Schizophrenia & Psychotic Disorders

Addressing some of the stigma and misconceptions here:People with schizophrenia have multiple personalities:
[buzzer noise] NOPE. Some people confuse schizophrenia with dissociative identity disorder (DID), as schizo and phrenia means split and mind. Although the two conditions share some similar symptoms, they are distinct. (we happen to have DID as well, but that doesn't mean everyone with DID has schizophrenia, and not everyone who has schizophrenia has DID, etc)DID and schizophrenia are complex mental health conditions. Both conditions involve problems with thoughts and behaviors and involve a disconnection from reality. However, DID, which doctors previously called multiple personality disorder (it was changed in the 90s because its a dissociative disorder, not a personality disorder), involves two or more alternate personalities, known as “alters", taking over the body and functioning with separate awareness and memory.A person with schizophrenia may hear voices as part of an auditory hallucination, but this does not mean that they have multiple personalities.
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People with schizophrenia are all dangerous or violent:
About 10% of people with psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia, behave violently. The vast majority of people with schizophrenia are not violent.Among people with schizophrenia, those with substance use disorder are more likely to become violent.In reality, people with schizophrenia are more likely to be subject to violence than those without the condition. People who experience psychosis might become violent due to being left untreated for too long, but this is NOT their fault. They'll likely feel very sad and ashamed and frustrated when they feel better, so please be nice to them
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Schizophrenia symptoms are the same for everyone with the condition:
Similar to any physical or mental health condition, psychosis is a spectrum, and people have their own unique experiences with schizophrenia. The type, frequency, and severity of the symptoms may vary from person to person.For example, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)Trusted Source, the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations, may come and go. Some people may also have their symptoms stabilize over time. It is different for each person.
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There is no effective treatment for schizophrenia:
Schizophrenia is a chronic condition that is long term and complex. People do not “grow out” of the condition. There is no cure, but effective treatment is available. According to the American Psychiatric Association, treatment allows many people with schizophrenia to live with minimal symptoms.The exact treatment plan for schizophrenia will vary among individuals. However, the treatment will typically include a combination of the following:⇝ antipsychotic medication
⇝ cognitive behavioral therapy
⇝ supportive psychotherapy
⇝ treatment for comorbidities, such as substance use disorder
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People with schizophrenia cannot hold a job:
Many people with schizophrenia hold jobs. With proper treatment, schizophrenia symptoms may not affect a person’s ability to work.However, the stigma associated with schizophrenia may affect the unemployment rate among people with the condition. They are six to seven times more likely to be unemployed than the general population, with up to a 90% unemployment rate. Again, not their fault and doesn't have anything to do with laziness.
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Schizophrenia is always genetic:
It appears that several things may affect the development of schizophrenia.According to the NIMHTrusted Source, a combination of genetics and other factors, such as environmental factors and life experiences, may contribute to the development of schizophrenia in some people. Many people with schizophrenia do not have a family member with the same condition.
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Hope this taught you a bit more!

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Psychotic disorders include schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, shared psychotic disorder, substance-induced psychotic disorder, and paraphrenia. We're currently in diagnosed with mixed personality disorder (for us the mix is schizoid personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder, the last one in which hallucinations, paranoia and delusions are actually quite common).

Schizophrenia: simply put, chronic psychosis.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, and can be disabling. People with schizophrenia require lifelong treatment. It's an illness in the brain, doable with medications, but can't be cured.
Early treatment may help get symptoms under control before serious complications develop and may help improve the long-term outlook.
Schizophrenia has positive, negative and cognitive symptoms symptoms.
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Schizophreniform disorder:
like schizophrenia, is a psychotic disorder that affects how you act, think, relate to others, express emotions and perceive reality. Unlike schizophrenia, it lasts one to six months instead of the rest of your life.
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Brief psychotic disorder:
Brief psychotic disorder is a sudden, short-term display of psychotic behavior, such as hallucinations or delusions, which occurs with a stressful event.
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Delusional Disorder:
Delusional disorder is a type of mental health condition in which a person can't tell what's real from what's imagined. There are many types, including persecutory (e.g, someone is out to get me, I'm being followed), jealous (People with this type of delusional disorder believe that their spouse or sexual partner is unfaithful without any concrete evidence) and grandiose (e.g I'm rich, I have superpowers others are jealous off, I'm on the news everyday, etc) types. It's treatable with psychotherapy and medication.
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Shared psychotic disorder:
Shared psychotic disorder (folie à deux) is a rare disorder characterized by sharing a delusion among two or more people in a close relationship. The inducer (primary) who has a psychotic disorder with delusions influences another nonpsychotic individual or more (induced, secondary) based on a delusional belief.
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Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder:
A substance-induced psychotic disorder is a mental health condition in which the onset of your psychotic episodes or psychotic disorder symptoms can be traced to starting or stopping using alcohol or a drug (onset during intoxication or onset during withdrawal).
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Paraphrenia:
Paraphrenia is a mental disorder characterized by an organized system of paranoid delusions with or without hallucinations (the positive symptoms of schizophrenia) and without deterioration of intellect or personality (its negative symptom). Examples of negative symptoms are Blunt or Flat Affect (Monotome speaking and lack of facial expressions.)
People who have it don't show the usual signs of emotion like smiling, frowning, or raising their voice. They seem uncaring and unresponsive. Flat affect can be brought on by different conditions.

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Some people are especially or more sensitive to psychosis than others, this is called psychosis sensitivity.
Psychosis also has a strong genetic component. Individuals whose family members have experienced psychosis will be at greater risk for developing or experiening it themselves. Some people with a particularly great vulnerability to developing psychosis have to manage it as an ongoing condition.
Psychosis sensitivity can also be a different term for a psychotic disorder, but talk to a professional about that.
Trauma or substance abuse are a few of the things that can make a person especialliy vulnerable to psychosis.

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"It's an illness that can be treated just like any other. I don't choose or want to be psychotic any more than people choose or want any other types of ill health."

"It's an illness that can be treated just like any other. I don't choose or want to be psychotic any more than people choose or want any other types of ill health."There are many causes. Everyone has the potential to develop psychosis, if they don't sleep for multiple days in a row, if they take certain drugs or develop certain medical conditions, or if they experience extremely severe and prolonged stress
Psychosis can be caused by a mental (psychological) condition, a general medical condition, alcohol or drug misuse, or trauma.More specifically:
The cause of psychosis can be different for everyone, and research into it is happening all the time. Psychosis could be triggered by a number of things, such as:Physical illness or injury. You may see or hear things if you have a high fever, head injury, or lead or mercury poisoning. If you have Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease you may also experience hallucinations or delusions.Abuse or trauma. If you have experienced abuse or a traumatic event, you are more likely to experience psychosis. This includes experiences of racism.Recreational drugs. Researchers still aren't sure whether using recreational drugs directly causes psychosis but you may be more likely to hear or see things as a result of taking certain recreational drugs, like cannabis and LSD. If you have already experienced psychosis, using recreational drugs can make the symptoms worse, in particular if you take high-potency cannabis ('skunk').Alcohol and smoking. Drinking alcohol and smoking may also stop medication from effectively treating your symptoms, making relapse more likely.
Prescribed medication. You might also experience psychosis as a side effect of some prescribed drugs or while you are coming off psychiatric drugs.Hunger. You may experience hallucinations if you are very hungry, have low blood sugar or if you are not getting enough food.Lack of sleep. You may experience hallucinations if you have a severe lack of sleep.Bereavement. If you have recently been bereaved, you may hear them talking to you. You may also feel that they are with you even though you can't see them.Spiritual experiences. Some people experience voices or visions as part of a spiritual experience. This may be a positive experience for you. It may make you feel special or important and help you make sense of your life. It could however also be a negative experience – for example, you may feel that you're possessed by an evil spirit.Genetic inheritance. You are more likely to develop psychosis if you have a parent or sibling who has experienced psychosis, but researchers aren't sure why this happens.

"Thankfully I am now over the worse of it and am currently living a much happier life." :]

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Psychosis should be seen as a spectrum, much like ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) or C-PTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). There's a lot of things a person can experience and it also varies from person to person. So, what someone will tell you about psychosis will depend on who you ask.However, symptoms can include, but aren't limited to:Behavioural: aggression, agitation, hostility, hyperactivity, hypervigilance, nonsense word repetition, repetitive movements, restlessness, self- harm, social isolation, disorganised behaviour, lack of restraint, or persistent repetition of words or actionsCognitive: thought disorder, belief that an ordinary event has special and personal meaning, belief that thoughts aren't one's own, confusion, disorientation, racing thoughts, slowness in activity, thoughts of suicide, unwanted thoughts, difficulty thinking and understanding, or false belief of superiority Mood: anger, anxiety, excitement, feeling detached from self, general discontent, limited range of emotions, loneliness, or nervousness Psychological: depression, fear, manic episode, paranoia, persecutory delusion, religious delusion, Visual hallucinations, or hearing voicesSpeech: deficiency of speech, excessive wordiness, incoherent speech, or rapid and frenzied speakingAlso common: memory impairment, nightmares, or tactile hallucination

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