since the mother is his guardian, she is the only one who can do something.
God, what kind of law is that! PLEASE, I am asking one more time for some advice.

Man, I honestly find it hard to believe what you're writing. A damn old woman with a conservative streak who acts like an angel in public but is a wreck underneath. Where are social services or various non-profits? Have you tried going through them?
The kid likely has schizophrenia, which often shows up during puberty. If it isn't genetic—meaning someone in the family had it before—then it's just bad luck. Since he's a minor, or even if he were an adult, he'd basically be a second-class citizen under the thumb of his "devoted" mother. Because of the unpredictability that comes with this illness, his signature doesn't legally mean anything, so unfortunately, "Mommy" gets to call the shots—except she calls them by doing nothing. Maybe she lives in a small town and is just terrified of the stigma, which is why she hides his condition while he rapidly deteriorates. People, please, do something. It's not the dark ages anymore. Try reaching out to a local priest or a charity, or maybe a group like a halfway house that handles mental health patients. Time is running out, and staying in that nest won't help him.
Good luck!
Later.

I’ve got a question since I didn't have the patience to slog through all 200 pages. 😳

Has anyone here dealt with someone suffering from acute schizophrenia who actually believes they are God? Are people like this a danger to those around them, and is institutionalization mandatory no matter what?

Thanks.

So, that’s basically one of the classic ways this specific type of schizophrenia shows up... some studies actually suggest that only about 10% of people dealing with schizophrenia are even a danger to those around them. It doesn't mean someone needs to be tossed straight into a psych ward immediately, but getting ahead of it—like, seeing a psychiatrist sooner rather than later—is huge. If you just sit on it and do nothing, things tend to spiral... and eventually, you hit that point where hospitalization becomes unavoidable. Either way, dragging your feet on getting help just makes the whole recovery process take way longer than it should...

My brother was hospitalized about three years ago after being diagnosed with acute schizophrenia.
He ended up staying in the hospital for roughly three months.
Before all that went down, he had this week or two where he was just wildly manic—always partying, totally wired, just overflowing with energy. But in those last few days right before he got admitted, things took a dark turn. He started saying the weirdest stuff, claiming people were following him, telling us he knew exactly what we were thinking, that he could read our minds. He started seeing these "dark figures" too, insisting we had to burn everything black in the house—clothes, trinkets, everything. His eyes... man, his look was so terrifying I was actually scared to even meet his gaze.
The day before they finally checked him in, he just vanished. He left his phone and his cash behind, hopped in his car, and drove it straight into a creek because he genuinely believed he could fly over it.
When the police showed up, he wouldn't say a word. They took him to the hospital, but nobody told us where he was for a day and a half. We were losing our minds calling every hospital in the state, the cops, neighbors, friends... you name it.

To make a long story short, he kept taking his meds for about three months after getting out, but then he decided he didn't need them anymore. Since then, he’s been fine for three years.
He got a job, fixed up his car, keeps the house tidy... things seemed back to normal.
But a couple of days ago, the behavior started shifting again. He had some drama with his girlfriend—they haven't been together long—and yesterday, he disappeared again. He wrecked his car, and we had no clue where he was until just now.
The police called and said he's wandering around somewhere, completely disoriented and lost. On top of that, he wandered into someone else's house, which led to a reported break-in.
My parents have headed down to the police station to go get him.
What are we supposed to do at this point? Please, if anyone has advice, I'm all ears...

Amy Hughes said:My brother was hospitalized about three years ago after being diagnosed with acute schizophrenia.
He ended up staying in the hospital for roughly three months.
Before all that went down, he had this week or two where he was just wildly manic—always partying, totally wired, just overflowing with energy. But in those last few days right before he got admitted, things took a dark turn. He started saying the weirdest stuff, claiming people were following him, telling us he knew exactly what we were thinking, that he could read our minds. He started seeing these "dark figures" too, insisting we had to burn everything black in the house—clothes, trinkets, everything. His eyes... man, his look was so terrifying I was actually scared to even meet his gaze.
The day before they finally checked him in, he just vanished. He left his phone and his cash behind, hopped in his car, and drove it straight into a creek because he genuinely believed he could fly over it.
When the police showed up, he wouldn't say a word. They took him to the hospital, but nobody told us where he was for a day and a half. We were losing our minds calling every hospital in the state, the cops, neighbors, friends... you name it.

To make a long story short, he kept taking his meds for about three months after getting out, but then he decided he didn't need them anymore. Since then, he’s been fine for three years.
He got a job, fixed up his car, keeps the house tidy... things seemed back to normal.
But a couple of days ago, the behavior started shifting again. He had some drama with his girlfriend—they haven't been together long—and yesterday, he disappeared again. He wrecked his car, and we had no clue where he was until just now.
The police called and said he's wandering around somewhere, completely disoriented and lost. On top of that, he wandered into someone else's house, which led to a reported break-in.
My parents have headed down to the police station to go get him.
What are we supposed to do at this point? Please, if anyone has advice, I'm all ears...

hey 🙂 reading this... I feel you. 🙂 My mom is going through something similar... different diagnosis, but honestly, it just depends on whatever label the psychiatrist throws at you. My advice? Don't let him go. I have moments where I just hate my own mother because of how she acts—moments where I want to just walk away and never look back—but she's sick. She isn't responsible for her actions. As hard as it is to deal with them, trust me, it's worse for them in those state facilities where nobody actually cares about them properly.
Also, I don't know how old your brother is or where you guys are located, but he needs therapy at least once a month. And he cannot, under any circumstances, stop the meds. He NEEDS them, even if he refuses to admit it to himself. That’s the worst part. I'm going through hell right now because my mom is struggling and I'm lost, which is why I ended up on this forum looking for answers... everything is falling apart because she refuses treatment. She just won't accept she needs help.
I'm telling you, without therapy—like, actual monthly sessions with a psychiatrist to track his headspace—and the pills, there won't be any progress. It's non-negotiable.
And now that things have turned south again... listen, get him back into the hospital before it hits a breaking point. Just be there for him. I'm crossing my fingers for you. Keep me posted.🙂

physics 28

There is no such thing as an acute case of schizophrenia.😉 Schizophrenia is unfortunately a severe, chronic condition; however, symptoms, relapses, treatment responses, and remission periods vary significantly from person to person. There is such a thing as an acute, transient psychotic disorder, which I assume is what was actually occurring, based on your brother's behavior and symptom description.
Given that the illness has "returned" and his actions have endangered both his own life and the lives of others, he will likely face criminal charges as well as hospitalization—which may be involuntary, as all legal criteria for such measures have been met.
Following hospitalization, continuous outpatient monitoring and strict medication adherence are essential. Since this is a recurring psychotic episode, he is now a definitive candidate for long-term antipsychotic therapy. If he refuses to take his medication, or if you suspect he is lying about compliance, look into depot injections. For instance, Constance (a depot version of Risperdal) is now being added to the formulary and can be obtained via prescription.