Need advice with a mental disorder i don't know what to do anymore?

Pray. It’ll give the peace you want. Or you can just do your hobby and forget that you had this thing in the first place.

Why do you go off of your meds when you know that they help?

i here praying works but i have no belive system so i’m kinda sol in that department

i don’t know why i go off my meds i really don’t have a valid reason why i just do

I am bipolar. I have learned that I have to take my meds no matter what. I also get regular exercise, and I talk frankly to my doctors about what is going on.

Best of luck to you.

Are you on your meds right now? You have to stay on your meds!

It is not a brain tumor. It is your schizophrenia. You need the meds to control the aberrant behavior.

Please take care of yourself and your family and stay on those meds.

First of all, take your meds. Second of all, bring it up with your shrink. Repeat.

{{{hugs}}}

One of the biggest problems people have is feeling really good on a high and believing they can do without the meds which is dangerous. See if you can work out between you and your husband and maybe a back up person like a friend or family member to watch your upswings and check in with you that you’re taking your meds, find a way to make sure you will be badgered to do it since you know that’s when you’re prone to reasoning yourself out of it.

i’m not on my meds right now and my doc and i are trying to find a better combo of meds and he says just hang in there until we find what is going to work but i’m having trouble doing that

How much confidence do you have in your doctor? sorry for this question to a question, but your answer is important.

I’m no shrink, but you might want to consider a short term stay in a psych hospital if you are feeling unsafe. It will give you safety and also, if it is a good place (and make sure it is a good place), they will be able to more thoroughly evaluate you and establish successful meds. It sounds like you feel out of control and unsafe; I have had friends in that position and a voluntary hospital stay has sometimes benefitted them enormously. Good luck and I hope you do get the help you need!

You answered your own question.

STAY ON THE MEDS!!!!!!!

You have schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder. If you are a diabetic do you just go off your insulin? I hope not. I have seen a family members neighbor kill his father because he was schizophrenic and “God” told him to do it. Serious stuff.

Please for your health and that of others, stay on the meds if you KNOW they work. Why do you want to go around hearing things when it can be stopped? Are you ashamed of it?

i’m not ashamed in the least it’s not my fault i have this disorder and i’ve been in two hospitals and it works for awhile than something would happen and i would relapse and i come from a long line of crazy people in my family and they are no help. i’ve had a problem staying on the meds since my sister’s death and i never delt with her passing and sometimes i still pick up the phone to call her and to me it doesn’t really seem like she’s gone and i think that is a big part of why i can’t stay strait

@lovemypits86: i feel completly out of control and insane

whenever you start feeling this way, tell yourself you do have control (which you do) and you can handle it. cultivate positive thinking.

also, yes, like you said, do something about your sister’s death.

go to the forums here: http://theicarusproject.net/forums/ I think you will find it useful and valuable.

finally, though this will cause a lot of controversy here, if you want to stay off the meds, stay off the meds. you can ultimately make yourself stronger if you rely on yourself. husband, therapist, psychiatrist… any one of those cannot help you twenty-four hours a day. you can help yourself at any hour of the day.

learn coping strategies and nuruture them. build that part of your brain like a muscle. do it yourself! and of course, let your friends and family help you. love yourself.

in a way, your posts seem to show a person who knows herself and has a clear motivation to help herself. a lot of people with psychiatric labels don’t have this.

@lovemypits86: i here praying works but i have no belive system so i’m kinda sol in that department

you don’t need a belief system. you can believe in yourself.

thanks that’s sounds nice. your right i know myself and i feel completly insane but i know what i need to do it’s just finding a way to make it work. my father seems to be the only one who seems to understand and my husband but my husband doesn’t seem to understand what’s wrong with me and is scared that i’m going to hurt myself or just leave him one day and that’s in my plans so far

@lovemypits86: you determine whether or not you hurt yourself or whether or not you decide to leave him. it won’t get decided by lottery.

@Ria777

Are you one of those anti-medication hippies? Medicine DOES work, especially for things as severe as schizophrenia. I do believe in the other approaches (psychotherapy, praying, etc.), in addition to meds. Meds do not make one “weak”, they are legitimately needed sometimes.

@lovemypits86: please, though, think “I feel completely sane”, not “I feel completely insane”. if you think of yourself as helpless, you will make yourself helpeless.

@FlutherMe: Are you one of those anti-medication hippies?

yes.

meds have side-effects. the more meds, the more side-effects. I won’t address the other part of what you said. I gave my opinion. just my opinion. not the same as forcing anyone to do anything.

I do practice what I preach in that I have temporal lobe epilepsy (or do I? it happens less frequently now) and never take meds for it. and, yes, I have managed to cope with the main effects of it on my own. the mood swings I just accept and I ride with them. as far as losing my temper, I rein it in a lot more than I did, where it usually doesn’t cause me trouble any more.

to RIA777 i’m not anti meds at all. i;m all for it i know they work and you’re right being on meds doesn’t make you weak. i just need to find a way to stay on them and just telling my self to take them doesn’t work

@lovemypits86: I could tell from your earlier posts that you considered a bad thing to miss your meds.

@lovemypits86 Never been schitzo, so I’m not sure exactly, but is it a hinderance to take the drugs? Like do you have to take them 5 times a day, or just one pill once a day? If so, just swallow the damn thing right when you wake up.

i was on three diffrent meds and it was once a day

First and foremost you MUST keep taking your medications.

Perhaps your more recent problems are concerning the death of your sister. You need to grieve for her. This will be a realease mechanism for you.

Have you thought about going for counselling? Perhaps your husband could come to some of the sessions, to help him understand how you are feeling. I wish you well.

i’ve thought about letting him come but i don’t think i’m ready for that.

@lovemypits86 It may help him to understand your schizophrenia, and how you are feeling when you are not coping, which in turn would help you live a more fulfilling life.

Did your sister die recently?

my sister died back in 03 and she was away for school so i never got to see for about 2 years before she died

Maybe you need an “accountability partner” for your meds. Maybe your S/O. To make sure you take them whether you “feel fine” or not. Your life depends on these meds.

First of all, the meds thing is hard for a lot of people. As your doctor says, hang in there and keep on trying things until you find something that works. I’m sorry that it’s more difficult in your case, but you’re not the only one. Which reminds me, are you in a support group? The DBSA (Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) has a list of support groups around the country. Don’t worry that it doesn’t say schizophrenia. We have a couple in our group, and besides which, bipolar folks are just as delusional and paranoid and hallucinatory as schizophrenics.

You said you are in therapy three times a week. Are you learning any coping skills? Does your therapist know your meds issues? Do you tell your therapist everything, or do you not trust him or her?

You don’t believe in prayer, which is fine with me because I don’t believe either. However, meditation also helps. It’s a technique that calms your mind and teaches you not to be so attached to everything your mind thinks or sees. I imagine it would be very helpful for you. Yoga will also help, and any activity that gets you into that calmer frame of mind.

You must have been very close to your sister. Closer than to your husband? You weren’t twins, were you? Anyway, the idea about having your husband go to counseling may not be something you want to do, but at support groups, it is very common. That’s where “support people” can learn a lot about what we go through. Unfortunately, I have not seen support people show up for more than one or two meetings very often. Only one person in my group has a support person who shows up regularly. Unfortunately, she’s a neighbor of mine, so I have to curb my tongue when she comes.

God, I feel like there’s something lurking out there—just out of reach—that if only I could grab it would be very useful to you. It’s not coming, though.

Actually, it sounds to me like you have some kind of inner despair that you are fighting. No, after rereading, it’s clear you are depressed. You wouldn’t be trying to kill yourself otherwise. Listen, suicide is a way of telling yourself and other people how bad you feel. How totally fucking awful it is. How you can’t stand it any more. How you don’t think it will ever end.

Try not to keep pushing your husband away. He clearly loves you and need you. Trust him. Let him in and explain to him how much you want and need love. Stop with the barriers, ok? You’re not getting out of this pain if you keep the love away. He doesn’t have to totally understand. That’s what friends are for. Don’t expect so much from him. He’s trying his best. Let him love you. Then find friends who can understand—probably from the support group.

I’m sorry if this does not apply to your life. It’s not like I know you at all. It’s just that I read these stories and the little clues you provide and I imagine a whole story out of it. I feel it in my heart, in fact. It’s making my heart very heavy right now. God, I hope it works out for you. I really want you to get out of the pain.

When I was there, people kept telling me it would end eventually. I didn’t believe them. But they were right. You’ve got to keep holding on. It will end. You’ve got to believe that.

I think it’s important to look at why the doctor is trying other meds.

A large percentage of non-compliance is self protective. Side effects are a warning of intollerance.

Regarding whether or not you should see a certain doctor, or take a certain med – the best way to think about that is to judge the tree by its fruit, or potential fruit.

If you are bipolar 1, and you are untreated you have a significantly increased risk of death from suicide.

If you are married, have a job, and being untreated means you will lose it all, then you have to way the odds of that against the risk of meds,and annoyance.

You hold the key and responsibility while you are “sane” – what you chose determines your fate.

When you are a risk to yourself or others, someone else will hold that key.

Consider it carefully, and discuss it with someone trained in keeping you out of trouble.

That’s very complicated. For the Doctors to be effective we have to be ready for it. I’m not talking in the spiritual sense I hear so often; to be ready to accept God or Jesus into our lives. I mean we all have phases in out lives, a party phase, a serious phase, a deeply religious phase. Evolution or more exact, evolution of the mind occurs. The important thing now is to keep safe until something clicks. It will click I’m sure of it. So keep trying the different combinations of meds and there are all sorts of different talk therapies. The med combinations, we used to call them “cocktails”. I’ve even had alternate therapies suggested and tried a few. So stick to a core treatment, give each it’s due. It doesn’t have to be a linear progression, you can always come back to something. And so, main points, safety, and keep trying. Just a little trying, don’t knock yourself out walking on coals to see if this is “the cure” One last thing, be happy

thanks for all you advice and i was very close to my sister we were about a year and a half apart and i’m very close with my husband but he’s in the navy so he works all the time and family comes second for the navy. i’ve never tried groups i have a horrible time going places other than work which i work and go to school the only olaces i do go our for my sons stuff and other than that i won’t go anywhere unless i have to i just stay at home thanks for the link for groups

@lovemypits86 Can you have someone text you at certain times to remind you to take the meds? There may be some computer code that will do that automatically. I sometimes forget with my depression and blood pressure meds. My doctor has a “compliance reminder” program that texts me (trouble is that I live out of cell range, but will be using it when I return to “civilization” in a few weeks).

i’ve tried setting alarms doesn’t work can’t bring myself to take them

You have to remind yourself how vital it is to yourself and your loved ones that you take them. Even if side effects are unpleasant. My antidepressant medication has several bad side effects, but the alternative is even worse.

Whats so bad about antipsychotics?

Do they make you feel bad? I would think they make you feel good because they stop the voices

they do make me feel better but i get tired alot and am always sleepy. it’s not that i don’t want to take them something is stoping me from staying on them and i don’t know what. it’s not that easy when you’re like this to just set an alarm or just tell your self to take them

@lovemypits86 You’re in a bind of having to ignore the “voices” to take the medication that stops the “voices”. Is this medication available as a time-release implant (like the Norplant contraceptive is)?

there are a lot of side effects to these meds. At some doses it’s really important to buy into the need, and benefit.

I have the same illness and let me tell you-It’s hard,I know! I also thought that I was having seisures,brain tumors,etc.I felt bugs crawling on me,and I DON’T use drugs.The only thing that helps me with everything is medication and diet.I believe that medication can help to some degree,but to a limit.It takes some of the stress off of you by easing anxiety and calming the other symptoms of this disease.Talk to your doctor abot an anti-phychotic combined with a anti-anxiety and depression pills.You might be surprised by their effect.Of course different things work for different people,so don’t be surprised if you don’t see results like I did.I wish you the best-Good luck! :)

@CharlieGirl – crawlie bugs – nasty. If pills made that go a away, they’d be worth it. Low grade mania is another matter.

Yeah,@DrMC.I have bi-polar too.