Im struggling with my psychosis and depression

heya @Sylvia26 😊 First up, I thought I'd tag 2 of our community guides @Shaz51 and @NatureLover and also some other forum members to say hi @Former-Member ❤️

It sounds like you have been coping with so much for a while now. From tackling the rental market (it's TERRIBLE) to coping with some intense symptoms at the moment. I can tell you're a very strong person. Are there things you've done to get through these kind of times before?

I don't have my own experiences of delusions or paranoia, but I certainly have felt a lot fo frustration about my own symptoms at times. It sometimes feels like I'm fighting myself! So I don't have specific suggestions, but thought I could link a few things for you

• Here is a Topic Tuesday on Schizophrenia which might have some good information
• Have you heard of Hearing Voices? It's a network of people who hear voices or have different perceptions to others. They have peer groups all over the place which are really focused on people supporting each other. Is that something you'd be interested in?

Hello @Sylvia26 , sending you lots of tender hugs my friend

I am tagging @Bunniekins for you xx

Hi @Former-Member,

Thanks for your response.

And thank you for the link to Topic Tuesdays.

I will have a read through it.

I have been suggested the hearing voices group in the past by a support worker but I have never tried it. I might give it a go. With agoraphobia it is difficult but I manage to leave the house a little at times. It's good for me to get out of the house when I can.

And yes, the rental market is a nightmare! I'm grateful that I have a lease extension at my current home, even though I feel the need to move.

The current way I am coping to deal with the voices specifically is headphones with music. The energy delusion still baffles me after all this time as I really believe it exists but only I can feel or sense it. Its exhausting. But the hearing voices group might help with that, so thanks so much for your suggestions. 😊

Thank you so much @Shaz51 🥰

Much appreciated 🙏

❤ @Sylvia26

Do you still have your cat xx

Yes! @Shaz51

He's a great comfort to me at the moment. 🥰

Awww that is lovely @Sylvia26

Our furbabies are the best xxx

Yes, I agree @Shaz51

He has helped me through some tough times.

He is my main reason for living. 🥰 🐈 xx

Hi @Sylvia26 . My diagnosis is schizophrenia too - there have been additional ones suggested like autism and generalised anxiety disorder as well.
May not be helpful to say, but you are not alone. One of my earlier delusions, when I was about 11, was that I could turn my thoughts into “packets” and insert them into other people’s heads. As I got sicker, I started to believe I had lost the ability to control it and I couldn’t stop my thoughts flying out my head into others heads. When I was in hospital at age 13, I thought I could influence the mood of a room, that when I was sad, everyone was forced to be sad too.

I was “treatment resistant” for nearly 20 years, just kept getting sicker. I got passed around from psychiatrist to psychiatrist, once they realised I wasn’t getting better on the massive amount of medication they put me on, they palmed me off onto someone else. I even had my case reviewed by Pat McGorry and Nick Kecks, two of the most prominent psychiatrists in the state.

I did eventually respond to treatment. It can happen, even after a long time. Hang in there, keep your cats close! Try closing all the curtains and windows, anything that may help you feel safer.

It’s a rotten illness. I get annoyed sometimes at the activists who insist the world should celebrate “neurodiversity”, we spent so much time trying to convince people mental illness is as serious as physical illness. Now it’s going backwards as they insist it can be a “good thing” - no wonder policy makers get confused!

Hi @Sylvia26 , I feel for you 😞 I have OCD, agoraphobia and anxiety too.

It sounds like you need a house that's not next door to any neighbours...would that be possible? I guess that's pretty hard if you live in a city.

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@Sylvia26 wrote:

I have tried absolutely everything to help myself get better, I take medication regularly, I've changed the medication, I've tried various counsellors and therapists and psychiatrists. Nothing seems to help.

I'm concerned that none of this has helped you, or maybe it has but not enough yet?

I really hope you can find a counsellor and medication that helps.