Mental Health Month Post!
Woot woot! Itâs mental health month and Iâm here to talk some seriousness about schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Over the past year I have seen some troubling things. Not new things mind you but annoying all the same.
Schizophrenia DOES NOT equate to violence! Being schizophrenic does not make someone a violent person.
Being schizophrenic does not mean the person is hallucinating 100% of the time. God damn, if I had a dollar for every time some fuckhead said âwere you really talking to so and so or were you hallucinating?â Iâd be rich enough to afford my medication lmao (sad cries)
Another very annoying thing is being excluded from mental health help groups. Yes, this happens. You would think that a group advertising mental illness solidarity would be welcoming but no, even they are afraid of these illnesses and Iâve even been told âthis group is for more NORMAL mental illnesses like anxiety and depressionâ (emphasis mine) like yeah great thanks for the stigma check. Donât do that. Donât stigmatize schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. It makes you an asshole.
Donât use the word âschizophrenicâ in place of the word âcrazy.â Just donât do it. It stigmatizes the illness which Iâve already covered but Iâll reiterate: It makes you an asshole. Anecdote time, someone posted a screenshot of an alarm app they use and noticed that one of the modes was labeled âschizophrenicâ and they described the alarm as going off at odd intervals and getting louder with each alarm as they hit snooze. If youâre an app developer, donât make schizophrenic a mode on your app when it has absolutely no relation to the illness.
Donât suggest yoga to someone with schizophrenia or symptoms of schizophrenia. Donât say âitâs about your mindset.â Donât say âyou donât need medication.â Donât think or call someone weak for being on medication. I know a lot of my fellow sz diagnoses will just roll their eyes and be like âyeah thanksâ politely. But theyâll think youâre an asshole. They may even tell others that youâre an asshole. And theyâd be right.
Now a part of this post for people with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder or people who think they may have schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder.
Take. Your. Meds. Take your meds. Just do it. If you donât like the medication youâre on keep trying to find the one that helps you function the best. In my experience, I compromised a little bit. I still have minor hallucinations but I can function, Iâm not paranoid, Iâm not delusional. Those were my more debilitating symptoms and I found a medication with minimal side effects that treats those more debilitating symptoms. If your medication treats your symptoms but makes you a zombie and unable to function, try something else but never give up. Never give up on trying to find a medication that helps you function.
If your doctor doesnât listen to you, try to find a new doctor. Now I know this can be difficult. Literally every doctor in a 50 mile radius to me was not taking new patients. And yes I do mean literally because I called every. single. one. The only way I got to see a doctor was to go back to a doctor I had already seen years prior. So I get that itâs not easy. But a doctor who listens to you will benefit you so much.
Be your own advocate. Track your symptoms, track your side effects. I keep a log of things I want to bring up to my doctor. Keep a counter of how many times you experience a symptom or side effect, log how long an episode lasts if possible. Just take as many notes as you can about your mental health because when you talk to your doctor about it they will be more willing to listen to you and TRUST YOU. This is important because weâve all been there when we really want to get off a medication or get on a specific one and they just donât want to write you the prescription for whatever reason. If your doctor trusts that you will monitor your mental health theyâll trust your judgement more. And keeping logs and notes helps you remember certain things you want to talk about with your doctor.
Along with that. Do your research on medications. Thereâs a helpful website called drugs.com that will let you look at all the noted side effects of a medication so if you know youâre prone to a specific side effect you can weed out certain medications. It will also let you know drug interactions if you are on multiple medications. This will help your process of finding a good med mix move faster. And again, it shows your doctor that youâre taking an active role in your mental health. Which is always a good thing.
You are not god. You are not the center of the universe. You are not being followed by the CIA or the FBI or any government agency. You are not being followed by any agency or person or whatever at all. People cannot hear your thoughts. You are not a shaman. You are not a bridge to other realms. You are not a psychic. You are not telepathic.
Donât fan the flames of other peopleâs delusions. If someone talks about a delusion theyâre struggling with, do not feed into it. I see this so many times and it really pisses me off because people post about their delusions looking for HELP most of the time. They donât need someone else coming in saying âyeah I truly believe weâre the chosen people because we can see blah blah blah and others canât.â Donât. If youâre gonna comment or tell someone something like that just donât fucking do it. They donât need that and truthfully neither do you. If theyâre talking about it they are most likely looking for help and validation that itâs not real and they really donât need someone telling them that it is.
If you are not diagnosed but you experience odd things that are happening, google it. One of the first signs that my illness was getting worse was not actually hallucinations but the delusions. I googled âI feel like people can hear my thoughtsâ and I got taken to a schizophrenia forum where they were talking about that. I googled âfeeling really paranoid and anxiousâ and again more stuff on schizophrenia came up. I told my boyfriend about what I was thinking and feeling and he said âthatâs not normal, thatâs not healthy brain function you need to see a doctor.â So definitely try to find a doctor right away.
Okay I think that wraps this up. Thanks for reading!













