Overcoming Schizophrenia

Recently, a reader asked how to support, or what to say to someone who has persecutory delusions and confides in them. I thought this question was profound. By investigating this question it could help so many people maintain or develop a trusting relationship with their relative, friend, or client, etc. I asked the opinion of my therapist, and she gave some pointers and asked me to remember a time when I was psychotic and what could someone have said to me to make me feel more comfortable... When I was at my peak of psychosis everything was a sign from God- that truck making a U-turn meant go back, that taxi cab driver telling me to stay out of trouble meant he was in on it too. While I was psychotic I heard conflicting voices. When I would ask someone a question on the phone the voices would give different information. I was extremely paranoid. And almost everyone was a threat. I couldn't confide in relatives because they would tell my secrets, I couldn't trust friends becaus...

Zain asked this question: "I've heard that people with schizophrenia may hallucinate as to something or someone (not real) attacking them. Is it possible for this imaginary thing to actually hurt them physically when they perceive it to hit them?" Answer: In general, hallucinations can come in many forms; visual, audible, smell, taste, and feeling... However, in an effort to protect oneself, the person with schizophrenia may personally cause harm to themself. For example, if a person is on the third floor of a building and is in a room with a bunch of snakes (not real) they will do everything in their power to not get bit. That includes throwing objects, cutting things, burning things, or even jumping out of the window. Another example is a person on the street sees something (not real) coming at them. As a result they jump into the street into oncoming traffic and is hurt by a car, not the thing they were running from. In addition to that, this is when bystanders coul...

Hektiklyfe ( http://thesilentpodium.blogspot.com/ ) asked an interesting question: "So this is something you have to do the rest of your life or does (schizophrenia) go away after years of treatment?...and if you have to take those drugs for the rest of your life wouldn't you have to increase the dosage as time goes on?" This was my response: This a gray area because some people may not need treatment after many years (Surviving Schizophrenia A Family Manual). But for the majority of us we will need treatment for the rest of our lives. There is no cure for schizophrenia, it can be compared to diabetes in that we need medication to help us get by for our entire lives. And as time goes by usually the dose will decrease (Surviving Schizophrenia A Family Manual). E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., author of Surviving Schizophrenia A Family Manual , said 'that people can stop medication until symptoms return. However, it is not clear which patients can do this without serious relaps...