Armand

You're not being stalked by all those around you. You're just crazy. You're not being haunted by demonic voices in your ear. You're just crazy. You aren't covered in horrible creepy bugs. You're just crazy.

In fact, belief that you're crazy can actually aid in your recovery from your episode. It can reduce stress and increase your calmness. A calm state of mind is often all that is needed to think clearly and snap you out of an episode. It's highly effective.

At first you don't fully grasp what's happening. You're new to the world of psych issues. You know there is something wrong with you and you're told these facilities can help you get better. You naively put your trust in them. Then you finally arrive.

The first thing you notice is the captivity. You've broken no laws, yet you're incarcerated. There is little to nothing to do to pass the time. There is nothing in the way to treat what is wrong with you. The chairs are uncomfortable. The bedrooms are locked for the majority of the day. It's as if the facility is designed to make you miserable.

The staff can be downright abusive. They behave more like prison guards than medical personnel. They act like you're inconveniencing them by making simple requests such as asking for water. The staff also take no action towards patients that are disturbing you. "There isn't much i can do about it" they will say. The patients can be hell and nothing can be done that won't prolong your stay.

People that have been taken from the comfort of their home and dragged to these psych wards end up having nightmares about it for the rest of their lives just as one with PTSD would. The experience does little more than teach people to mask their symptoms at all costs in order to avoid these living nightmares.

This question has been known to be asked to schizophrenics by normal people. It makes it out to be such an obvious cure to your condition. Simply ignore every bizarre thought and experience because you know you have a condition. The question displays ignorance of how the psychotic mind works.

First of all, it's rare to slip deep into an episode in the blink of an eye. It often starts small and begins to slowly chip away at the foundations of your reality little by little.

You may be able to ignore a singular voice. It is nearly impossible to block out sentient-sounding voices eroding away at the walls of your reality for what could be days or even weeks. Before long, you're left wondering which version of reality being presented to you is the one you should focus on as being real.

People may try to tell you that the voices aren't real, but the voices tell you that the people aren't real. In extreme cases, the voices have more access to your mind than people do such that it makes it easier to side with the voices.

In fact, they often do not. Sadly, all too many friends and family members see this as their one and only solution when an episode presents itself. The end result being the patient trapped within a psych ward for upwards of a week or even more despite having fully recovered within the first day of being sent. This could be avoided with a better understanding of how people with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia operate.

Psychotic people become familiar with their condition over time. They recognize what “the psychotic feeling” entails. While this doesn’t mean that they can just shrug their symptoms off as if they were dust on their shoulders, it does mean that they can work through them with time. A far shorter amount of time than a psych ward would put them through.

Sadly, too many psychotic patients have families who do nothing apart from rush to call 911 the moment bizarre behavior is observed. This course of action will often be detrimental rather than helpful to the patient as well as worsen the relationship they have with their support system. A relationship that is a large part of the patient’s wellness.

It is no secret that certain delusions possess core similarities. You're in the matrix. You're trapped in a coma. You're in an afterlife. Your reality is a simulation akin to The Truman Show. These delusions have one underlying characteristic. You're perceiving altered reality. It's off in a way you can't explain.

Your worldview has been slightly warped from the way you've always held it tight. It begins slipping from you gradually. This is exactly what dissociation is. A reality disconnect. So much so that your brain grasps at straws to explain the phenomenon. This is the shaky foundation wacky delusions may stem from. Rationality needn't apply.

With the aid of modern entertainment and perhaps an overactive imagination, it's far from difficult for one to conclude that their reality is being simulated somehow from only a mere touch of dissociation. There is seldom a logic filter to weed it out.

With luck, the dissociation is short lived and one can return to the boring old universe that we all occupy. However, lacking such luck, it has been known to last for hours and even days.

While this symptom is left to fester, the delusional explanations are doing a number on your mind. Providing the opportunity to dive ever deeper down the schiz rabbit hole. Not fun.

How harmful could this be? The sky is the limit. Picture a delusion where your dog is not real and requires no care. Terrifying. One can only hope help arrives before disastrous damage is caused.

You will occasionally hear it in support communities. A person who has spent countless hours complaining of nearly all symptoms that schizophrenia causes only to one day show up claiming to not have any schizo-related anything. They assert that they are some sort of fraud. They have been faking all along. Malingering is the term. Are they right?

Well, I suppose it's possible. Malingering wouldn't be a medical term if it didn't happen. In most instances, this is highly unlikely to be what is occurring. These "fakers" don't take the tone of one giving a confession rooted in guilt. The tone they do take is a persuasive one. The self-proclaimed faker is trying to convince their support buddies of what they wish was true. More importantly, and primarily, the motive is self deception. Why?

The simplest answer is that it is easier to claim to be a liar than it is to have a highly stigmatized condition. The complex answer goes deeper. When a psychotic patient is in a stable state of mind, they look back on their episodes through "stable glasses". They genuinely believe that they could easily have thought their way out of their last crazy mind state if they only tried. Indeed, while wearing "stable glasses", they firmly believe defeating psychosis can simply be accomplished with pure will power if an instance were to occur once more in the future.

A lucky few manage to never get the opportunity to put their imposter claims to the test. Their symptoms never strike them hard again.

The majority? They slip into a psychotic mindset and show to all who observe that they weren't con artists at all. They instead demonstrate that there is just no using logic to snuff out a major breakdown. A warped ability to think clearly will prevent use of will power long before you realize reality checking techniques are even needed. They can't save you. Not when the organ needed for rational thought is the one malfunctioning.

Get involved in a psychosis support community and you'll know. Psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations are undeniably awful. However, they tend to come in episodes. Anxiety often plagues the sufferer on the daily.

I think doctors get it backwards. They believe it's the psychotic symptoms such as delusional thought which is causing the anxiety and try then to focus on prescribing antipsychotics in an effort to prevent the anxiety's "root cause". A great many patients, however, will tell you that the causality is very much the other way around.

You can wake up with a severe anxiety attack with psychotic thoughts being the furthest thing from your mind. They won't keep their distance for long. Anxiety has the unfortunate ability to prevent you from utilizing the reality checking techniques that veteran schizophrenics have learned to implement over the years which keep psychosis at bay. The anxiety effectively causes the psychosis.

It is a tough question to definitively answer. A delusion is defined as a fixed false belief against the face of all contrary evidence that is not consistent with one's cultural beliefs.

It would then seem that the answer is no. An individual making the claim "I am delusional" is appearing to contradicting themself. Since a delusion is false by definition, the person can't very well believe the delusion that they proclaim to have. It, however, is not quite so simple.

One reason is that there are varying degrees of insight. A person could hold their false belief 80% to be true while 20% of their thoughts wonder if they could be mistaken. Since they still largely hold the belief, they can rightfully be said to be delusional. There is another fact to consider as well.

The delusional patient may be attempting to proverbially "gas light themselves". This self therapy technique is exactly what it sounds like. A person can 100% hold a false belief and simply state that they are delusional. They state it to themselves. They state it to others. Over a period of time, the patient can actually forget that they started out by lying to both their own mind and others alike. Quite a few psychotic individuals have ended their delusions this way if they keep it up long enough.

It's shocking how many medical professionals aren't aware of these very reasons a patient may proclaim to hold a delusion. The doctors more than frequently dismiss it out of hand.

When a psychotic patient voices their concern about anxiety and panic, many doctors see it as being caused by psychotic symptoms. They will treat the patient with antipsychotics believing that this will relief the patient of their anxiety. While this works in some cases, it often does not.

When a patient can not remain calm, they lose their ability to perform reality checking technique. A patient that could otherwise snuff out their crazy thought process will instead begin to spiral downward into a delusional state of mind.

Panic can trigger hallucinations as well. A day full of panic attacks can easily result in a patient hearing voices even after being asymptomatic in this regard for long periods. It's rare that any doctor will try to treat anxiety as the root cause. They will undoubtedly prescribe the patient antipsychotics.

It's a cliche meant to refer to a stroke of astronomically bad luck. Most people use it when they chance upon getting two flat tires or some other terribly inconvenient occurrence. They get frustrated. They move on. Something far far worse happens to those on the schizo spec.

Schizophrenics are constantly making loose connections which force them to conclude that something suspicious is afoot. Over time, they may learn to turn off the portion of their brains which make these associations. However, no level of discipline allows for the writing off of the proverbial double lightning strike.

Let's say that, in a moment of brief instability, that a nearby tv perfectly syncs up with the schizo's thoughts. Faster than any reality checking can occur, a passing car radio proceeds to do exactly the same. Incontrovertible proof of thought broadcasting.

In the face of such strong empirical data, many a schizo could understandably spend the remainder of the day in deep thought as to what this signifies. At worst, it could send them spiraling back into the delusional state which they fought so hard to escape from.

Throughout the life of a psychotic person, they experience a myriad of symptoms. Some Terrifying. Some mania inducing. Some are even comical. Over time we learn to put those symptoms behind us and do not incorporate those notions into our way of thinking. That's true for most. For an unlucky few, there are events experienced within their personal reality refuse to fade away. That one piece of iron clad proof that your unshared beliefs are true.

This type of proof I speak of is air tight beyond all reasonable doubt. This would hold as proof in the schizo court of law. It often takes the form of an astronomical coincidence. It's if you won too unfortunate lotteries or were struck by lightning twice.

You can't write it off as coincidence. To do so would feel as though you were gaslighting yourself. The feeling of doing so while people in your life agree for reasons you can't fathom puts a beyond-uncomfortable pit in your stomach. It's psych torture. There is no therapy that can contend with your irrefutable proof. The best you can hope for is to allow so much time to pass such that the proof isn't thought about anymore.

There is a heavy emphasis on treating the hallucinations and delusions of psychotic patients. While they do deserve that recognition, there is a very significant symptom that psychiatrists rarely even inquire about. False memories.

There are a number of reasons why this should be considered a severe symptom. The foremost being that they can be the root cause of delusional narratives. People who experience delusions often have a false memory as evidence that their delusions are true.

False memories can also mimic the symptoms of command hallucinations. If the memory in question is that of receiving instructions on how to go about performing a certain mission, it's every bit as influential as a commanding voice. Perhaps more so.

Memories also shape who we are. False memories create a false sense of identity. A person may believe they've accomplished grandiose feats which lead them to believe that they are far more important than others perceive them to be in shared reality.

The reasons for the secrecy are limited only by the limitless reasons that your brain can conjure. Perhaps revealing your secret will result in your death. A loved one may be harmed. All of existence could come to an end. Anything to prevent you from uttering a word.

So why is this the worst narrative? There are multiple reasons. It can make your condition impossible for others to recognize. Keeping your delusion a secret at any and all costs is akin to masking throughout every waking moment.

Lacking the option to speak of what is often the most profound belief in your head causes perpetual suffering in silence. Talking your thoughts out with others is one of the best forms of therapy. Conversely, bottling up your problems is one of the worst ways to react to what troubles you. What other option does one have when the fate of the universe is at stake? You must stay silent.

Suffering in solitude. Help just out of arms reach. People who would care being oblivious to it. All because of that one little aspect of your delusion that you don't even realize is causing you the most harm.

I had long since been approved for disability. My psychotic symptoms were a part of my existence as familiar to me as how I would react to the foods I consume. I could recognize the beginning and know what was soon on it's way.

With this level of understanding came with it a high level of functioning. Knowing the experiences would soon manifest as well as their duration allowed me to remain in control of my wits to the point where it didn't produce the tiresome effects of masking.

Unfortunately, the mercilessness of schizophrenia can, in the darkest moments, make a psych ward visit the best option available.

It began as a standard intake session. Questions asked. My answers were typed. Then schiz threw me a curve ball. Each time the doctor typed my reply to her inquiry, audible and articulate words would emerge from the key board. Threats. Death Threats. Statements suggesting the doctor was lying to me. I couldn't complete the intake procedure.

I clearly explained what was taking place as clearly as I typed it now. I told the doctor that I required immediate treatment. She refused, kept typing, and caused life threatening statements to chip away at my sanity. I gave a calm final warning that I required medication. She typed more death threats and I retaliated with an act of violence. I was placed in a low functioning unit as a result.

Delusions of surveillance are exactly what they sound like. It presents when the psychotic person knows, in their reality, that they are being spied upon. It isn't always as simple as stating that one feels as though they are being watched. It can be taken to such an extreme that the patient is driven crazy in the truest sense of the word.

Imagine that a psychotic person is so deep in this delusion that he believes their are thermal cameras in the surrounding homes being watched by body language experts and lip readers. The person will undoubtedly spend his time in what should be his private safe space watching every movement he makes. Making sure not to mouth any words. Doing so would give away secrets he's trying to hide from the mysterious "they" that spies upon him.

The most bizarre extremes can even make a reader unsettled. The psychotic person can believe that there are hidden devices tracking his eye movements. Eye movements that can reveal information about his truthfulness and state of mind. Spending all of one's energy controlling eye movements for the purpose of not giving away secret information is enough to cause a breakdown in those with no mental illness. Think not? Let it last years. Years is too cruel. Give one a go.

It's a delusional narrative I've struggled with since the onset of my condition. It's my understanding that other schizophrenics have had similar delusions, but I'll describe how it works for me.

The people who control my life. The unnamed "they", if you will. They aim to end my life at a moment when I'm extremely happy. The idea behind this is that I'm suffering so continuously that ending my life in a moment of great happiness is a sort of mercy killing. They'd simply switch off my simulated reality. You know, the reality that I live in. Here is the awful part.

I don't want to die. Suffering or not. This means, at any time I notice myself feeling great joy, I immediately snuff the feeling out to avoid putting an end to my life.

This delusion that I've never quite been able to shake has made it impossible to feel happy in but anything longer than a short burst. It's truly terrible.

Not every patient that wants to try a benzo is a drug seeker. Sometimes benzos are the only thing preventing a patient from experiencing a living hell each and every day.

In the event that a doctor does prescribe a benzo, it is often a short supply, and the patient is told to only take it for emergencies. The problem with that is, for some patients, every day is an emergency. Their anxiety and panic cripple them. They find themselves unable to perform everyday tasks such as simple phone calls. In extreme cases, some patients forget to take care of basic needs such as eating food and drinking water.

What about addiction? That is what doctor supervision is for. It's their job to not prescribe amounts great enough to cause a serious dependency. They can also administer drug tests to determine if the patient is running out of their prescription much too soon. Many precautions can be taken.

Benzodiazepines have the potential to greatly improve the quality of people's lives. They can help them stay motivated to exercise, socialize, perform self-care, maintain a positive life outlook, and take interest in activities that once seemed impossible.