Talking with People Living with Schizophrenia - Episode 1: What it's Like Living with Schizophrenia
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- Опубликовано: 26 апр 2024
- Welcome to our new series, Talking with People Living with Schizophrenia! Join Lauren, Vicki, and Peter as they discuss topics concerning what it's like to live with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
In this video, we discuss what it's like to live with the illness day to day, feelings around diagnosis, how we manage schizophrenia, and what we find frustrating about it.
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I’m a medical school professor. I’m gonna share this with my students. This is excellent. We need to see the true faces of this disease. Not just when folks are unstable during a hospitalization.
Can I ask about your personal view on people beeing able to live a stable live without medication ?
Awesome! Great idea
Schizophrenia was invented by a scientist in a lab , to ends uknown , it is blatant human rights abuse , dont get scared there is nothing wrong with you mind , you are fine , keep hope and work towards your dream
@@5stars633 it usually is not feasible.
@@SM-ut2mf I agree
You're such a gift, Lauren. Your gentle light is flooding the shadow of stigma surrounding schizophrenia. You are a brilliant communicator, and what you are doing is vitally important. I really admire you.
Schizophrenia was invented by a scientist in a lab , to ends uknown , it is blatant human rights abuse , dont get scared there is nothing wrong with you mind , you are fine , keep hope and work towards your dream
I think it is important to show articulate, intelligent people discussing their insights into their own schizophrenia.
I love what you are doing ! Ppl need to know we are not monsters
I think you can come off misunderstood when we're doing our best
As someone with borderline personality disorder, I can relate to a lot of this... stigma sucks but we are so resilient
Peter is so incredibly sweet, wanna give him a hug. All brave for talking. Thanks.
When she mentioned "that scary word" it automatically resonated with me because there is so much stigma around schizophrenia and it's often treated as diagnosis that is basically a death sentence to any dreams, hopes, aspirations you may have had and you'll just be completely unable to live life without having caregivers.
And it's so so so wrong.
Lauren, congratulations on a great opening for your interviews. Your questions were spot on. Your guests were very open and informative. The process of getting the appropriate therapist is so important and can be so frustrating. Your presentation is real and that is important. Keep up the good work.
I live in Auckland New Zealand my youngest son was diagnosed @ 25 years old with Schizophrenia. We had very little support in the Community we didn’t know what to expect and the trigger signs. I had to push for help from the psych team. It was frightening, lonely and an anxious time.Unfortunately our son died 6 months after he was diagnosed. I took his death hard. The guilt I felt was enormous and it’s taken me 8 years to accept he maybe he didn’t want me there when he died.Seeing your program on RUclips is healing for me I have a much better awareness and understanding of schizophrenia now I can’t thankyou enough 😊
Lighting, camerawork, sound... this production value is supperb and you are such a great and caring host
Great video Lauren, Vicki and Peter! Thank you for sharing your stories ❤️
Stress makes my symptoms worse. I have been through so many diagnosis until 2014.. I have been diagnosed with paranoia schizophrenia/ schizoaffective disorder.
Same
@@matthewrocco4138 would u like help
Me too..not like bad stressful.. just an increase in duties/ responsibilities
Thank you so much for this video !!! In my city they have shut down the crisis center and like you were all talking about the revolving door , its so true for my family and now the only place to put my son is in jail and he hasn't even commited a serious crime!! They released him and he didn't have a scheduled day or have any idea how to take care of his schizoeffective disorder not one professional would check on him until he just couldn't take it anymore. Ive said this before but we need this channel more than ever right now !! And your so appriecated ❤❤
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 25 after my first psychosis- I've had 6 Now, I am 36.
I take an antipsychotic injection once a month and anxiety medication daily because I also deal with anxiety disorder. Over the years trying different medications, I have found that my anxiety meds are really what is helping me the most in terms of controlling my schizophrenic symptoms like paranoia and hallucinations. I also have problems like when I don't sleep enough my symptoms come back or if I'm under any stress for prolonged periods of time.
Thank you for this video and showing the world that even though we have schizophrenia we are normal people there are just different degrees of the illness I believe.
What keeps me healthy is eating Well, taking my meds, getting some exercise to stay fit and getting good sleep.
Looking forward to future videos.
What shot do you get if you dont mind? Im thinking of abilify but it causes me anxiety so im nervous to get it
Can you tell me what medication you are on Jacqueline??
@@marciamarciamarcia1650 sorry I never saw these comments till now. My injection is called Invega Sustenna, 75mg. Ì also once tried abilify, i didn't like it. And my anxiety meds is Clonazepam, 1mg twice a day. Clonazepam is a benzo so it's kind of hard to get off of, most likely I'll be on it for the rest of my life. What works for me might not be for everyone so I'm not advocating anything just answering your question. Have a good day!
@@banjohole its ok hun. Do you have disorganized thinking? I sure do and its terrible. I wish that was one symptom to go away
@@marciamarciamarcia1650 hmm i dont have disorganised thinking but i have problems with thinking too much. It's not a huge problem , just annoying cause for example if I want to make a plan I over think it all and end up not doing any plans. Having a routine is helpful for me but when it comes to going past my routine I'll over think things.
This content is incredible, it's helped me understand so much and given me such emapthy towards people suffering with these disorders. Keep it up girl, these are some of the best videos on RUclips. 👏👏👏
Lisamdignam....can you tell me please...how are you doing?...Did it really help you?
What likeable people :) It's funny, the whole time I watched this, I was thinking that the things all of you describe almost seem like very ramped up versions of what all people have to one degree or another, even people with no diagnosis to speak of. They just seem to happen in the extreme. As a random example, some women going through menopause will experience formication, which is the sensation of bugs crawling on your skin. How weird is that? Same mechanism, different trigger. The brain and its chemistry is so mysterious and interesting. I hope one day they unravel the mystery of what schizophrenia is.
Thanks, this was really interesting. I'm happy for the three of you that you are living now and not 100 years ago...
Love hearing from the younger people perspective on this hot 🔥 topic to help myself understand my own diagnosis
Love this! Keep it up, you are doing something great and important!
I live in America and just started listening to your videos. I have found them helpful as I have a friend in her late 50's and her daughter in her late 30's who were diagnosed with mental illness over 20 years ago. I am not sure exactly , but at one time I was told my friend had bipolar disorder/ paranoid schizophrenia, her daughter's mental diagnosis I have no idea other than it maybe on the order as her mother's. As an outsider it is difficult for me to understand how at times my friend can come across sounding very rational and then at other times makes no sense at all. Sometimes she claims people are talking about her or are stealing from her and I question if it is true or not.
In 2015 she started acting differently towards me and then would not speak to me again until 2017, when I moved to another town. Since I had known her for over 30 years I wanted to tell her goodbye before I left and when I saw her she acted as if nothing was wrong. I the meantime her daughter had been telling others I had threatened to kill her. ( I found this out from my friends sister). I felt horrible as I never said any such thing. I felt very angry about it. Slowly I am understanding more about why they say & do things they do. Since I moved I hear more often from my friend then when I lived 2 miles from her. She calls or texts at least twice a week. She never acknowledges what her mental illness is though. I have basically learned about it through her sister. I am glad I found your videos as it had helped me to understand more about it. When she is on her meds everything is great, when for some reason she goes off of them or they stop working not so much great. I'm not sure about whether to confront her about her behavior or not. At times I'm not even sure I want to continue our friendship. In the area I live there does not seem to be much support for friends of people who suffer with mental illness. More so for family.
I heard my friend's illness by listening to your program. A lot of similarities I found between her, you & your guests.
Thank You for sharing. I am thinking about sharing this with her.
Sounds like she needs a good friend, but it's not worth it if it's dragging you down. I have schizoaffective bipolar type, and I've lost a lot of friends, but I often understand their reasons
My diagnosis began with "emotionally disturbed" in Elementary and middle school, but when I had my first psychotic episode at 20 I was just given a general acute psychosis diagnosis and my diagnosis evolved from Bipolar I to schizoaffective disorder. I was alarmed by the symptoms in my more lucid moments but craved answers so I looked up diagnostic books in the resources of the mental hospitals I was hospitalized in. Routines have always been very helpful for me to maintain both productivity and wellness so I enjoy being employed and having something to do with work, or with church or with academics. Free time is fine, but if I have nothing but free time my self care work collapses. I have a more long lasting mood cycle like Lauren and Peter were saying. I am terrified of mania because I'm more prone to depressive moods by nature and have suffered a lot in life so the euphoria of mania is so seductive even though I now know the crash is life wrecking. Hallucinations for me tend to be mostly visual hallucinations and are usually stuff like lights pulsing or becoming giant pillars of light. Auditory Hallucinations are voices of people I know from my personal life. Sometimes it's mindless banter, other times it's scary and abusive and on one occasion life saving. The only other type of hallucination I've had was the sensation that one of my back teeth was eroding or dissolving but that was in a full blown psychotic state. I use other people's lack of response as a means to reality test. I've lucked out with a simple medication regimen where I just take all my pills before bed time. I suppose the blunted affect and paranoia are the most frustrating parts of the illness for me. The other symptoms I can sort of handle. Racing thoughts might be another one because I hate the feeling of helplessness that accompanies them. It's like not being in the driver's seat of your own mind. Hate being unable to troubleshoot.
That conversation was interesting. It’s nice to see everyday likable people talk about schizophrenia. I haven’t had any experience with the illness, but popular culture and out of date mental health believes had influenced me in a negative way. I’ve been watching these kind of videos on RUclips for time to time and they have been really helpful in shifting my perspective in a healthier way. Good job 👏
This is so great. Those three are warriors.
100%
Wow...it's awful to hear how folks are treated within the mental health system. Such instability where folks really need it to help them maintain their health. Excellent series by the way Lauren, really enjoyed this vid with Vicki and Peter, thank you for doing this.
I love this setup, and your guests where really open too. Please continue on this road!
Thank you so much for your video, and the interview. Your input is always so helpful. I really do hope we as a world can change the stigma around mental health issues and schizophrenia in particular... education is a big part of that, so thank you.
Wow! This channel just continues to get even better. Lauren, I think you found your calling :-)
You've completely reshaped my understanding of the illness and demystified symptoms that I've experienced from a friend. Thank you once again! Please don't stop :)
If I do not work, I loose it in to depression. I need to work:(
BPD here, I really can relate the part when nurses/ psychologist turn over or refer u out, really hurts to tell people your background and story again and again, and they just treated u like a fast food,, here is your burger, grab it and go home
Thanks for sharing you guys. Much love.
Great interview. So nice.
Thanks for this 👍
What a great conversation! Thanks to all you three!
Thank you Lauren! Always a encouraging!!!
Love these
Thank you so much for doing this! This is amazing and educational. I'm thankful that there are people like you in this world, that let us see the inside of the world that we don't know of or can't even imagine, because we don't have schizophrenia!
I am grateful for this, thank you for sharing and for great work
The part about being in the middle of BPD being the worst was so interesting. Feeling nothing is worse than the lows. I've never thought about that.
I appreciate the insight I gain from your videos
Keep up the great work! And thank you for all you do!!!💚
Thank you for this, its comforting to know what I go through other do as well. I'm not alone.
Thank you great insight on how other people are living with this illness.
God bless you all
Love you all
Thanks, Lauren, for making these videos! You’re an amazing woman and are helping people cope with schizophrenia.
Hi. I really love your channel. And you give me knowledge about your disorder. So keep going on. All my love too you💖
Amazing program, thank you
This is amazing! Very important work and I'm sure will have a wonderful impact in reducing stigma and increasing care
Very nice!!!
Great idea
Thanks Vicki, thanks Peter and thank you Lauren for this informative video.
I watched all five videos Talking with People Living with Schizophrenia and I absolutely loved it. I do not have schizophrenia, but I was always interested in how people live and what their lives like with this condition. Out of all the videos I have seen, yours were the best. So thank you very much for sharing it! It did changed my perspective on the illness. And I have actually picked up some tips for myself. I do struggle with depression and at times think that I am not good enough or that people don't like me. So the reality check that you suggested to do I found very helpful. Please keep on posting!
great video format.
We Thank you so much.
I have been having issues sense about 19 but just now about a month ago got diagnosed with schizo affective disorder depressive type (36) so i dont have manic phases i have normal days and depression days but ill have days that im blank no emotion and no one has exsplained everything to me and when i heard u guys talk about stuck in neutral or flat it made me feel better to have an answer that it is part of my illness and not just me I just want to thank u again for these videos they have helped me understand my illness and helped me use the right words to explain my symptoms to finally get a diagnosis and to be on a med that seems to be helping
Lauren, your interview skills are wonderful. I am just diagnosed with panic disorder but I'm very interested in psychology. Love going to Vancouver BC. Continúa con el buen trabajo.
This was invaluable. An example of the good that can come from the internet and RUclips. Thank you, keep it up.
Omg this is sooooo helpfullllllllll!!!
Thank you Lauren, Peter and Vicki. Amazing how helpful it is to hear from people who have been diagnosed, and have great ideas for improving daily living. Well done!😊❤
Not looking for videos on living with schizophrenia I just randomly landed on Lauren’s channel and now it’s one of my favorites.
This is incredibly insightful and educational. ❤
Interest and informative interviews Lauren. I appreciate all your hard work.
Thanks for this video, as I have only just been told this is my diagnosis I found this supper helpful! Side note, I need to work or I'm a mess, my job keeps the bits together so I try my hardest not to call in sick.
I'm so glad you discussed the revolving door problem with the mental health system. I live in New Zealand and it is a big problem here too.
I relate so much in my illness. Also, as far as the good therapists go, my lord is she right. We REQUIRE stability in that or we, at least in my experience, crash, at least a little, when it happens. It became like how I viewed relationships for a while, pain. I know that was part of my psychosis now but I genuinly knew next to nothing about psychosis until very recently and your channel was how I realized I need to talk to my therapist about it next time, so thank you, and I would love to be a guest on something like this, but I have semi annoying verbal compulsion lol
Thanks so much to all of you for sharing your thoughts, feelings and experiences. It is really a great help.
Zero thumbs down! I've never seen that before.
Wow, I relate to what Vicki was saying for the second question. I need to be doing something all the time or else I get into my head. Thank you for sharing that. This is a great video, one of the best Ive seen. I haven't watched the whole video yet, but will finish it later. :] Edit: I finished the video. It was all very good and helpful. thank you everyone
Love this. I did not realise I was having touch hallucinations until this was mentioned
I’m here because my step dad has schizophrenia and we are afraid he’s going to stay in his episode. He struggles with taking his meds.. I’m thankful for this insight.
Revolving doors by Gorillaz is about the therapy profession lol
Congrats on this video! It was really nice to hear other people talking about their daily routine. I am looking forward to your next videos! You are the only one on YouToube that I know who has a channel strictly on schizophrenia. :) keep up the good work!
There are a few others that I follow every so often I'll have a new Channel pop-up in my suggestions that's usually a couple of years old with somebody talking about their experiences with schizophrenia!
Lauren you should work in TV, you are a natural TV host/presenter.
Great interviews Vicki and Peter!
I really appreciate what you guys do to let people know what it's like to live with schizophrenia. I have a Foster son who is having delusions and who sometimes realises he needs help but he still believes that the delusions here saying is real. We are trying to work on getting him to realise that he needs help and as you well know this is probably not very easy for anybody
I really like this. Can you do the same but for other mental disorders as well? Anxiety, depression, bipolar, etc.
I have Schizoaffective disorder depressive type, I can relate to these people.
Im diagnosed BP1 and some anxiety disorder. My psychologist did a great job and we got to a medication right away. I liked going up because of my mental health issues when it comes to drugs and the things they experience sound a lot similar to what amphetamines do to me, I experience none of what they said when I'm not on substances but I have kind of an idea what they experience. I could not imagine having to put up with those issues as a part of everyday being. I've had the bugs crawling on me, my shirts pulled and my name called but I was always on a bit of a binge. I feel for y'all and as someone diagnosed and medicated. Im fighting alongside with ya, be well 🙏
Every time my psychosis starts I will heavily obsess on psychology. I find it interesting anyway, but I definitely get fixated. It’s sort of a reflection of how my brain is malfunctioning. I spend hours and hours digesting psychology and neglect everything else including work. It’s nice to know this is relatively common with others.
I wish I had a group of people like this to talk too. We share similar experiences.
The rolvolling door is so true
They glowing
I really enjoyed this video. It sheds a new light on the illness of schizophrenia. Thank you for the interview and sharing your experiences.
amazing 👌
when I feel flat I try to encourage myself to do art or i watch comedies new comedies help the best for me
i am living with schizophrenia since of begining 2005.now iam 40 years old and i have 6 involuntary hospitalization.
💛
I love learning and watching your channel. I have heard my name many times before. I have been touched also. I am a believer in Jesus and healing. I am never afraid though. I am so comforted by it. I believe for me it is my angels touching me and taking care of me as I care for my Ill son. He had two TBI in 2012& three months later 2013 that second brain injury. We noticed changes them with flat emotions. Then much later he self medicated as your guests explained. He was in a bad car wreck and was severely injured. He did not believe or accept responsibility for the car crash which was his fault. He believed ‘they’ did it to him. He was in psychosis in the hospital -2019. Trying to heal from the surgeries I believe He has bipolar 2 and ptsd. He thinks it’s schizoaffective. But he will not take or stay on meds. Refuses the shots. Has been to state hospitals three times now. His psychosis is quite scary to go through. Trying to get him to trust someone for helping him is so so difficult.
I am extremely isolated, especially with contact in the mentally ill community. So it is interesting that the sequence of piling up diagnoses is not limited to me; I have been living thinking the coterie of my clinicians are (were) incompetent.
I manage in part by obsessively writing. And I create the videos like what you find on my channel, a dark revelation of what I think about. My channels are a way to let out feelings so instead of me making blips on radars. In basic words, not equivocate, I have vowed to not be like the kids and adults doing mass shooting.
Ttyl
Cheers
My sister have schizoprenia, and its very painful for me to see her during schizophrenic episodes 💔
So I have scizoeffective disorder. With me, it's somewhat episodic in nature and highly effected by stress. I have always had imaginary freinds since I was like 4 years old. When they start acting in wierd ways or like try to hurt me or something else out of the ordinary, then that's one of my clues that something is wrong. I can also a lot of times tell what is a hallucination and what is my imaginary freind so I know what I have going on, what is going on, etc. I also have a lot of paranoia. Right nowits about my smoke detector going off. I do avoid triggers for my paranoia but as cooking is a big one, I can't always do that or I simply wont eat. To manage, I dont really take meds right now (providers said I didnt really need them at this point so yay!) but I to a TON of relaxation, mindfulness, and grounding since my symptoms are often stress related. My symptoms also cause a lot of stress for me, so it just becomes a vicious cycle if I'm not careful. U dont really have a schedule right now, but I am trying to create one and stick to it. Also knowing exactly what I want/need to do the next day us very helpful. Unless something comes up that I didnt count on. Say I'm going to clean, wash dishes, do laundry, and work on RUclips but my mom calls right when o start the dishes and says shes going to come over and pick me up because she absolutely needs me to go help her at the storage unit for 3+ hours since I mentioned I wanted x thing from there anyhow. Well I need x thing asap so I grudgingly go help her and get nothing done. Next-day panic ensues as I frantically try to prioritize since now the landlords comming in 2 days and I still have not done the laundry, cleaned anything, and the dishes are still dirty plus now I have 6 more boxes that I have no idea what to do with since I didnt have any time to go through them after I got home the day before to find x thing and it's not in the box it was labeled as being in. So yea, my illness and techniques are kind of hard to describe right now and root causes are a nightmare even my therapists dont want to think about since no one has any clue how exactly I got schizoeffective in the first place. Hugh.
Can you do a video on suffering from schizoaffective disorder and having bad hypothyroidism at the same time?
I have derealization and have felt extremely numb to even my environment for about 3 months now. I feel it may be lessening some. All I can do is hang on and hope. This makes the second time I’ve had derealization and it’s terrible. I’m getting better though...I think
Stress is the reason
Hey Lauren would love a way to personally message you and others that might be dealing with Schizophrenia. I want to help someone and want to know how the best way to go about doing that is. Thanks
The fact that Peter can read books is impressive given the cognitive damage that could occur.
Damn i feel bad for Peter, you keep your chin up homie, 👍
Hi Lauren! I’m dating someone who has schizophrenia. I’m so in love with him. He tried to harm himself within the last week and is now in the hospital there was so many things leading us to that. Is there anyway to get in-touch with you so I can discuss some of what happened with someone that understands. I want to speak to someone that has been through what he’s going through with schizophrenia.
Its ironic that everyone agrees that not having anything to do and being in bed to long makes symptoms worse but that is exactly what it is like when they put you in the hospital to get better.
Good Point
Is Vicki's makeup amazing, or is it also the reflection on her glasses?
Thank you Lauren! It does help a lot in hearing other people's experiences and what they're doing to cope with some of the more challenging aspects of these conditions. I have been recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar 1 which I would assume come together into schizoaffective but not a schizoaffective diagnosis itself. I find one of the more challenging aspects to be the catatonic type symptoms (or at least that's what I'm referring to them as) where I will just stand there staring off into space for a minute or two and also kind of Dazed and Confused. I have not seen a lot of information that would indicate the medication would be any help with that aspect. I am currently not taking any medication but also don't seem to have many of the positive symptoms that would require medication. I suffer enough from the cognitive and negative symptoms and I don't want to make them worse, as I am already high risk for Parkinson's. I have taken into account some of the other Lifestyle Changes that other people say do help. I started taking multivitamins with a few other supplements to help increase blood flow to the brain and to give the brain the nutrients it needs. I have increased my garlic, Ginger, curcumin, tumeric and potassium intake quite a bit. I am still looking for a decent magnesium and Omega-3 supplement. Getting on a decent sleep schedule and reducing stress helps a lot too. The wife and I are also going to couples counseling to help us both work on our emotions and mindfulness techniques to help combat the emotional reactions vs rational responses to each other's moods, which both of us seem to be a little unstable!!
What are some good, not so good, and bad portrayals of mental health in Hollywood? A Beautiful Mind is my patron mental illness themed movie. The details of the journey of Dr. John Nash are very fmailiar to me. What others portray mental illness in an accurate light? And what are some movies that just bad about how they portray those having mental illness?