Surviving With Schizophrenia (Success Treatments)

Survival: this is what it means to be diagnosed with an extreme condition such as schizophrenia. Things are not as easy for those of us who have it; day-to-day life becomes a battle for our physical, mental, and emotional health. I should probably take some time, now and then, to truly realize how far I've come to establish this sort of stability despite my extreme condition. No, it's not just the medications that make a recovery for someone who's always at the whims of a chemically agitated brain. It's work! While a person on the other-side of this page ponder, "Well they're so desperate and unwell. They are always in a state of crisis, like a ticking time-bomb. Are they ever o.k.?" Let me respond to that inner pondering, some aren't and some are. I am one of the lucky ones that is o.k for most of the time. That doesn't mean I don't deal with madness. Nor am I free from the stigma. I've gone through the throes of madness and I've come out the other-side. I'm on your side still, you see? What some people need to understand, is that when you are chemically balanced, you are fine and more-so you than any other day. It's not that your brain is damaged, it's that your brain is imbalanced. When the chemicals start working in the right order, then you return to normal. And that's what I hope will happen for others who have this mental illness. Although it effects a smaller percent of the population than other illnesses, it still effects a lot of people and especially the homeless (who might not have been recorded in those statistics). Right now I take an anti-psychotic called Abilify and have started a medication for anxiety called Klonopin. They both seem to work well, but Abilify for me has never had any side effects and for some reason, just worked really well in the long-run. I've had schizophrenia since I was fifteen-sixteen and I am now twenty-one. Also, the longer you treat your symptoms it seems the longer you will stay symptom free. For me, taking medication religiously is not a chore. I find that I have no symptoms anymore. I guess you could be halting the progress of the disorder, if you keep yourself chemically balanced. I'd hope so. When I don't take medication, after a few months or so I may become manic, paranoid, have ringing ears, nightmares, etc. So it's not easy. But living a life happy and free of symptoms is definitely a great alternative to schizophrenia. Technically, you could say I do not have schizophrenia when I take the medications. As rare and unlucky that I have this condition, it's also just as rare and luckier that I have had such success with treatment. Self-talk, therapy, and music have also all helped. I hope this blog has helped educate more people on schizophrenia and the success and benefit of treatment. Some alternative helpers alongside mainstream treatments: meditating, being outdoors, writing and reading, doing things to distract yourself when down, positive thinking, homeopathy (more of a psychological benefit), vitamins- zinc, b-12, d, and fish oil is supposed to help. And just letting things go, not letting yourself feel upset or guilty or beating yourself up for having a mental disorder. It's not anyone's fault. Not yours or mine.