I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia 2 days after my 19th birthday, and turned 21 just over a week ago. I am just about one year without serious symptoms, and have been on Clozaril for a little over 14 months now. I have CBT/DBT twice per week, and abstain entirely from drugs and alcohol (I used heavily prior to my diagnosis).
Following a series of hospitalizations throughout 2012, I was released into outpatient care and put under the wing of a psychiatrist in Chicago (where I was hospitalized/released, I now live there and go to school). I am a Junior in university with decent grades, volunteer at a local writing center, work for an educational non-profit and am moving into a new apartment with my long term girlfriend.
And I am happier than I ever was before treatment.
That psychiatrist saved my life, as he treated me, not just the diagnosis. And he cared. He still does. I meet with him tomorrow morning.
This comment is honestly just a thank you drawn from the depths of my heart, from my antsy little kid in me who needed help for so many other reasons than just the diagnosis, for what an incredible impact a truly committed, intelligent, and compassionate doctor can make in a person's life.
You seem like one of those doctors, and even if you weren't, thank you for so openly acknowledging the person, not just the illness.
That said, I think a question is appropriate: how would you recommend approaching my best friend with bipolarism and an eating disorder who has had bad experiences with therapy/psychiatry to continue pursuing help? Sometimes it feels being patient and genuine isn't enough, but I have a tendency to think of insecurities in those relationships as being my own, not a fault in the relationship.
They struggle immensely with the hopelessness, and more so the label; what little or big thing can I work into my relationship with her to, at the very least, help her feel grounded?
SchizoidRecovery142 karma
I hope you read this!
I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia 2 days after my 19th birthday, and turned 21 just over a week ago. I am just about one year without serious symptoms, and have been on Clozaril for a little over 14 months now. I have CBT/DBT twice per week, and abstain entirely from drugs and alcohol (I used heavily prior to my diagnosis).
Following a series of hospitalizations throughout 2012, I was released into outpatient care and put under the wing of a psychiatrist in Chicago (where I was hospitalized/released, I now live there and go to school). I am a Junior in university with decent grades, volunteer at a local writing center, work for an educational non-profit and am moving into a new apartment with my long term girlfriend.
And I am happier than I ever was before treatment.
That psychiatrist saved my life, as he treated me, not just the diagnosis. And he cared. He still does. I meet with him tomorrow morning.
This comment is honestly just a thank you drawn from the depths of my heart, from my antsy little kid in me who needed help for so many other reasons than just the diagnosis, for what an incredible impact a truly committed, intelligent, and compassionate doctor can make in a person's life.
You seem like one of those doctors, and even if you weren't, thank you for so openly acknowledging the person, not just the illness.
That said, I think a question is appropriate: how would you recommend approaching my best friend with bipolarism and an eating disorder who has had bad experiences with therapy/psychiatry to continue pursuing help? Sometimes it feels being patient and genuine isn't enough, but I have a tendency to think of insecurities in those relationships as being my own, not a fault in the relationship.
They struggle immensely with the hopelessness, and more so the label; what little or big thing can I work into my relationship with her to, at the very least, help her feel grounded?
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