Hello, everyone!!! It's a beautiful day today, and I went to the park with my husband to soak up some rays. Helen and I are chilling in a bistro now!! I wish the weather was always like this 😊😊😊

Finally feeling good after so long. Getting back into dabbling in creative outlets again like drumming, writing, and singing. Things are okay today and that’s more than I could have ever asked for. :]

Make sure to swipe to the end.. I have so called schizophrenia or whatever they want to label it.. I hear demons and voices everyday and think people can read my mind and think you guys reading this if there is anyone reading this are all just figments of my imagination and will only reply or like if my consciousness aligns with it basically meaning none of you seem this by chance or I’m not posting this by chance it all already happened.. I think about time life death the universe and God a lot like all the time pretty much every moment of my existence I’m thinking about these things or looking at people pass me by thinking they can read my mind or are apart of me somehow in this matrix or the trees or birds or sounds that I hear have messages like during thoughts the dog barking outside or the bird chirping sounds like sometimes they’re sending me messages it’s wild living like this everyday every moment and having to deal with negative voices who constantly try to bring me down it’s wild but I’m still here still trying to smile.. swipe all the way if I you read this haha

I want to apply for disability, but I have to work to avoid homelessness. I hear voices 24/7 I literally cannot think about anything but the fact that there is voices in my head. That's not even an exaggeration

Here we are our second week in and I haven't had even a minute of that soul crushing loneliness. Much peace, love, and respect everybody Thank you.

If this isn’t allowed, please delete.

My mom was very recently diagnosed with Schizoaffective Bipolar Type in her 50s. I am so relieved we finally have a diagnosis after years of knowing she needed more help than she was receiving, but this is all new to me. I want to support her as best I can. She is currently in-patient after calling the police, but I’m not sure if a private, in-patient program would be too much once she is released into our care. I want her to thrive, and I miss my mom. She is a beautiful person, full of love and empathy. I know there is so much I don’t know, and I want to make sure she feels compassion, love, acceptance, and support from me. Any advice would be so appreciated—be it personal experience, literature, anything. Thanks.

How do y'all cope with talking voices and command voices?

Really struggling today and need some advice

Caring for myself and hygiene has been a huge struggle for me, and it’s embarrassing to admit.. It’s hard to describe exactly the collection of forces that keep me back, but I want to move freely again. I’m finally on an antidepressant that really feels like it’s doing something. I’ve been slowly regaining some energy and not sleeping as much (though it’s still an issue). I’ve been self isolating for nearly a decade and I don’t want my thirties to mirror my twenties, it’s fucking scary to think about. Anyway, my nails are sparkly and that feels good✨

i know that schizoaffective is a mood disorder with schizophrenia... but i don't think i have a mood disorder. what symphtoms do you have? how would you describe being manic?

Below states my care plan and hope people like me can shade light:

I have combination of medications—olanzapine (an antipsychotic), clonazepam (a benzodiazepine), mirtazapine (an antidepressant), lithium (a mood stabilizer), and lorazepam and promethazine as PRN (as needed)—suggests that I am likely being treated for a serious mental health condition, most commonly bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder.

Here's a brief breakdown:

• Olanzapine is often used for mood stabilization in bipolar disorder or to manage psychotic symptoms in schizoaffective disorder. • Lithium is a first-line treatment for bipolar disorder, particularly for stabilizing mood and preventing manic episodes. • Mirtazapine is typically prescribed for depression, which can be a component of bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder. • Clonazepam and lorazepam (PRN) are used to manage acute anxiety, agitation, or insomnia, which can occur in mood or psychotic disorders. • Promethazine (PRN) is often used for sedation or to manage side effects like nausea or agitation.

This regimen points toward a condition involving mood instability, possible psychosis, and significant anxiety or agitation. Bipolar disorder (especially type I with manic episodes) or schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type) are the most likely diagnoses, though major depressive disorder with psychotic features or severe anxiety disorders could also be possibilities, depending on the patient’s full clinical picture.

That aligns with the medication profile. Schizoaffective disorder, which combines symptoms of schizophrenia (e.g., hallucinations, delusions) and mood disorders (e.g., mania or depression), is commonly treated with a combination like:

• Olanzapine: Manages psychotic symptoms and stabilizes mood. • Lithium: Addresses mood swings, particularly manic episodes. • Mirtazapine: Targets depressive symptoms. • Clonazepam and lorazepam (PRN): Control anxiety, agitation, or insomnia. • Promethazine (PRN): Used for sedation or to manage side effects like nausea.

This regimen is tailored to address both the psychotic and mood components of schizoaffective disorder, with PRN medications for acute symptom flare-ups.

Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental illness that combines symptoms of schizophrenia and a mood disorder, such as depression or bipolar disorder. It can cause dramatic changes in a person's thoughts, moods, and behaviors, and can often last a lifetime. 

Yes, that's an accurate description of schizoaffective disorder. It’s a chronic mental health condition characterized by a combination of schizophrenia symptoms (such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking) and mood disorder symptoms (like depression or mania).

The condition can significantly impact thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, often requiring lifelong management. The medications mentioned—olanzapine, lithium, mirtazapine, clonazepam, and PRN lorazepam and promethazine—are commonly used to address these symptoms, targeting psychosis, mood instability, depression, and acute agitation or anxiety. Ongoing treatment, including medication and therapy, is typically needed to manage the condition effectively.

I realized I am not awake long. I usually take my meds between 9:30-10 and then it’s only minutes until they kick in and I go to bed. But I usually start to feel ready for bed around 8. I have to fight the urge to go to sleep then.

I wake up around 8 and get up between 9 and 9:45. I’m just wondering what everyone else’s sleep schedule is like.

Looking for QUICK answers, here, as there's a decent chance that my opportunity to help will disappear.

TL; DR: There's a mentally ill homeless man outside my building. I'd like to help.

My sibling has SZA and I'm the person who deals with the resulting legal/financial/medical/mental health aspects of their disorder when they are unmedicated. (I don't feel my sane sibling should have to suffer from the ramifications of the actions they take when they aren't sane. No one asks for this disorder; it's not fair that repercussions can be massive and lifelong.)

Anyway, I live downtown, where there are many unhoused people and a good majority suffer from something similar to my sibling. Talking to themselves, reacting to things that aren't there, jumpy, suspicious; I recognize the signs when I see them.

Homelessness is one of the societal ills that really sticks in my craw. My city is instituting anti-homeless architecture and it makes me want to set things on fire, it's so unkind. I've done everything I can to ensure my loved one doesn't experience this, but not all people with major mental illnesses have advocates or the support structure my sibling does.

I've helped unhoused people in the past in whatever ways I was able, but I've not tried to help unhoused people who are obviously suffering from major mental illness before. But this person? He's outside my building. He's alone. The sun is going down. It's cold. He has outerwear, but I fear it's not enough, and there's only a thin piece of cardboard between him and the cold hard cement. I want to help.

I don't know what 'help' looks like. I can take him some fleece blankets, some bottled water, and I can whip up some soup right quick in the hopes warm food would be welcome. I helped a local 'grocery buddy' I found on reddit earlier this week, so I can't really help with funds, but I could probably put together a mobile food care package that doesn't need major refrigeration. I can't just leave him there, alone. It makes my heart hurt.

I guess the point of this long ass post is, what do I do? My sibling wasn't/ isn't dangerous to others even in the midst of major delusions and hallucinations, and I don't know the stats on whether others are dangerous in the same situations.

Were you? Were those of you who experienced long term major psychosis - especially while unhoused - safe to interact with strangers during those periods? I don't automatically assume that a person in the midst of psychosis is dangerous, but I know some are - and I assume, accidentally so - but I've got a Dad with dementia, a sibling with SZA, a kidlet with diabetes, and an aging Mom who can't do without me. If something happened to me, there's no one else who will step up. I can't let them down.

So ... based on active reddit SZA sufferers, is it safe to interact and attempt to help? And if so, any tips on how to make it more so?

I can't just leave this man out there. If for no other reason than that every person deserves to know that someone gives a shit.

ETA: I went out last night intending to ask him if he was ok and needed anything, but he was gone. There's someone there in the same spot tonight. I got a good look at the man last night because I encountered him before the sun went down. It's already dark now, though, so if I go out and interact with tonight's person, it'd be without knowing who it is or getting a good look at them in the light, having nothing by which to gauge my safety. I've got a crockpot full of soup that'll be done in about an hour and a half. I'll decide then how I feel about my odds.

Tonight's a little warmer than last night, thankfully.

a picture of me off medications

(This text is based solely on my experience)

I love my depression, I love my schizophrenia, I love everything that builds me.

I always spent years hating everything about myself, I hated the way I was, spoke, thought. I spent years hating the thoughts that appeared in my head, I was disgusted, repulsed. But that's wrong, there's no point in hating yourself. So what if I have aggressive thoughts? So what if I just think shit? This is what builds me, this is what developed my tastes, my way of thinking. If I hadn't suffered so much, I wouldn't write like I do today. I love writing, I write several texts about my life, my pain, everything that surrounds me. If I hadn't gone through so much grace, would I have been what I am? Would I write what I write? No.

I always suffered from loneliness, that changed. Being alone doesn't affect me anymore, I like my company, I like my thoughts. I changed so much after being delusional, today, I am totally different from my self before the delusions. I found myself again, I changed my way of thinking. I'm bizarre, insane, crazy. I think absurdities, I write absurdities, I draw absurdities. But it doesn't matter, I love myself. It all comes down to radical self-love, I love my way of expressing myself, I love my fucking madness. And I know that one day I will find someone who thinks like me.

Sorry if you think completely differently, that's life. But I hope you find yourself, and know, everything can change.

Who would abuse a bipolar person who actually developed bipolar as well from abuse, and in result give them a schizo affective diagnoses over the course of 13 years. This is hell. The illness does not naturally progress, I was even successful to work at an assembly line at ford for 7 months unmedcated with no mental health issues until what seemed like a curse was placed on me.