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swbluto
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27 Apr 2011, 6:58 pm

So, I'm sure we've all seen the media depictions of schizophrenia, which is unsurprisingly probably the worst of its kind (In order to maximize the effect on the audience), just as when most people think of autism, they think of the lowest-functioning type that's incapable of typing on a keyboard needed to post on online forums. So, I am seeking out information on how bad does schizophrenia usually become?

Ideally, there'd be a distribution curve for a given symptom and their severity, with least severe on the left side and the greatest severity on the right side. But, since I realize that this information is typically hard to obtain, I think averages and percentages of the worst subgroups would be good.

Like, something like, the average schizophrenic hears voices one day per week, and 11% experience persistent auditory hallucinations consisting of multiple voices.

Or, something like, the average schizophrenic usually clangs, and the worst 20% severely obfuscate their language usage through the use of inappropriate rare words to express simpler concepts. For example, "Pliant rectitude" for the word "discretion".

I'm basically curious how bad does a typical schizophrenic's schizophrenia get, and what percentage of schizophrenics get it "really bad"? I'm interested in this information because I'm curious, if in the event I develop schizophrenia, what amount of impairment could I reasonably expect (Or anyone curious)?



FireBird
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27 Apr 2011, 10:12 pm

There is a wide range of how bad you function as a schizophrenic. There are some that the meds help everything and can go about their daily lives. There are others, the chronically schizophrenic that are constantly hearing auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations and in a world of their delusions. Some are constantly hospitalized and others go years between hospitalizations. I don't know the percentages. I happen to be schizoaffective mostly depressive but classified as bipolar type. 99% depression 1% mania. Right now I am starting to head towards a depression because I have triggers such as severe failure, health concerns and stuff like that. Massive failure is my brother's company, our website that has no one posting on it and my at least 12 year business that can't sustain itself with profits. No profit all loss. After 5 years you should be able to provide yourself a salary and some profit. My art business might get a hundred dollars here and there at art shows and that is about it. My mom is always sick. I am afraid that I will lose her and be like my friends. My dad's health is not much better. We are all obese, myself included due to all the pills that I take. Before the pills I was thin and beautiful. My dad will probably die of a heart attack due to his weight I mean how many old fat people do you see? None because they don't live as long. There are variations of disorganized speech from a schizophrenic. Some of the paranoid subtype their speech isn't as affected. The disorganized subtype their speech is incoherent. I hate how the media portrays the mentally ill. They make them out to be monsters, killers. That isn't true though. I have friends with mental illness and none of them are killers or commit crime. Only to themselves have they hurt themselves. I don't hear voices but I have visual hallucinations which is uncommon in schizophrenia. Only rarely do I hear something. I think I am on the more mild side since mine is mainly caused by stressors.



mgran
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28 Apr 2011, 8:55 am

According to my pnurse sixty percent of schizophrenics do fine on medication. There are thirty percent with more intransigent symptoms, but apparently there are people with a schizophrenic spectrum illness who do so well that they can come off their meds, and never have another episode.

I'm schizoaffective, and on a relatively low dose of anti psychotics and mood stabilisers. I've since been able to go back to (part time) work.



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10 Jun 2013, 3:34 pm

Schizophrenia can become so overwhelming that the person commits suicide. Before that there are many things processing like extreme paranoia and psychosis, where hallucinatory voices are heard.



KingdomOfRats
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12 Jun 2013, 7:29 pm

am in the middle of a paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis and woud be sectioned for it if was not living in residential care already.
have had it for several years without medicating because was relieing on other people to communicate the issues to the ld pyschiatrist,but he got told a load of BS who didnt believe what was going on by a guy who had a pyschology degree and thought he had the right to dismiss the severe issues of mine.
he got sacked and its only because he isnt here anymore that it got listened to, the current ld pyschologist of mine was shell shocked when she heard whats been going on inside head every day for years without any help and what its like when am not lucid enough to recognise the differences.

there had been an initial trigger of mine,severe long term cyber bullying as am not able to defend self or get help so was a easy target for this individual to groom & take advantage of,then he wrecked life with bullying after he got what he wanted [information about what medications was on, what autism of mine was like etc,so he coud use it for sympathy online].

the halucinations that get go on through out the day and night; tactile,visual and auditory.
delusional; everyone including family am not able to recognise well they become people that am in fear of life from,
am able to see spying cameras in the ceiling lights and in the walls.
there is one voice that hear,and he is a piece of crap,am not able to go on with the rest as hate self for the way brain can do and think these things.
yes am one of those who woud be the stereotypical schizophrenic that everyone hears about on the news, but am in secure residential care,get two to one staffing and am waiting to see the pysch to finaly get medication have put up with this long enough.


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heavenlyabyss
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26 Jan 2015, 12:36 pm

There is a catch-22 when it comes to determining stats. Psychiatrists won't diagnose you nowadays as schizophrenic if you recover quickly. They only diagnose schizophrenia if it is chronic so they are only diagnosing the very worst cases. So technically, schizophrenia might actually be very common. These people get labeled as having a one-time nervous breakdown when in fact perhaps they should be given credit for overcoming schizophrenia. It comes down to what do we want to call this experience? What do want to call this other experience that is similar but slightly different? Are these really different disorders or different manifestations of the same disorder?

Borderline cases with some psychotic features might get diagnoses with bipolar, schizoaffective, or psychotic depression. Are these diagnoses accurate? Or are they misdiagnosing schizophrenics with less prominent psychotic symptoms and more prominent mood symptoms?



heavenlyabyss
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26 Jan 2015, 12:38 pm

Furthermore, among people with AS, bullying is rather common which can result in legitimate social paranoia. Sometimes this legitimate social paranoia crosses the line into legitimate psychosis. It's important to look at the roots of the problem when relevant.



beneficii
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26 Jan 2015, 2:13 pm

I had one psychotic episode at age 14 that resulted in the diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. That psychosis got pretty bad, to where I was highly delusional and acting on my delusions in very dangerous ways. The administration of max-dose antipsychotic medication made my delusions much less interesting over a few weeks and so I stopped thinking about them as much and my behavior returned largely to normal. I felt sorta disappointed with the loss of the delusions, however.


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