Just needed to be heard for a little while

oldestgnome

WaS, the story of your father was lovely. I was so pleased to read the positive early memories of your mother and that you were loved by your father even if he wasn't always able to show it and was unwell as you got older.

Your friend is very lucky to have you

whitewing

How do you celebrate your birthday nowadays, WaS?

whitewing

This is interesting too.http://www.schizophrenia.com/prevention.htm

I am so glad you started this thread, WaS. I think a lot of good will come from it. I can't believe how much I didn't know about schizophrenia before, and how much I thought I knew but was wrong.

Pyxis

All this talk of saris reminded me of when I was at University, (a century ago!), there was a Tamil girl in my Hall of Residence, who, one day, dressed three of us up in saris! (Given that this was in the years when the most exotic food in people's cupboards was Alphabety Spaghetti, this was quite an exciting thing to do!)

What I hadn't realised was that a Sari is just one long, very long, piece of material which is wound round you in a certain way, and pinned at strategic spots! I chose a pink one. I remember it taking a long time! Great fun, though!

As you said, some of the materials are gorgeous! Perhaps you could have a sari as a wedding dress!

whitewing

Hello WaS and Thread Friends,

I did it! I had my smear test and I wasn't even concerned or brooding about it. In fact, I didn't feel embarrassed or even that undignified. It was like having my teeth checked - not quite the same, the scraping wasn't so bad and they didn't polish it afterwards. And they didn't have a big spotlight gazing into the abyss. The nurse was lovely too.

It took me less time to book the appointment and have it done than I have spent worrying about the reminders and agnosing over whether to send the slip back that tells them not to issue reminders.

I rewarded myself by spending 50p on a book from the market.

So, WaS, open your window, tell us what is out there that is gladdening your heart and then, let us know what is leaving the cupboard of doom today.

jobbingmusician

wooooooooooooooo! Well done whitewing, fab stuff! :j:j:j

Waves_and_Smiles

Well done, Whitewing! Bet you feel relieved? You have given me motivation to book my own, so thank you for that! You certainly deserve that book!

That Schizophrenia article is a very good one. As I have said, although I had a genetic leaning towards developing it, environmental and social factors play a huge part too. If I had grown up in a stable environmental it may not have developed, or at least it may have been only mild psychosis. There is evidence that constant anxiety in a child plays a part as does childhood depression. Certainly it is caused by a combination of factors all meeting up.

I love that you are reading about it, whitewing. If this thread helps anyone understand it better then I will be overjoyed. It is so badly portrayed by the media, I have told almost no one in real life that I have it because people have preconceived ideas, not the least that I could turn into a knife-wielding maniac at any moment. I do hope that it is obvious from my posts that, that is the last thing I would ever do. It is also always portrayed as such a horrific illness. Don't get me wrong, I suffer a lot as I have said but I am still me with the same personality that I always had, my life isn't all about my illness.

If anyone is interested in looking further my type is a mix between Catatonic Schizophrenia and Paranoid Schizophrenia (you will have noticed the paranoia part and I have spoken about catatonia). There are three other types - Disorganised, Residual and Undifferentiated. All have similar symptoms but slight differences that cause a different categorisation. In my mothers case she was a Paranoid Schizophrenic with no overlapping, I have a combination of two types. The most opposite to my type is Disorganised, sufferers will often act inappropriately in situations and confuse emotions so when something sad happens they may laugh hysterically. As you know I am very paranoid of anyone thinking badly of me so will monitor everything I do in public and be as appropriate as I can be, my behaviour is rigid when I am around people which is very different to Disorganised. People I have met with that type tend to be very bouncy and lively, as opposed to me with catatonic which means I am usually very still and drift off into other worlds far too easily. I had a friend with Disorganised and we used to freak each other out half the time. He would make me jump out of my skin when he suddenly burst out laughing or leapt across the room and I would freak him out when I would drift off and he thought I was gone forever. We got on well though and he used to suddenly stand on his head which made me laugh and then he laughed, too!

As for why disorganised schizophrenics do inappropriate things, although I don't have that type I do share the urges that make them do it but in a weaker form. For example, remember how I said that I want to put my arms through a window because it feels euphoric and exciting? Well, for someone with Disorganised Schizophrenia those exciting impulses are there all the time. It is very difficult for them not to act on a sudden impulse when they are so thrilled about trying it so they may suddenly stand on their head or make odd noises in public because they can't resist doing it, the urge is too strong.

Always, if anyone has any questions please do ask. Before developing a mental illness (growing up I had emotional conditions, not mental illnesses) I was always fascinated in Abnormal Psychology which basically means the psychotic illnesses and chose to specialise in them at university. I have studied most types and it never becomes less interesting.

I don't do anything for my birthday, whitewing! For years my birthday was very hard, being the date of my dad's suicide but in the last 10 years I have come to terms with that more. I might order a takeaway and have a glass of wine but that is about it.

whitewing

I wonder Tigger from Winnie The Pooh is an undiagnosed Disorganised Schizophrenic?

(The mental health issues of our childhood friends could be an interesting thread).

Blow, I just lost a whole post. How annoying.

What are you chucking out today, WaS?

Waves_and_Smiles

Tigger has some aspects of Disorganised Schizophrenia and also Bipolar! Eeyore on the other hand is a clinical depressive. I have often amused myself by looking at childhood characters and 'diagnosing' them!

I have a pile of old bills ready to go that I sorted out as soon as I got up! Wait for it, bills from 2002. I think it safe to get rid of them now...

elsien

My cousin had schizophrenia. No family history that we are aware of, and no abuse as such but not a particularly happy childhood. His developed in his early twenties after a bout of bad drugs at a festival - the lucky dip where you don't know what you're taking until it's too late.
I'm afraid as a family we weren't very supportive. Partly ignorance but also we just didn't know how ill he was. He'd been stealing from everyone so everyone stopped letting him in their houses, and he lived a chaotic lifestyle before he was diagnosed, so we just thought he was a "wrong 'un" as it were who needed to learn about consequences. In retrospect he was probably starting to become unwell before his first break down and sectioning. I don't think he had much insight into his condition and he was convinced the meds were poisoning him so as soon as he left hospital he'd stop taking the medication then go into another downward spiral. After that his life just seemed to be a revolving door of hospital and community care until he died.
I think that's why threads like this help - if we'd understood more, we might not have been able to do much for him but we could certainly have been more supportive of his family in their efforts to prop him up.
Still, you live and learn.


I too was interested in abnormal psychology at university - I hoped to be a clinical psychologist but it ended up as just a dream, I never managed to get a place.