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Pietus
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03 Aug 2014, 2:22 am

Hi,

I know the subject for this post is pretty vague, but I couldn't fit what I wanted to write: Knowing about mental illness does not mean you don't suffer from it.

I think this is a really important point, that I haven't seen as commonly as others. I think it's especially relevant to teenagers. Let me give you my current story so you get the picture:

I've just returned home after house sitting for a relative for three months. Things are getting really hard. During my stay, my perceptions and general attitude have deteriorated, especially recently. During the second month, I started to have suicidal thoughts. Thinking about it all day. How I'd do it, what kind of note I might leave. How people would react. In an effort to help understand what was going on, I bought and read a lot of books about teen suicide, since I'm 17. They helped a little, to understand things, but they left some questions unanswered. At this point I was having Anxiety Attacks, suffering from short episodes of Paranoia and Depressive symptoms.

I've always been very interested in Mental Illness, Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Depression and so on. Plus I am diagnosed ASD. So I already knew fair bit about them, and after a few days realised that paranoia, hearing voices and having very brief (1-3 hours) delusions could mean something was wrong. So I started reading about those kinds of conditions, people hearing voices, having Grandiose ideas and feeling Paranoid and depressed. On my last night house sitting, I went out for takeaway. During my walk down the street, I started to think I could read minds. The more I walked, the more certain I got. I could hear peoples thoughts, read their minds and so on. When I got to the shops, I was convinced people were hunting me down, trying to capture and kill me because of my ability. I ran around, trying to avoid them and get my food.

This delusion went pretty much away when I got back to the house.

So anyway, I've now returned home. During the 3-hour trip back to my original home, my mum and I talked a lot about schizophrenia, mental illness and things we knew. She knows very little about my problems, but I told her I'd read a lot. Now a few days later, I'm feeling really bad. Having a hard time, feeling suicidal and paranoid. It's hard. I slept in until about one in the afternoon, didn't want to get up or anything. She made lunch for me today, and I didn't eat it. The voices in my head kept yelling it was poison. I know it's not, it just tasted like ash and dust to me.

So later we took our dogs for a walk. And she said to me: "You need to perk up." I asked what she meant, I got in response: "You've read all this stuff online, and you're trying to self-diagnose yourself with all these things. If you think depressed, you'll be depressed. Do some exercise, it'll make you feel better."

Now, this post isn't to ask for help or anything, it's to give it. Just because someone read online they might have depression or something (All the online tests I've done say I do) doesn't mean they don't have it. It doesn't mean they do, but don't discount it.

Even if you think the person is making their symptoms up, which is pretty ridiculous, do not say that to them. One of the worst things you can do to someone who is struggling to cope is not believe them. It's makes them feel isolated and alone, and like they are worthless. It accomplishes nothing. If someone believes they might have a serious condition, take them to a doctor. Or at least talk about it.

You'd have to be pretty dedicated to pretend to be depressed for more than a week, just for attention.

My point is this: Just because someone has read symptoms online, a few books and talked to one or two people they know about mental illness, does by no stretch mean they are making it up. I think people have this opinion about Schizophrenics/People with depression/Bipolar, that they are incapable of recognizing something is wrong with them. I know nobody is following me, but I still feel like they are. I know something is wrong, but I don't know what (My best guess would be either Depression or some kind of minor Psychotic Disorder, but I'm not expert).

Hope this makes sense. Please support the people who ask for help, they need it.

Please post any more advice/stories, I'd love to hear them.



Stannis
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03 Aug 2014, 2:42 am

I have heard about people that have cured their depression by switching chemical products in their homes, such as shampoo and deodorant.

You might also want to test the possibility that you are actually hearing voices. Remember, as well, that a few audible hallucinations are completely natural for all humans and are not necessarily an indication that something is wrong.

Technology currently exists that can artificially induce in a person all of the common symptoms of schizophrenia, like, inducing anxiety by sound waves, beaming voices into peoples heads, mind reading, etc. How could anyone tell the difference between a real schizophrenic and someone who is having the condition induced?

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/1164 ... r-thoughts



WelcomeToHolland
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03 Aug 2014, 8:57 am

Sure, sometimes they do really have it, but falsely self-diagnosing on the internet is very common. You read the symptoms and then sometimes your symptoms present themselves as part of your imagination (not a conscious choice). On a small scale, for me if I read about head lice, my head starts to itch. It didn't before, but now suddenly I feel like I have head lice. It does happen. I think it happens very frequently actually.

With your story, if you read about schizophrenia and then suddenly had all the symptoms for the time ever right after reading it, that's not believable (which should be a good thing...why would you want to have schizophrenia?). It seems like what you're saying happened, I could be reading it wrong, and it doesn't matter because I'm not diagnosing you!

Exercising is a good idea whether you have a severe mental illness or not...exercising does tend to make people happier. Why not try it?

Edit: I agree that such a person needs help. But maybe not the kind of help they think they need.


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Mum to two awesome kids on the spectrum (16 and 13 years old).


em_tsuj
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03 Aug 2014, 2:50 pm

I've self-diagnosed and been right every time. I also have a special interest in abnormal psychology and have made a career out of it. I don't think anyone in my family takes me seriously but my dedication to it has kept me alive and enabled me to live independently, which is no small feat considering the diagnoses I have and the lack of support.

Please seek help from a mental health professional for the symptoms you are experiencing, someone who has been trained to diagnose and treat mental disorders. Others don't necessarily have the knowledge to deny or validate your self-diagnosis, although they might think that they do, and they will freely give you their opinions having not even done any research about the issue.



Pietus
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03 Aug 2014, 8:42 pm

Yes, I think I've been a bit misunderstood here. My fault mostly.

I am in no way saying I am schizophrenic, or think I am. It's true I have some symptoms, but if you look online you can self-diagnose yourself with literally anything. If it's to be believed, I'm an Autistic Schizophrenic with OCD, ADHD, Clinical Depression, Bipolar Disorder and Severe Insomnia.

I read all the books about mental illness BECAUSE I was having strange symptoms, not the other way around. I had most of them first, then read stuff.

I'm not severe enough to have Schizophrenia or something, at most some form of depression, I would guess (But don't know).

To those who seem concerned, I am seeking professional help, appointment coming up soon :)

AND my main point was that you should believe people when they say they have problems, even if they ARE making it up (On purpose or accidentally) that would come out with professional help, and it could be very serious if it IS real.

Exercise does help, but when you're feeling depressed, you're usually too tired to even attempt much besides walking, well for me anyway.

But these answers have been positive and not aggressive or anything, so thanks for that.