Overcoming Schizophrenia

Support is crucial to recovery from any mental illness. Everybody needs some sort of support. For those of you who do not have family support I have come up with some suggestions to build your own family of support. I know that what I am about to share with you may sound easy, but it is not, therefore I commend for making an effort in getting support. You can join a Clubhouse. A Clubhouse is a place where you can build relationships with other people who are affected by mental illness. You can also learn how to cope with symptoms, get back into school, find a job, and find quality housing options. To get an idea of what a Clubhouse is about here is a list of some Clubhouses to visit: 1) Fountain House 2) International Center for Clubhouse Development 3) Spring City Corner Clubhouse 4) Contra Costa Clubhouses, Inc. 5) Clubhouse of Lehigh County Join an organization such as National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) that caters to mental illnesses. In addition to NAMI, you can join Ment...

I am not a doctor but I know that medication is essential in treating schizophrenia, along with therapy and support. Before I go into this subject of medication, I strongly recommend that you talk to a psychiatrist about any treatment for schizophrenia, you may try a few different antpsychotic drugs, like I did, until you find the right one. This illness is like diabetes and needs continuous treatment, there is no cure. The medication relieves some of the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms, however, some people can still experience symptoms while on medication. To gain insight into some of the symptoms of schizophrenia refer to an older post called "Types of Symptoms," which can be found in September 2008. With treatment a person with schizophrenia is ( http://www.helpguide.org/mental/schizophrenia_treatment_support.htm ): Less likely to have frequent or lengthy hospitalizations Less likely to require intensive support at home Less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs Les...

The purpose of this blog is to educate, to fight stereotypes and stigma... Three out of 100 people experience psychosis. To learn what psychosis is go the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia (SSNS) blog and read the January 29th post, "Facing Psychosis Video." My blog has a growing community, which I am very excited about. I hope we can support each other by sharing experiences and asking questions. I appreciate all followers and readers, and hope you are learning something new and interesting about schizophrenia. Also, I started a new group, OvercomingSchizophrenia Blog , so I hope you will stop by and consider joining. I encourage questions, suggestions, and feedback related to schizophrenia. I appreciate you for taking an interest in this mental illness, and hope you take notice to the new resources and information links provided on the bottom right. Please don't hesitate to contact me by email about any concerns or anything at all at valash08@gmail.com.

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...