Hi

Hi @Organism and welcome to the forums!

I have a similar diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. I've heard voices too but not recently. About the life expectancy for people living with schizophrenia, it is a scary statistic. I reckon some of the reasons people don't live as long can be improved or prevented by not smoking and exercise and healthy eating. I know that the medication can affect weight gain and diabetes but individuals can try with help from dietitians to eat right, moderate balance of foods. I'm obese with a BMI of 33. I am trying to get the weight off as I don't want to be that statistic. Other things you can do are keeping up with health checks. Some of the medication for schizophrenia means we need to get additional health checks like heart ECG and blood tests etc. I do all that regularly to keep on top of my health.

Getting back to hearing voices, there's a growing interest in living with voices, eg hearing voices network. I think it started in WA, not sure. It's all about living your best life, with the voices, and strategies to use.

Hello @Organism

I love your name and value the intelligent questions in your post. I personally do not have a diagniosis of schizophrenia, but have known who did have it. I hope others come along and reply soon. To gain real value of these conversations may take time, as different people have different insights.

Hearing you about the tragic issues around earlier deaths and med issues. Its great you no longer smoke. I smoked for about 10 years but it has been a long time since I quit.

Welcome to the forum.

The main reason i came here was to find ways to deal with voices, so thanks for letting me know about the hearing voices network ill definitely have a look at that. Before i got treatment it was really painful (and still is at times) but it is much improved now although still hard to deal with on a daily basis. I use to like reading before the medication but now i find i cant concentrate properly and find my working memory is pretty poor. Im not sure if its the medication or if its the disease itself.

Im pretty paranoid about my physical health now as i also dont want to be in that statistic. I have regular GP check ups for it which seems to be ok at the moment but im always worried about putting on weight (think my BMI is in the overweight range). Ive changed to a medication which is suppose to be good for the metabolic side effects so see how that goes. I still have cravings for cigarettes and alcohol even though its been over 3yrs since i touched anything wondering if it ever goes away. Think the disease and voices make it worse.

Cheers

Thanks for the reply Appleblossom

Having social anxiety makes communicating with people in this type of forum easier than doing it in the real world but it still gives me anxiety lol. I hope i can get some value out of this.

Cheers

Hi @Organism thanks for sharing your post.

I have a diagnosis of schizophrenia and I also haven't smoked or drank for about 3 years. Well done on not taking those substances! For me, being sober and a non-smoker has helped me so much. I take medication and I try to eat well and exercise daily to help with my mental health condition. It's really hard sometimes. It is also very rewarding when I see that I am well and doing my best to prevent relapse.

I think your insight into your voices is really valuable, when I am psychotic, I don't know or understand that I am and it makes it all worse. I don't get voices, but my delusions are very cunning! I have been 'well' for about 2 years now, without delusions or symptoms, but I still do everything I can to prevent it - see doctors regularly, keep healthy, take my meds etc. I try and remember how badly going off my meds affected my life so that I stay on them!

Happy schizophrenia awareness week!