Delusions of Wellness...?

Hey @SamB12 !

Welcome to the forums! I hear you have a lot of questions you are grappling with. I think many have shared similar questions to you. That is, to med or not to med. Well I know I did.

For a long time, I resisted medication. Yes, doctors prescribed, but I resisted taking meds - Why? because i was afraid of side effects as well as not believing they would make a difference (did I really need it?). So things continued as they were....day in, day out. I began to hate life. I'm not saying my recovery was because of a pill - no. Recovery was having the realisation that I had to take the reins - if something wasn't working, I had to make a change. I would have to take measured risks. I would have to be willing to give things a go.

So with this mindset, I did comply with certain meds. The meds gave clarity which then helped me seek the therapy I needed for long-term recovery.

Whether to take meds or not is a conversation for you and your treating team. We can not discuss specific meds here, but we can share our experiences.

All the best with your recovery and I look forward to seeing you around on the forums.

tyme

Hello @SamB12 and welcome to the forums.

You have a good question, one a lot of us have faced. I've been on antipsychotics for many years. In my experience it's best to have ongoing psychiatric contact when reducing antipsychotics, or at least the support of a knowledgeable team. It can be really hard to untangle increased susceptibility to stress and unpleasanr withdrawal symptoms from the early signs of relapse, and ultimately it's a waiting game to see what happens.

A psychologist can certainly help you identify stressors and relationship issues and help you with coping strategies to reduce your vulnerability and increase your well-being.

Has it been very long since your diagnosis? It's possible that with time and different life experiences your needs have changed, and it could be time to ask for a review.

Best wishes for your journey.

Dimity

Hi @SamB12 . Because of my name, I simply have to chime in.

I think it's good you're focusing on the question. I'm also looking at my future therapy choices and asking the same thing. I think the question, in itself, has value. To answer the question you've got to explore things like "who am I?" and "what's important?" and "what would make a difference?".

I also think, while what you want to work on is important, it's also important to find the kind of approach you want. When I search for psych's, I like to look at how they approach things. Sometimes they have a little blurb or a list or something. It's good for finding good fits and for finding ideas.

I have had some time to think about what I Wrote. Thank you for all the replies.
One of the returning Conspirator/ Delusions/Ideas that I have is that Schizophrenia is not treated as such in places out side Australia, and that Panic medications are what is used to treat peoples problems along with other coping strategies. In this delusion I am one of the last people to be claiming to be schizophrenic. Having said that I'm 38 now and I was around 20 when I got my 1st medication. It makes a big difference to my daily life. But every now and then I have a thought or a delusion that ends in panic and confusion .

Are there any other Schizrephrenics' out there? what are your delusions like?

Hi @SamB12 ,

Just from my own perspective (having lived with patches of psychosis and being on antipsychotic medications long term) I just wanted to reassure you that I'm not sure that your thoughts and feelings around this is delusional at all.

There is a whole bunch of legitimate dialogue and research being battered about at the moment critiquing what clinicians thought and how they practiced around the time you were diagnosed. This can prompt us to feel unstable in ourselves, our diagnoses and therefore its interactions with our identities. I too have grappled with massive doubts about my diagnosis, iatrogenic harms and doubts about the whole mental health system. There are even some, very few, psychiatrists practicing in the area of "un-diagnosing" people (!!) and reducing medications.

I just wanted to say that I understand, and you're not alone in navigating this.