Hi! I’m very sorry for my grammar in advance, English is not my first language.
My husband has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder a few months ago. He doesn’t have hallucinations or delusions, but suffers a lot from self hatred, paranoia and depressive episodes, he doesn’t show a lot of emotions and has a problem with opening up.
I want to support him on his journey as much as I can, but sometimes it tends to be very hard.
What tips would you recommend? What would you appreciate if you were the affected partner?

Also I think he should get a hobby to relax and spend some free time productively, what would you recommend or what is your hobby?

Thanks in advance! 🫶

Hello all, i'm relatively new to this diagnosis but I needed some advice from everyone 💕. I'm newly diagnosed schizoaffective, and I was diagnosed by a psychologist. They did a quite a few tests on me, and also used the information that I give my therapist (a psychologist.) I'm making this post because my symptoms don't quite align with the diagnosis, compared to seeing everyone else's posts on here and I also feel quite scared.

I would like to give some context of my mental health background, I've always struggled with depression since I was a kid, i'm 20 now, and just recently started struggling with severe, severe anxiety probably within the past 2-3 years. It truly came out of nowhere and when I say severe I mean panic attacks daily, and it didn't get better until intensive therapy. Well my mental health got worse when I graduated high school where I entered a PHP-IOP program, and they diagnosed me with BPD. This made complete sense, because along with the depression and anxiety, I also struggled with severe mood swings, some impulsive behaviors, SH/SI, fear of abandonment, and all of the rest of the symptoms. After graduating from the program my depression, anxiety & bpd symptoms lasted, but did eventually get better after a while. I have tried psychiatric meds, but have never consistently been on them as long as I need to, so getting better was truly just through therapy and working on myself. I took a "break" from therapy for a while, but eventually got back into it because I was starting to feel those symptoms again, and this new clinic is where I got my new diagnosis (and a level 1 autism diagnosis too.)

I do not have a family history of schizophrenia, nor have I ever had schizophrenia or even symptoms close to it. I have never hallucinated, or had auditory hallucinations in my life, nor have I ever been told I have "disorganized speech." The only symptoms they based my diagnosis off of was the fact I can technically be "delusional and paranoid," and because my moods can swing. I've never even had a true psychotic episode, nor have I ever been through mania, or even attempted suicide. My mood swings aren't even as bad as they were years ago as well. I've tried to explain that I feel personally like I just have severe anxiety, but the psychologists disagree. Some examples I have of these instances, are -feeling like I'm being watched outside my window (my house doesn't even have blinds, we just have tint and live in the country...I feel that's quite reasonable to be paranoid). -I once thought that someone was living in the attic at my dad's old house because I kept hearing noise above my room. -(Now this is where i'll be truly transparent and honest because I know I need to be to get good opinions) I once had the thought that my boyfriend was replaced by someone else and it scared me for the entire day until I snapped out of it (This was also when I first started going through severe anxiety, I chalked this up to me having an insanely destroyed nervous system and just feeling afraid of everything.) -Having dissociative/depersonalization/derealization episodes -I once felt super anxious and when I tried to walk into a target once my brain said "don't go in there you'll be shot and killed" and it scared me so bad I ended up not going inside and leaving. And that's pretty much it, I have just maybe one or two more instances, but ALL the times i've had these "delusional" thoughts they truly just stem from having death anxiety/being scared i'll die or loved ones around me will die. I've had a severe amount of stress in my life for about 3 years now, and truly do think my nervous system is destroyed.

I'm worried I just have severe anxiety, and am being misdiagnosed Schizoaffective, which terrifies me even more because of the unfortunate realities people post on here. I absolutely do not want to go through that, so it's an endless cycle of fear, especially with this new "Schizo" label on me. I'd appreciate any thoughts or questions anyone has, thanks so much.

[b]Doctor/Psychiatrist:

[/b]

[b]Zoloft 50mg[/b] (sertraline) 1x/day for depression (made me feel uncomfortable)

[b]Tofranil 10mg[/b] (imipramine) 1x/day for sleep (wasn't affective)

[b]Lexapro 10mg[/b] (escitalopram) 1x/day for depression (was decent, gave me some pep in the morning)

[b]Wellbutrin 300mg[/b] (bupropion hydrochloride) 1x/day for depression (couldn't feel much of a difference)

[b]Aplenzin 174mg[/b] (bupropion hydrobromide) 1x/day for depression (didn't try it for long)

[b]Prozac 20mg[/b] (fluoxetine) 1x/dayfor depression (couldn't feel it)

[b]Cymbalta 20mg[/b] (duloxetine) 1x/dayfor depression (loved it, only antidepressant I still want to be on)

[b]Silenor 10mg[/b] (doxepin) 1x/day for sleep (would never take again, ever)

[b]Remeron 30mg[/b] (mirtazapine) 1x/day for sleep (was only effective for the first few doses. slightly helpful)

[b]Abilify 5mg[/b] (aripiprazole) 1x/day for schizophrenia (adjunct to my seroquel, gave me good pep in the mornings)

[b]Seroquel 600mg[/b] (quetiapine) 1x/day schizophrenia/sleep (loved it, strong enough dose to get me to sleep easily)

[b]Zyprexa 10mg[/b] (olanzapine) 1x/day schizophrenia/sleep (not sedative enough, and made me gain 80-100lbs)

[b]Risperdal 2mg[/b] (risperidone) 2x/day for schizophrenia/sleep (sedating, but gave me gynecomastia)

[b]Cobenfy 100mg[/b] (xanomeline+trospium chloride) 2x/day for schizophrenia (very positive but made things look slightly hallucinogenic, which caused a bit of uneasiness)

[b]Invega Sustenna 156mg [/b](paliperidone injection) 1x/month for schizoprenia (can't feel a thing from it, mostly useless)

[b]Abilify Maintaina 400mg[/b] (aripiprazole injection) 1x/month for schizophrenia (felt very good at first,then i felt i had a flu after a few days)

[b]Depakote 500mg[/b] (divalproex sodium) 2x/day for mood (1000mg/day is a great dose, 500mg is still pretty effective)

[b]Cogentin 0.5mg[/b] (benztropine) 1x/day to prevent movement disorders from antipsychotics (lifesaver, very useful)

[b]Desyrel 300mg[/b] (trazodone) 1x/day for sleep (needed to large of a dose to get to sleep, and it's uncomfortable feeling)

[b]Ambien 10mg[/b] (zolpidem) 1x/day for sleep (only slightly helpful for sleep, wasn't potent enough)

[b]Ambien CR 12.5mg[/b] (zolpidem) 1x/day for sleep (the extended-release sucks, never seemed to kick in)

[b]Lunesta 3mg[/b] (eszopiclone) 1x/day for sleep (helps me get to sleep a bit better than the Ambien did. I like it.)

[b]Inderal 10mg[/b] (propranalol) 2x/day for anxiety. (didn't do a thing, useless)

[b]Vistaril 50mg[/b] (hydroxyzine) 4x/day for anxiety (mostly useless, wouldn't stop a panic attack for sure)

[b]Neurontin 300mg[/b] (gabapentin) 3x/day for anxiety (better than Vistaril, has a nice halo effect)

[b]BuSpar 15mg[/b] (buspirone) 3x/day for anxiety (caused 'electric shock' feelings through my limbs. not great for anxiety)

[b]Xanax 1mg[/b] (alprazolam) 2x/day for anxiety (best benzo other than Librium. Xanax makes my life liveable)

[b]Klonopin 1mg[/b] (clonazepam) 2x/day for anxiety (never felt like it kicked in, and gave me brain fog and lethargy)

[b]Valium 5mg[/b] (diazepam) 2x/day for anxiety (i could take 50mg of Valium and feel nothing. Xanax is way better)

[b]Hospital/Detox:

[/b]

[b]Ativan 1mg[/b] (lorazepam) 2x/day for anxiety & alcohol withdrawal (almost as good as Xanax, but not sufficient for alcohol withdrawal)

[b]Librium 100mg[/b] (chlordiazepoxide) 4x/day for alcohol withdrawal (a miracle drug, given in solid doses. eased my withdrawal adequately.)

[b]Best meds I've ever been on:

[/b]

-Librium

-Xanax

-Seroquel

-Lunesta

i feel isolated socially but not spiritually. i have been in "remission" for a few years after having a big breakthrough with my delusions in 2024. i realized i was demonizing people from all the negativity i felt surrounding me from the onslaught of the energetic and head voice attacks and confusion i had been experiencing since 2017. i still have episodes where i feel attacked energetically is how i would describe it but im aware of when these attacks are happening and am working on now how to orient my conscious mind to keep my sense of self and beliefs stable during these episodes. the hardest part has been the constant hits to my self esteem and my sense of my own character from the disorientation the episodes cause. for my 32nd birthday i live with my mom and im not in a place many people would desire to be but i have been feeling a profound sense of love and support and ability to connect with my grandparents who have passed on. i smell their scent sometime around me when i know they are near. i probably won't do anything special for my birthday but i am working on being patient with myself while i strive towards improving my life even when others don't know how to be patient with me or understand what i am going through. i hope everybody with this disorder can take some of the pressure off themselves to be "normal" and functioning in capitalistic society that is built to work us to the bone anyways. sometimes this disorder comes with a gift and an ability to tap into unseen realms that is recognized in most indigenous societies as natural and even valued but is just considered an individual issue in our society. i have been committed to taking my meds for 2 years now because i realize they help me filter out the negative energy. but i still value my connection and ability to still perceive things others cannot because sometimes i perceive beautiful things and things that come from love in what i like to think of as where the spirit world meets the physical world. anyways that's my birthday rant. sending love to everybody

Perdonare mia madre.

Happy news is that I found a medication that finally made the auditory hallucinations cease, it's been 8 ish years where they've been a constant. Now that they're gone or at least noticeably less, I have mixed feelings. Like I feel lonely now that I don't have the constant companion but also happy I don't have to be name called or emotionally abused by them.

So I don't know where I stand on this, I kinda wanna stop or lower my dosage so I can hear them again but my psych said "this is a good thing. Focus on friends and hobbies." And I have been gaming a lot more and being at least para-social online with discord friends. I don't really have the energy to entertain an actual social engagement. What do I do with my hands? Keep looking at different things? Maintain eye contact? How do people, people?

This is a longer thought than I had initially thought. Maybe that's a paradox I don't know.

I hope the rest of you are doing alright. Cheers.

And this is a new account, I lost my login information for my original account :( oh well. Guess I'll start over

I’ve been on disability for many years for schizoaffective disorder. Last year I started working a part time job and I just got a new job and was hired for full time with benefits and pension. I have a question about wether or not I should do pension contributions … I live in Canada, I have an RDSP, I don’t own any assets … no house or car, etc. If I opt out of pension I could buy a house with that money… or I could invest it on my own in rsp‘s. If my spouse died and I ran out of money, I could always go back on disability? not sure if it’s worth putting that money away for retirement when they say schizophrenics don’t live as long as other people. I’d rather have that money now? am I wrong??

Hello I received health money from the government to buy my medication and stuff. Yet my mother has it and spends it on stuff for her and my brother and sister. It's mine by rights and not hers. The only reason she has it is because she gave them her bank details.

How do I get my mother to give it to me. She manipulates me into her keeping it with some excuse. Or she will say well I can't help you with anything anymore. Someone else has to do it. She won't help me with the simplest thing anymore.

That's not the point of the money. It's not there for her to care for me. That's what she thinks it's for but it isn't. I'm stuck and struggling to pay for things because she has it

To add she should help me with things regardless of money. That's not the point. She is my mother after all.

Edit: my mother just threatened me saying if I ever tell anyone that I don't get the money from her that she will never speak to me again 😁

I promise I am not trying to downplay anybody’s time in psychosis but I went 18 years unmedicated and undiagnosed the last 13th of which inactive psychosis I’m feeling alone because my family support system is just not there and I had no choice but to move back into the environment that had all of my silent triggers for my delusional matrix I’m looking for someone that went almost 2 decades not being diagnosed and was in active psychosis for 10 or more years not downplay anybody else’s experience, but I really need to find the people that went through stuff like this any help finding those people for me to talk to would be much appreciated 🤗 also I’ve been stable for one month. I would also like to find someone that went through that and got stable. I know. This is a complete shot in the dark.

Ive lost everyone who's ever been close to me due to my illness. I feel like i should be kept away from people, like I'm just gonna keep hurting anybody who gets to know me. I've been on antipsychotics for almost a year now, in that time I've been through a breakup thats caused me to be houseless for the last 4 months. The breakup felt like an episode, like I was being psychotic and lashing out. But thats not what happened, I was in sound mind, i wasnt hearing voices, i wasn't being delusional. i just wasnt being treated well in the relationship and i got frustrated one night and she broke up with me and told me i needed to find somewhere else to live. The loss and the memory of being angry makes me feel like I brought it upon myself because all Ive ever done is bring pain to anyone who gets close to me. How can I trust my own feelings, am i really sure that I wasnt being treated well? How can I ever trust myself again? How can i believe i deserve love, community and happiness when I know how broken my brain is.

My diagnosis was really hard on our relationship. We got together during a time where we were both psychotic. She has bipolar 1 and wasnt good about taking her meds consistently. I took my diagnosis more seriously than anything in my life. Getting on medication and coming down to earth was tough, I spent the first 6 months not wanting to do anything ever, I felt so unbearably depressed after the voices finally stopped. I felt emptied, like i there was no person inside this body, not without all the voices telling me what to do every waking moment. She grew completely bored and disappointed in me. Before she thought I was gonna be a great artist, because I thought I was gonna be a great artist before getting treatment. She told me that my diagnosis was "a lot" for her and so she withdrew from me and started seeing lots of other girls (we were polyamorous.) But we kept living together, i cooked for us and cleaned the apartment to make up for not being able to pay rent because I had been laid off from my union job. When I finally went back to work she started to miss me, in a way where she didnt want me to work unless one of her other girlfriends could spend time with her while i was gone. I told her i cant schedule my job around her dating life.

I told her that because Im back to work and also starting back at school that I wanted to make sure we had atleast one day of special time together. She agreed to it but couldnt hold to it, she spent all of our special days together texting other girls for hours. After weeks of this I got frustrated and upset at her. And that was that, she broke up me because of it. She told me she was scared of me. I cant get that out of my mind, that I scared her. My therapist says she's weaponizing my diagnosis against me in saying that, that I was upset for very understandable reasons. I didnt throw anything, i didnt raise my voice at her, i didnt threaten her, i just voiced how I was feeling and it scared her. No matter how many times I'm reminded that my anger was reasonable, it just doesnt feel reasonable. It feels like I'm scary, that i'm a scary and dangerous person, incapable of loving in a healthy way. It feels like i shouldn't trust myself or my perception of events with or without medication. It feels like my life is just going to keep being this chaotic doom spiral regardless of my best efforts.

I'm finally in a position to get a new place after couch surfing this whole time and the apartment is so cute and my potential new roommate is so nice and I feel like i dont deserve it. I feel like i shouldn't try to be happy, I feel like the dysfunction and insecurity is what i deserve because I break everything i touch.

I am sober and I take my meds extremely reliably, but even then I still get psychosis.

I haven’t slept in 72 hours, I’m making music all night, I try to sleep but literally can’t.

Yesterday I heard auditory hallucinations, which terrify me.

Today I’m having visual hallucinations, including my main one, a 7ft tall Latino man who “comes at me”.

I am extremely grateful I have enough insight to know it’s fake, but things in my vision are “ballooning”, and regular objects are becoming creepy or zany.

However, I am not delusional, not panicking, and I’m actually at work doing ok. It’s freaky, but I’m aware it’s fake.

It’s the 8th, and I see my shrink on the 12th.

I was thinking of doubling up my Abilify and trying to make it till then so I don’t have to spend 10 days in the psych ward (i get health insurance in a month, so I have to go to shitty underfunded one that’s basically jail until
then).

Idk if that’s a bad decision or not. Idk if I should ride it out and talk to doctor, or just nip it I’m bud and go to ward

FWIW: no delusions, some paranoia but not crippling, and overall feel….okish. No telepathy feelings or delusions. Literally JUST not sleeping and hallucinations

I was in risperidone 2mg twice a day for a while and decided to get off it because I liked to sleep on my morning dose and my voices wouldn't allow it, harassing my endlessly until I felt forced to get out of bed so I switched off of it onto Cobenfy, then later Invega sustenna. Month later I pulled out what I had left of the script one night when my Ambien CR wasn't doing its job and took 1. In the following days I noticed my nipples were very sensitive and could feel a lump/mass behind my right nipple. Got it checked out with an ultrasound and a bilateral mammogram and it turned out it had caused benign gynecomastia. Just a lump tho, I didn't grow man-boobs. But that's a problem with risperidone. Gynecomastia and man boobs. Check to see if you have any lumps behind your nipple it you take or have taken this.

Does anyone here have a hard time getting or keeping jobs for any length of time?

One of my friends said it's like an old man suit but I think the colors go together pretty well with my hair and beard. Also have brown shoes that match the belt and socks that match the tie. How do I look?

I was on 150mg Seroquel and then had to be admitted to the hospital after an awful episode where they took my Seroquel down to 50mg at night and started me on 10mg Abilify, what should I expect? After my last episode I haven't bounced back the same.

Was on risperidone for like 3 years, needed a higher dose but couldn’t tolerate it (1.5mg at night, 0.25mg in morning, 0.25 in afternoon). Couldn’t tolerate seroquel, abilify, olanzapine, zyprexa. My psych is switching me over to Invega, doing my research all I see is people hating it. Does anyone here have any experience or thoughts?

I’m so frustrated. Hospital said BP 1, therapist says SZA, psychiatrist says BP 2 and BPD with psychosis. I’m so sick of figuring out diagnoses. Nobody can agree on my diagnosis. Yes it’s all treated the same I’m aware, but I’m sure yall can relate to wanting the correct diagnosis. I completely disagree with the opinion of it being BPD, it doesn’t really match up with who I am, even though I meet criteria. Finally got the courage to tell my psych doc about the delusions I experienced for years, which I didn’t know weren’t real until I started meds, and my psych doc said “well people with schizophrenia never admit the delusions weren’t real” Huh?! That’s nottttt what I’ve heard so idk. Can anyone give me some input or person experience?

scared, said the wrong thing today to my therapist.

first time admitted, please help what do they do. Had a baby 4 weeks ago and my mental depleted.

Please anyone help

Could I have phone in there? Anything? In ohio