<p>How were you diagnosed. If you don’t want to state because it could identify you, that’s fine.</p>
<p>There are things besides schizophrenia that cause psychosis - have these other things been ruled out?</p>
<p>Have you (with your psychiatrist) tried a variety of medications to determine which works best with the least side effects?</p>
<p>Were you institutionalized or did you have an episode where you were treated with medication in an ER and released (I don’t actually know whether ERs can do this)?</p>
<p>You are probably better off in a supportive environment (with family). You have an international situation and I assume that you’re home. Have things improved a lot since you were diagnosed?</p>
<p>Schizophrenia is not really a specific disorder with known causes — the term describes a syndrome; i.e. collection of symptoms. So really, one person with schizophrenia can vary widely from another person who has it.</p>
<p>"…He’s not being irrational at all for not wanting to take them. "</p>
<p>Well! There you have it! Someone who can do a risk-benefit analysis on someone based on posts on college confidential! Not having to worry about med-mal really reduces “cost”. And some folks think good medical care costs money…</p>
<p>It’s important to weigh the risks and benefits, yes. But it’s important to realize that having trouble finding college, employment, and even good housing is a very real risk of not taking them.</p>
<p>Speaking from personal experience (I’ve taken Risperidone in the past, and currently take Seroquel,) the side effects of anti-psychotics aren’t to be dismissed. The long-term side effects of atypical anti-psychotics tend to be a lot less than the that of the older generation (e.g. drastically lower risks of tardive dyskynesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome,) but the immediate ones can still be severe and debilitating. It’s possible that the OP has experienced them, and has discussed the risks with his psychiatrist.</p>
<p>I know that I was weaned off of the Risperidone because of the severity of the side effects I experienced; it may be hard to convey this to someone who hasn’t taken them, but if I took my medication, that’s all I could expect to get done that day. Even getting out of bed took hours, and motivation to do things like shower and eat was nil. I lost 20 lbs in less than a month because I could only motivate myself to eat once every two days or so. </p>
<p>That said, I think that the medication issue should be between the OP and his psychiatrist. Schizophrenia covers a wide swath of mental disregulation, and his individual case should be considered by a trained professional. </p>
<p>Just felt like I needed to post because I think very few people really understand why people with psychotic symptoms don’t want to take their meds. I know that most that I’ve encountered think that medication refusal is a symptom of the disease, and couldn’t possibly be a rational response to the side effects encountered.</p>
<p>My son is diagnosed as paranoid schizophric and refuses meds as he does not understand he is ill (3 years). Getting treated early makes ALL of the difference in recovering. Research is finding actuall loss of gray matter occurring during psychotic episodes. PLEASE allow yourself to get help while you are able to think it through!</p>
<p>Schizophrenia is such a bad disease to have, OP I hope your body responses to meds and for your sake just take it. I feel really bad for people who have schizophrenia especially after learning about it in class. It really is unfortunate.</p>
<p>Assuming we’re talking about paranoid schizophrenia (the vast majority of cases are) you obviously have never known someone with the disorder. The disorder doesn’t cause paranoia to develop about oneself, but about hallucinations of what others are thinking/doing AGANIST this person. It’s a common theme in just about every case of this disorder. My uncle, whose got to be the most calm and kindhearted man I know in my family, has had several psychotic episodes where he believed people were plotting aganist him, talking bad about him, etc. Occassionally, the hallucinations target real people; like family members. He’s threatened me on occasion - saying I was calling him names and gave me a death glare that almost made me **** my pants. He’s ended up in jail several times for hitting/attacking people and making threats. And this is a man that is pretty good about taking his meds.</p>
<p>There’s a chance of having a milder case of the disorder - but any disorder that causes one to think untrue things about other, real people. can most definitely be a danger to others.</p>
<p>What makes you think you can be successful the second time at school if you refuse to take your meds. You were sent home the first time within a month so presumably you couldn’t handle it then with out meds. What have you done to change your behavior so that you can handle it better this time without meds? One of the big problems with schizophrenia is that after the meds start to improve behavior, the user often thinks they don’t need the meds anymore and stops taking them. The symptoms start again, and the whole vicious circle repeats. You have a life-long, incurable disease that is a chemical inbalance. The only way to correct the chemical imbalance at this point is with medication. Maybe in the future, some other treatment will be available but for now that is what you have. If you refuse to acknowledge your condition, then I think the school is within their rights to refuse admission. You would be setting yourself up for failure. On the other hand they have no way of monitoring you to make sure you take the meds, so eventually symptoms will flare up and they will have to take action at that point. Good luck!</p>
<p>Oh come on, obviously not. In politics you’ve got people that know things aren’t true, but claim they are to make their position better. That happens everywhere; not just politics. It’s called lying.
Schizophrenics believe things to be true, when in reality, they most definitely are not. that’d be hallucinating. And it can become dangerous for others.</p>
<p>Hallucinations are sensory perceptions that aren’t really there. One can know that they are not real or believe that they are real. The latter refers to delusions.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that schizophrenics are any more violent than the general population. That may not be saying much though.</p>
<p>In politics, there are many that believe what they say is true. If you confront them, they shout you down or do the character assassination thing.</p>
<p>Oh okay, well delusions then. Either way, it’s much different than lying. And what you described is still nothing close to being delusional - that’s just being stubborn.</p>
<p>I never said schizophrenics are more prone to violent outbursts. Although, there could be research that says there is… what you and I ‘think’ of schizophrenics doesn’t make it true either way. Assuming they aren’t more prone to violence, that still doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous for others.
If a schizophrenic man has delusions causing him to believe his friend is plotting aganist him, or talking crap about him - he may become angry and prone to confront him - rather than the ‘normal’ man who never had the delusion to begin with. It’d be silly to say that schizophrenics are only a danger to themselves - when the very definition of the disorder (in paranoids) is that they have delusions pertaining to what others are doing/saying - not themselves.</p>
<p>OMG, really, unless you happen to be a psychiatrist, you shouldn’t talk. & even if you were, you, obviously, wouldn’t be familiar with the OP’s case, personally.</p>
<p>^ obviously I don’t know the OPs case - thanks captain obvious. But then again, I’m not even talking about his case; I’m just making general statements. So hows about you sit down and chill out a little there.</p>