Schizophrenia - General Discussion

Larry Lewis said:Yes, that’s exactly what I meant when I used the word "healing"—though, looking back, maybe that was an optimistic choice of words. I decided to cut my dosage in half just to see what would happen—purely out of curiosity, I suppose—and by the fourth or fifth day, things had already gone south. It wasn't even about whether I was actually taking the pills or not; it was more about the temperament... I didn't find myself cursing at the walls or losing my cool like I usually do during those few days, but let me tell you, it certainly wasn't "better."🙂
So, there you have it—the brain is broken, and that’s just the cold, hard reality of the situation. It’s all very simple, really, if you can stomach the simplicity of it—though I suspect most people find the whole thing far too complex to actually face. One's mind malfunctions, the gears grind to a halt, and suddenly you're left staring at the wreckage of your own cognitive processes. It’s a grim business, isn't it? Just... that's it. End of story.😢

I’m sticking to the milligram dosage exactly as my doctor prescribed. Right now, I’ve actually tapered down to about one-fifth of what I was taking when I first started this treatment. Why the drastic change? Well, it turns out you need a massive initial dose just to get the body to actually "accept" the medication—anyone who has navigated this territory knows exactly what I'm talking about. Over the course of two years, I’ve managed to scale down this antipsychotic from 6mg all the way down to 1mg. For the moment, things are holding steady, but if the stability slips, we'll probably have to bump the dosage back up.

Noah Garcia4 said:I’m sticking to the milligram dosage exactly as my doctor prescribed. Right now, I’ve actually tapered down to about one-fifth of what I was taking when I first started this treatment. Why the drastic change? Well, it turns out you need a massive initial dose just to get the body to actually "accept" the medication—anyone who has navigated this territory knows exactly what I'm talking about. Over the course of two years, I’ve managed to scale down this antipsychotic from 6mg all the way down to 1mg. For the moment, things are holding steady, but if the stability slips, we'll probably have to bump the dosage back up.

Which antipsychotic are you talking about?

Noah Garcia4 said:I officially filed my divorce papers today at the Los Angeles County Superior Court 🙂 ☕

Good for you! You're being so incredibly brave, lady. 👍 Hang in there...

So, what’s the deal with him? Has he even shown his face yet?

Chloe Lewis4 said:How can you not know if you had schizophrenia? Were you experiencing auditory or visual hallucinations and those types of symptoms back then?http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publi...ophrenia.shtml?
On another note, I'm seeing a girl with Bipolar disorder. How should I handle this? She seems pretty promiscuous.

I am no doctor, so I cannot say for certain whether it was schizophrenia or something else entirely. A whole string of doctors from various hospitals couldn't reach a consensus on the diagnosis—whether it was schizophrenia or just psychosis, and which specific subtype fell under which category. You don't establish a diagnosis using textbooks, the internet, or those kinds of questionnaires. Not everyone can do that unless they are a physician, and even then, doctors often struggle with it.
Furthermore, I never once experienced auditory hallucinations. No one was whispering instructions to me or predicting the future. However, none of that mattered to the doctors; they were convinced it was schizophrenia regardless.
I did have visual hallucinations, though that wasn't the primary issue. The core problem was the delusions—that state where you believe something is true despite there being zero evidence, such as my belief that people were trying to kill me in a gruesome way, specifically by crucifying me like Jesus. In that moment, I transitioned from being just "crazy" to being "dangerous," necessitating an immediate emergency hospitalization so I wouldn't attack a stranger on the street.
Later on, I dealt with a series of other delusions that felt perfectly rational to me, supported by what seemed like overwhelming evidence. Of course, none of it was real.
The delusions subsided after about two months, which served as the main indicator that I was improving and might be released soon; they let me out in less than three weeks.
Delusions are a common symptom in both schizophrenia and psychosis. Some psychiatrists will diagnose psychosis first and adjust later, while others lead with schizophrenia and pivot if necessary. At least, that’s how it worked about twenty years ago.
Regarding the girl with Bipolar, just try it and see where things go. People don't usually call it "promiscuity"; it's more like hypersexuality, which is a known symptom of both Bipolar and schizophrenia if memory serves. Personally, I stopped counting the women I slept with a long time ago, yet I also had three serious partners, including my ex-wife, whom I never cheated on. My ex-wife and I were together for fifteen years, which is longer than many "normal" people spend in their entire lives. We have two great kids, and everything was fine.
Bipolar manifests differently in everyone; I, for instance, am quite stable. I have no idea what her specific situation is. My own experiences with women from the psychiatric ward were mostly negative. They were always easy to talk to and hang out with because they were the only ones willing to grab a drink with me, but I never managed to sustain any kind of relationship, even something casual, with them—and I'm talking about women who had recently been hospitalized.
If she is doing well—meaning she stays on her medication and isn't constantly being admitted to the hospital—then why not? A relationship can work just fine. If it weighs on you, you can ask her about her diagnosis or any struggles she wants to share. If you are serious about her, it is better to ask upfront so you know what you are getting into.
If you are only looking for sex, it is probably better to steer clear. Even if she is sexually active with many people, you could end up hurting her deeply when you leave. Honestly, before you dive into anything serious, find out what her condition entails and whether you are actually equipped to handle it.

Larry Lewis said:Yes, that’s exactly what I meant when I used the word "healing"—though, looking back, maybe that was an optimistic choice of words. I decided to cut my dosage in half just to see what would happen—purely out of curiosity, I suppose—and by the fourth or fifth day, things had already gone south. It wasn't even about whether I was actually taking the pills or not; it was more about the temperament... I didn't find myself cursing at the walls or losing my cool like I usually do during those few days, but let me tell you, it certainly wasn't "better."🙂
So, there you have it—the brain is broken, and that’s just the cold, hard reality of the situation. It’s all very simple, really, if you can stomach the simplicity of it—though I suspect most people find the whole thing far too complex to actually face. One's mind malfunctions, the gears grind to a halt, and suddenly you're left staring at the wreckage of your own cognitive processes. It’s a grim business, isn't it? Just... that's it. End of story.😢

I maintain my position that I am fully recovered, a fact that aligns perfectly with the current official psychiatric consensus in America.

After I finally stopped taking my last antipsychotic, Rexulti, I went a full decade without any medication at all. It wasn't an issue, and I met every single requirement to be considered fully recovered.
When I finally sat down with a psychiatrist after ten years of being off medication, it wasn't actually because of schizophrenia or psychosis; it was the OCD that drove me to psychotherapy. After about two or three years of that, a different doctor diagnosed me with Bipolar and switched my treatment from the initial prescriptions to Lithium.
There is a theoretical possibility that I have been living with Bipolar disorder all along and that my bouts of psychosis were simply an inherent part of it, yet no psychiatrist practicing today seems willing to acknowledge or even entertain that notion. According to official medical consensus, too much time has elapsed between individual episodes for them to be considered connected.
I also know that they used my case for years at Mayo Clinic, where I spent most of my time, to give lectures—naturally without mentioning my name—and to explain how this condition can actually be cured, given that Mayo Clinic is the primary teaching hospital for the Medical School and the place where every psychiatry resident completes their training.
It isn’t strictly true that once you start on antipsychotics, you are condemned to take them for the rest of your life. I went through just about every medication available twenty years ago, yet after I finally stopped everything, I remained perfectly fine. Lithium isn't an antipsychotic either, and it actually offers some neuroprotective benefits, much like how calcium supports bone density.
I find it impossible to wrap my head around this particular line of reasoning that suggests medication essentially functions as a tool for brain destruction.
I lost a year at university, but I still managed to breeze through my final two years as the top student in my class, earning the Dean's Award.
Then he moved to the other side of the world to start over, chasing a life that most people—not just Americans, but any self-proclaimed "normal" person—would trade everything they own just to experience.
And all of this happens despite having brain damage.

Robin Lopez2 said:Which antipsychotic are you talking about?

Oh, I think not—I'm keeping my secrets. 🙂

William Evans10 said:Good for you! You're being so incredibly brave, lady. 👍 Hang in there...

So, what’s the deal with him? Has he even shown his face yet?

Well, he showed up, and he isn't backing down. 🙄 He claims he’s a changed man, 😲 leaning heavily into all those clichés about how much he loves me, acting like he's suddenly become this tiny, insignificant speck of a person trying to make amends. 🤣 🙄

Noah Garcia4 said:Oh, I think not—I'm keeping my secrets. 🙂

Well, he showed up, and he isn't backing down. 🙄 He claims he’s a changed man, 😲 leaning heavily into all those clichés about how much he loves me, acting like he's suddenly become this tiny, insignificant speck of a person trying to make amends. 🤣 🙄

Regarding the bolded part, is that supposed to be some kind of secret? I didn't just list a massive amount of medications I’ve taken, but I also shared an exhaustive amount of detail regarding the illnesses themselves. In reality, I disclosed far more than I ever bothered to tell my doctors, since they were essentially on the wrong side of things and therefore deserved nothing but inaccurate or incomplete information—perhaps if I had been entirely transparent, I wouldn't have spent such a significant portion of my life stuck in a hospital bed.

Noah Garcia4 said:Oh, I think not—I'm keeping my secrets. 🙂

Well, he showed up, and he isn't backing down. 🙄 He claims he’s a changed man, 😲 leaning heavily into all those clichés about how much he loves me, acting like he's suddenly become this tiny, insignificant speck of a person trying to make amends. 🤣 🙄

In that case, I won't even pretend you told me the first letter was R 🙂

Noah Garcia4 said:Oh, I think not—I'm keeping my secrets. 🙂

Well, he showed up, and he isn't backing down. 🙄 He claims he’s a changed man, 😲 leaning heavily into all those clichés about how much he loves me, acting like he's suddenly become this tiny, insignificant speck of a person trying to make amends. 🤣 🙄

Honey, run the other way. A leopard never changes its spots... 😉

fadedlynx96 said:I maintain my position that I am fully recovered, a fact that aligns perfectly with the current official psychiatric consensus in America.

After I finally stopped taking my last antipsychotic, Rexulti, I went a full decade without any medication at all. It wasn't an issue, and I met every single requirement to be considered fully recovered.
When I finally sat down with a psychiatrist after ten years of being off medication, it wasn't actually because of schizophrenia or psychosis; it was the OCD that drove me to psychotherapy. After about two or three years of that, a different doctor diagnosed me with Bipolar and switched my treatment from the initial prescriptions to Lithium.
There is a theoretical possibility that I have been living with Bipolar disorder all along and that my bouts of psychosis were simply an inherent part of it, yet no psychiatrist practicing today seems willing to acknowledge or even entertain that notion. According to official medical consensus, too much time has elapsed between individual episodes for them to be considered connected.
I also know that they used my case for years at Mayo Clinic, where I spent most of my time, to give lectures—naturally without mentioning my name—and to explain how this condition can actually be cured, given that Mayo Clinic is the primary teaching hospital for the Medical School and the place where every psychiatry resident completes their training.
It isn’t strictly true that once you start on antipsychotics, you are condemned to take them for the rest of your life. I went through just about every medication available twenty years ago, yet after I finally stopped everything, I remained perfectly fine. Lithium isn't an antipsychotic either, and it actually offers some neuroprotective benefits, much like how calcium supports bone density.
I find it impossible to wrap my head around this particular line of reasoning that suggests medication essentially functions as a tool for brain destruction.
I lost a year at university, but I still managed to breeze through my final two years as the top student in my class, earning the Dean's Award.
Then he moved to the other side of the world to start over, chasing a life that most people—not just Americans, but any self-proclaimed "normal" person—would trade everything they own just to experience.
And all of this happens despite having brain damage.

Congratulations on your recovery! Although, if you ask me, I doubt the psychiatrists played a significant role in that outcome. The fact that your case is used as part of medical training is a clear indication of how rare a recovery like yours truly is. That hospital likely uses your story as a prestige booster. I know those institutions quite well; they are often caught up in ego trips and petty rivalries, claiming one center is superior to another—even within their own walls. But the most important thing is that you are okay. Not just "okay," but truly recovered and achieving incredible successes. I would love to meet you in person sometime!

Chloe Hughes6 said:Congratulations on your recovery! Although, if you ask me, I doubt the psychiatrists played a significant role in that outcome. The fact that your case is used as part of medical training is a clear indication of how rare a recovery like yours truly is. That hospital likely uses your story as a prestige booster. I know those institutions quite well; they are often caught up in ego trips and petty rivalries, claiming one center is superior to another—even within their own walls. But the most important thing is that you are okay. Not just "okay," but truly recovered and achieving incredible successes. I would love to meet you in person sometime!

Thanks. I'm rarely in the States, but feel free to DM me if you have questions.
It is an absolute fact that the psychiatrists at the University Hospital are constantly trying to outdo one another, especially those from the different wings or buildings. I’ve heard them more than once dismiss a diagnosis based on trivialities, essentially undermining the doctor I spent over two months working with. Then, they would pivot and interpret the same diagnosis in a completely different way—for everyone involved, it was treated like a game of flipping coins, swapping psychosis for schizophrenia and back again just for the hell of it.
Psychotherapy was always a different experience entirely, regardless of whether it was group sessions or individual ones.
On top of that, the doctors from the upper wing used to make comments about how the patients in the lower wing were hopeless cases who couldn't be saved, saying this right in front of all the other patients from the upper wing and me, since I was in the lower wing.
In the end, I am not even certain what actually worked. I eventually stopped taking the medication, and everything turned out fine without it. Oh, and they also threatened me, saying that if I ever thought nothing had happened or that I had healed on my own, they would lock me up again because apparently, that kind of thinking is just a symptom of the illness returning.
After that episode, things weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows. Or maybe they were. I’ve posted on other threads about things that were, at the very least, far from perfect... it's hard to explain (I lost track of how many women I slept with a long time ago, I regularly use escorts, I used to be a minor escort myself, I'd approach girls in places where I think I knew exactly what I was doing, and I've been in car accidents where the survival rate was less than fifty percent).
Sometimes I think I am not normal. But only occasionally. It hits me harder when someone else points it out, and it’s even worse if they actually mean it.

Chloe Hughes6 said:Congratulations on your recovery! Although, if you ask me, I doubt the psychiatrists played a significant role in that outcome. The fact that your case is used as part of medical training is a clear indication of how rare a recovery like yours truly is. That hospital likely uses your story as a prestige booster. I know those institutions quite well; they are often caught up in ego trips and petty rivalries, claiming one center is superior to another—even within their own walls. But the most important thing is that you are okay. Not just "okay," but truly recovered and achieving incredible successes. I would love to meet you in person sometime!

Regarding what was said about the University Hospital being a teaching facility, students were always around, ranging from freshmen to seniors. The older students tended to only talk to the three of us. They were either studying for exams, writing papers, or something similar. A few even admitted they were prepping for tests and asked me to help them study, since they’d been handed the most complex case where nothing made sense. It was almost absurd to watch them ask the exact same questions a psychiatrist had posed just a day or even a couple of hours prior. I couldn't tell if they were genuinely curious or if the doctor was just feeding them his own answers to see if they could replicate his logic.
I would have helped them if I knew how, but more importantly, I wanted them to convince the doctor I was sane, since he clearly didn't believe it himself.
I have no idea why they singled me out for their studies. Perhaps it was because I had been there so long I became a fixture, or maybe because I had cycled through every medication under the sun without success until the very end. I remember the doctor telling my parents at one point that he was simply going to let me go as I was, because there was nothing left for him to try. Then, right before my potential discharge, they introduced that last medication, Rexulti. It’s entirely possible I was already doing fine without it.
The other two patients the students interviewed were even more severe cases and regular fixtures there. Naturally, I wasn't thrilled about being grouped in with them, nor was I happy sharing a room with two such heavy schizophrenia patients. By that stage, they stopped writing any specific diagnoses on my paperwork because I would always argue against whatever label they tried to pin on me.
I doubt I was the only case like mine. Back then, the prevailing belief was that 25% of schizophrenia patients would achieve a full recovery. All young patients under 25 with a diagnosis lived under the expectation of a total cure—after all, they had schizophrenia. No one worried too much about it. We actually believed schizophrenia was curable, unlike other conditions like bipolar disorder, which was strangely treated as a permanent sentence. For me, the real crisis back then wasn't some illness I expected to vanish overnight; it was the fear that my girlfriend would leave me, and she ended up doing exactly that a month after I was released.

Hey everyone dealing with this illness, could you point me in the right direction? Has anyone here actually tried Tomislav Ivančić’s Holy Therapy? If you have, I’d love to hear about your experiences—did it actually help or was it a waste of time? Thanks in advance, sending strength to all of you and your families!

wearyscout12 said:Hey everyone dealing with this illness, could you point me in the right direction? Has anyone here actually tried Tomislav Ivančić’s Holy Therapy? If you have, I’d love to hear about your experiences—did it actually help or was it a waste of time? Thanks in advance, sending strength to all of you and your families!

Check out this thread right here, just give it a read
Honestly, man, I just don't buy it. 🙂

fadedlynx96 said:Thanks. I'm rarely in the States, but feel free to DM me if you have questions.
It is an absolute fact that the psychiatrists at the University Hospital are constantly trying to outdo one another, especially those from the different wings or buildings. I’ve heard them more than once dismiss a diagnosis based on trivialities, essentially undermining the doctor I spent over two months working with. Then, they would pivot and interpret the same diagnosis in a completely different way—for everyone involved, it was treated like a game of flipping coins, swapping psychosis for schizophrenia and back again just for the hell of it.
Psychotherapy was always a different experience entirely, regardless of whether it was group sessions or individual ones.
On top of that, the doctors from the upper wing used to make comments about how the patients in the lower wing were hopeless cases who couldn't be saved, saying this right in front of all the other patients from the upper wing and me, since I was in the lower wing.
In the end, I am not even certain what actually worked. I eventually stopped taking the medication, and everything turned out fine without it. Oh, and they also threatened me, saying that if I ever thought nothing had happened or that I had healed on my own, they would lock me up again because apparently, that kind of thinking is just a symptom of the illness returning.
After that episode, things weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows. Or maybe they were. I’ve posted on other threads about things that were, at the very least, far from perfect... it's hard to explain (I lost track of how many women I slept with a long time ago, I regularly use escorts, I used to be a minor escort myself, I'd approach girls in places where I think I knew exactly what I was doing, and I've been in car accidents where the survival rate was less than fifty percent).
Sometimes I think I am not normal. But only occasionally. It hits me harder when someone else points it out, and it’s even worse if they actually mean it.

I’m actually quite curious about this, so I'll ask: at what point does a diagnosis of psychosis officially get "rebranded" as schizophrenia, or vice versa?

fadedlynx96 said:I assume this is a commentary on paranoid schizophrenia rather than simple anxiety.

Everything needs to be laid bare before a psychiatrist. You have to disclose every detail, every symptom, and every underlying issue, because a doctor can't possibly guess what's happening behind closed doors. It's the same story with medication side effects; one person might feel nothing while another struggles significantly. You absolutely must talk to the doctor instead of just quitting the treatment mid-stream, as they are the only ones equipped to evaluate all the variables and decide which medication is appropriate and for how long.
If my memory serves me, coffee and cigarettes aren't nearly as damaging as alcohol or marijuana, though chronic sleep deprivation remains a massive obstacle for these types of conditions.

For me, coffee triggers panic attacks—even black tea does. My psychiatrist told me it's just not advisable to consume any kind of caffeine, including things like Coca-Cola. I haven't touched them at all for six months now.

wearyscout12 said:Hey everyone dealing with this illness, could you point me in the right direction? Has anyone here actually tried Tomislav Ivančić’s Holy Therapy? If you have, I’d love to hear about your experiences—did it actually help or was it a waste of time? Thanks in advance, sending strength to all of you and your families!

Wait, hold on... spiritual healing for the soul? What exactly are we talking about here? How is some kind of narrative or story supposed to fix broken communication between neurons in the brain? From what I understand, the core issue lies in how nerve impulses travel from one synapse to the next, which is essentially an electrochemical process. It’s a matter of chemistry being regulated and maintained. So, how does Holy Therapy fit into that equation? Is it supposedly regulating dopamine or something similar?

So, here’s the situation—I originally wanted to go through with Holy Therapy back when I wasn't even able to get around on my own... I told them straight up that I couldn't make it, even though I really wanted to be there. And their response? They just said it was "inconvenient." Honestly, if these people are supposed to be spiritual leaders, you’d think they’d actually step up and help organize some kind of transportation for me instead of just brushing me off.
Now, I’ve finally got something scheduled for late September or early October. But wait—I had previously been given a slot in January, which I had to miss due to legitimate, unavoidable reasons. They promised they’d reschedule me, but so far? Absolute silence. They haven't called me once.
And while I was stuck waiting—trying to bridge that massive gap from September/October all the way to January—I kept calling them, I even went there in person... and all I ever got was the same old line: "We'll call you." Apparently, they won't be reaching out until right before January... typical.

Kimberly Cook5 said:So, here’s the situation—I originally wanted to go through with Holy Therapy back when I wasn't even able to get around on my own... I told them straight up that I couldn't make it, even though I really wanted to be there. And their response? They just said it was "inconvenient." Honestly, if these people are supposed to be spiritual leaders, you’d think they’d actually step up and help organize some kind of transportation for me instead of just brushing me off.
Now, I’ve finally got something scheduled for late September or early October. But wait—I had previously been given a slot in January, which I had to miss due to legitimate, unavoidable reasons. They promised they’d reschedule me, but so far? Absolute silence. They haven't called me once.
And while I was stuck waiting—trying to bridge that massive gap from September/October all the way to January—I kept calling them, I even went there in person... and all I ever got was the same old line: "We'll call you." Apparently, they won't be reaching out until right before January... typical.

Why push people who clearly aren't making space for you? In fact, isn't it true that you played a part in this outcome as well? Holy Therapy can certainly assist with acceptance and learning how to live with an illness, though anything is possible—from total healing to no change at all. Isn't it fascinating that Professor Ivančić suffered from cancer that vanished after Protestants prayed for his recovery? Everything is possible! Holy Therapy isn't just some fairy tale someone made up. During these sessions, they won't force you into a church or lecture you about praying; if they did that immediately, they wouldn't be true practitioners. As for the transport, they simply don't have the budget to provide it. And what does it mean that you couldn't travel alone? Even if they had sent a car, wouldn't you have been riding with a stranger anyway? Is that really any different from taking a public bus? Of course, I suspect your next comment will focus solely on the transportation issue.