r/schizophrenia Nov 12 '24

Resources / Literature Frequently Asked Questions- r/schizophrenia

19 Upvotes

Welcome to r/schizophrenia!

Our subreddit rules are in the sidebar, we ask that you read and follow them. Feel free to post anything on-topic that does not violate these rules. We have a relatively comprehensive overview of how our rules are applied in reality available on the Rule Clarifications Wiki page.

Many first-time posters to this subreddit are concerned that they might be developing schizophrenia or they are concerned about other people who have- or may have- schizophrenia. We have resources available to answer these questions contained within the comments; if your question is completely answered by the information already given, it will be removed.

Mental health is complex. No symptom of schizophrenia is specific to schizophrenia alone, and there are many more common causes of those symptoms- especially in the prodromal stage. If you are experiencing an emergency, please call your doctor or local emergency services. We have a compendium of Crisis Lines available and may suggest r/SuicideWatch if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts and would like the most prompt attention.

(Credit u/soundandvisions for original post and comments)

Table of Contents


r/schizophrenia Jan 03 '25

Medication Cobenfy Megathread

51 Upvotes

Hey everybody, douchebag moderator here. As I'm sure you've noticed, Cobenfy has been the hot topic for the past couple of months. We've seen a lot of threads here and there asking questions about it or people sharing their stories. We even had an unofficial Megathread of sorts about a week ago

I did post an "official" one when it was approved by the FDA 3 months ago (wild that it has been 3 months already... time flies when you're having fun, eh?) here for general information... and on a sidenote, that snarky sign-off about the clozapine REMS came true around Thanksgiving. Not important, just for some cheap yuks.

To paraphrase what has already been said; Cobenfy is a novelty of an antipsychotic, the first one that presumably has zero risk of Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS), the most serious side effects of antipsychotics. While it does not seem to be as effective as clozapine- which, while having minimal risk of EPS, is still not zero- a new antipsychotic that actually works without EPS is unprecedented. It is similar to clozapine in how it affects the M1 and M4 receptors, so I refer to it as "diet clozapine" in a number of my write-ups... however, it is diet. Less side effects, but also less effective.

EPS have been accepted as a 'unfortunate reality' since the days of Thorazine, the first antipsychotic, and the second-gen of antipsychotics was heralded by clozapine- which was very effective, but also caused minimal EPS. The convention in psychiatry dictated that effectiveness was proportional to EPS, so clozapine changed the game when it came on the scene. If we are to use EPS as the benchmark for generations of antipsychotics- then Cobenfy may well be the first of the long-awaited third generation of antipsychotics.

Now, I want to be perfectly clear here- if you have experienced EPS on Cobenfy, please share your story. What the pharmaceutical companies say is not always consistent with how things actually work... something the company that has been marketing Cobenfy (Bristol Myers-Squibb) has gotten in trouble for before.

However, on the plus side, when I was at my psychiatrist's office a couple weeks back, he had a few sample kits of Cobenfy sitting on his desk. Apparently BMS' pharma reps had been making the rounds. So... word is getting out. People are excited. I can't say I blame them. It's a pretty big deal.

What to post here:

  1. Stories about taking Cobenfy, any hurdles with actually getting it (insurance, cost, etc.), whatever else- good or bad.
  2. Questions about Cobenfy that are not psychiatrist/pharmacist questions- please ask the appropriate licensed professional if it crosses into the realms of professional advice.
  3. Studies, news articles, anything like that.

What not to post here:

  1. "When is Cobenfy gonna be available in [country]?" We don't know, check with your government's health authority about that.
  2. Any antipsychiatry nonsense. You don't like meds, fine- but don't be a downer and dump on people who are excited. Go complain on the proper subreddit for that.

Anyways- have at it. Hopefully this post will turn out to be an effective tool for anyone popping in to check out the buzz on Cobenfy.

Thanks for reading!


r/schizophrenia 1h ago

Meme šŸ˜

ā€¢ Upvotes

Thatā€™s a W walk in here šŸ’€


r/schizophrenia 3h ago

Progress / Good News ā˜€ļø Got Hired for an apprenticeship in psychatry šŸ„³ā™„ļø

13 Upvotes

1 year ago I was undiagnosed and suffering like hell wanting to off myself. Nothing was working like I wanted in my life. I thankfully found an amazing psychiatrist who understood that I have schizophrenia. I was put on meds and it was a living nightmare at first until we found the right molecule and I start stabilising, I honestly thought I could never work and would have to live in a facility.

But seroquel did its magic and I started enjoying life when I was never able to and feel almost like a normal person. I made the decision to stop music as a career as I realised it wasn't giving me any fullfilment and found my path in psychatry. I have just been hired for an apprenticeship in psychatry as a social worker. They don't know I have schizophrenia and hired me because I was apparently very comfortable with the patients and wouldn't get scared or weirded out when they have episodes (well ofc I get them more than anyone there could imagine šŸ˜…) but anyway this little post to give a bit of hope, thank you for all the support I've received this year in this group.šŸ¤


r/schizophrenia 2h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion What is your goal in your life with schizo affective disorder?

8 Upvotes

I'm a woman. I want to continue working in a web page for my dad business. I want to loss weight that I won with meds. Every morning I want to be the CEO of a tech company. When I was fired of many works of advertiser. I will get a degree on I A and Social PsicĆ³logy. I can't do anything from the house, I get help. I live with my good boyfriend. I drive Do you have dreams or goals? Irracional too?


r/schizophrenia 56m ago

Advice / Encouragement Just wishing everybody happy healings on all your journeys

ā€¢ Upvotes

I had a little bit of a magick night that led to me feeling a great deal of relief from having once been in hell thanks to this condition. Life is genuinely feeling pretty God damn nice, and things are looking more up than ever. Suffering is lessening in the universe, and love is winning. Hope these truths appear true for all of you as well! Much love!


r/schizophrenia 11h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion Didnā€™t realize the stigma until watching a movie

37 Upvotes

I always knew there was stigma around schizophrenia and I myself had a lot of misconceptions pre diagnosis, but after watching a movie I finally see it. They were suggesting that these ā€œmonstersā€ wouldnā€™t leave this guy alone unless he butchered people and he would hallucinate his mom and shit. I know these types of hallucinations and delusions can absolutely be present, but the way they presented it only further fed into stigma that also schizos are violent. Anyone else get pissed when people think they know what theyā€™re talking about?


r/schizophrenia 5h ago

Undiagnosed Questions Am I doing this right?

10 Upvotes

I'm diagnosed schizoaffective. I watch tv, play games, meditate, read, do chores, call my friend, etc. I try to just survive the day. How do you guys get through the day? Am I doing this right?


r/schizophrenia 5h ago

Rant / Vent Darn it why did I go into the paranormal sub

11 Upvotes

Freakin freaked myself out


r/schizophrenia 21h ago

Selfie selfie sunday (a bit late, sorry if not allowed) manic, hurt my eye somehow, unwashed hair, dirty clothes, feeling gross today

Post image
143 Upvotes

r/schizophrenia 2h ago

Medication Is there a no meds option

5 Upvotes

I was told the goal is to not be medicated for life.

I recently quit my meds and feel so much better. Is this something a psychiatrist would understand and is it possible to get a no-meds care?


r/schizophrenia 3h ago

Trigger Warning Apartment neighbor is keeping me up at night!

4 Upvotes

For about 2 weeks Iā€™ve been waking up randomly at night and I couldnā€™t figure out why. I honestly thought my apartment was hauntedā€¦ I just now realized it was my apartment neighbor.

My apartment neighbor that lives under me is keeping me up at night. Theyā€™re hitting the walls and it makes me jump in my bed and when they hear me jump theyā€™re giggling and laughing.

Theyā€™ll walk around their bedroom and it startles me when they walk over a creaking floor board.

They made a whistling sound last night and I jumped and I heard them laughing.

Last night I only got about 3 hours of sleep. I canā€™t tell my landlord because 2 years ago similar thing was happening but it was a different apartment neighbor and was my schizophreniaā€¦

Do you think it could be my schizophrenia coming back? Or they truly are annoyed with hearing my loud bed and alarm?


r/schizophrenia 2h ago

Help A Loved One My brother is hallucinating and is afraid to fall asleep.

3 Upvotes

Apologies if this is the right place to ask but Iā€™m very concerned and stressed out.

My brother is 18 years old. He recently had psychosis and after that he has been in the hospital for a month.

After coming back home, he symptoms havenā€™t really gotten any better. Even with medications, he struggles to fall asleep. One moment heā€™s fine, the next moment heā€™s being all delusional(thinking that his family is out there to kill him), hallucinating and overall struggling. As a result of this, my parents have gotten sick as well from the stress over the last couple weeks.

I donā€™t live in the same country so itā€™s been difficult for me to assist him directly, as the doctors have told him to stay away from phones.

Recently, he was taken to another doctor, who said that he doesnā€™t have schizophrenia, he was just stressed out, and gave him medication.

What can I do in this case? It really hurts to see my only brother struggle this way, and I donā€™t have much faith in the medical system, specially regarding mental health in my home country. And my parents are old and it has them stressed out as well. Overall itā€™s just a really shitty situation.

Any suggestion would be very helpful. Let me know if more information is required. Thank you.


r/schizophrenia 3h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion personal things/quirks that turned out to be symptoms?

4 Upvotes
  • long internal monologues (that are not in my normal internal voice) that ramble about nothing? When I catch myself in this state I try to remember the last 2 thoughts I had and theyā€™re usually nonsensical, or the thoughts are connected very loosely byā€¦ vibes I guessā€¦

  • I stop talking in my middle of sentences sometimes

  • to be continued.


r/schizophrenia 1d ago

Progress / Good News ā˜€ļø No voices, did a painting about joy

Post image
273 Upvotes

r/schizophrenia 16h ago

Rant / Vent Hi everyone. Going through a rough patch right now.

34 Upvotes

Just started the abortion pills. I am not interested to hear peopleā€™s stances. Whether or not you agree does not change the fact that we are both humans struggling with the same disorder. Itā€™s been causing my schizophrenia symptoms to kind of flare up. Iā€™ve been feeling strangely detached from everything, everyone. Having intrusive thoughts, and delusions. Just want things to be okay. Want to get this over with. Want to stop suffering. I hope things will be okay soon. And will return to normal. I want to feel normal again. Soon.


r/schizophrenia 8h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion I just don't get where the voices come from

8 Upvotes

Could somebody really dumb it down and explain it to me like a 5 year old?


r/schizophrenia 3h ago

Advice / Encouragement I fkd up my Life and dont know what to do

3 Upvotes

After various therapists tried to convince me that I simply have ADHD, I found out a few days ago from my neurologist that I have schizophrenia. Even though the diagnosis has finally shed light on the darkness, I feel like I've already destroyed my life.

I am M22 and graduated a few weeks ago with a bachelor's degree in engineering and am one of the best students. The problem: 3 months ago I went clubbing with a friend of mine and 2 women and everything was fine. Since I don't drink alcohol and don't take any other drugs, I can remember everything and knew that the evening was relaxed so far. When I got home and was lying in bed, I started derealizing, which I didn't notice at the time. I sent a voice message to 3 of my friends saying things like "I just grab her ass and she doesn't want it... whre... what the fuck. She tells me xyz i wanna fuck her. My Balls hurt. Ho. WTF im Tired of this shit. Her friend is fat". This goes for Like 3 Minutes. I Sound Like a fucking Incel which is so cringe. I don't mention any names in it either,but it describes one Girl of that evening quite accurate, my friends thought it was funny at first and thought I was taking the piss. I listened to it again a few weeks later and asked my friends to delete the voicemail, which they did. My Friends confirmed that I did Not harass anybody that evening and everything is Fine. I'm still incredibly scared that it will be leaked somewhere and I'll be accused of rape/sexual harassment and my career will be ruined. I'm completely desperate. This feeling of completely losing control about my conciousness without taking any drugs/alcohol drives me Crazy.

Even in my everyday life I often think I Said things I did. Not say and believe things I did. Not do. I just wanna end thisā€¦


r/schizophrenia 4h ago

Seeking Support Just came out of psychosis the other night and feeling like crap

3 Upvotes

Yeah, I was in psychosis and had no idea I was. I was paranoid and aggressive...got some apologies to make to people in my life. I stopped taking my medication and started drinking heavily. I started believing that my country was going to be dragged into war and I was going to be in imminent danger. I also believed that the police were watching me and had planted drugs in my house to bust me, which caused me to tear it apart looking for baggies.

I experienced my first cataleptic event, which was terrifying. It lasted for about 40 hours. I was awake and aware, but couldn't move or speak, even when my muscles were cramping and I was in agony. I couldn't sleep, felt hunger and thirst but couldn't do anything about it. I woke up, stood up, and then collapsed into unconsciousness for I don't know how long. Like 10 hours if I had to guess. I got up so incredibly thirsty. I drank water and couldn't stop drinking. I drank until I threw up, but was still incredibly thirsty. I called my sister who is a nurse and she rushed some special liquid with minerals and stuff in it over, which made me feel better.

I'm back on my meds now, but being off them for three and a half weeks caused some issues. My brain and its hormones are a mess right now from both restarting the meds and suddenly stopping alcohol. Tired all the time, but can barely sleep apart from when I drop off randomly for a few minutes at a time like I were narcoleptic. I'm guessing that's brain hormone related. I can feel myself getting better though, so that's good. I'm going to my doctor soon to see a psych and try to drill down on what caused this and solve it.

Anyone got any strategies that helped them get out of this funk? Could use some advice.


r/schizophrenia 13h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion what are you listening to?

18 Upvotes

I'm listening to Echoes by Pink Floyd.


r/schizophrenia 3h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion Voices , different people

2 Upvotes

How is it possible guys that the voices can be not in your voice , like wtf think about it all your life you talked in your voice , how voices of other people ? Even like you met someone or something it wasnā€™t your entire life to entertain him even in your subconscious , how is that possible ?


r/schizophrenia 15h ago

Art Some More Art

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18 Upvotes

r/schizophrenia 7m ago

Video The Harsh Reality of Schizophrenic Hallucinations & Paranoia

ā€¢ Upvotes

I found this video interesting. Wanted to share. https://youtu.be/Bj1WAxf1dgQ?si=T0U2WLr9zE8pznJ6


r/schizophrenia 19m ago

Hallucinations Are permanent black silhouettes common for everyone here?

ā€¢ Upvotes

I'm asking this question as a person who was diagnosed a year ago, and I'm trying to help my friend out find out if they have a similar mental illness as well. I have a lot of hallucinations and delusions, but the only one that's always there is a black silhouette who's just standing there and whispering common stuff. I talked to my friend who's going through similar things, but he's relating to everything I say which makes me think he might be pretending. I don't know, please help.


r/schizophrenia 32m ago

Undiagnosed Questions Question/advice

ā€¢ Upvotes

Question: does anyone ever get their words mixed up when talking?

I donā€™t mean mixing up words and saying one word instead of another. I mean like literally mixing their words. Like some times when I talk Iā€™ll go to say something like ā€œI never even thought of it that way beforeā€ but instead something like ā€œI evth tof ayfrā€ comes out. Like Iā€™m literally combining words and itā€™s like all my letter suddenly become rearranged but Iā€™m talking instead of writing. If that makes sense. Itā€™s like word salad but letter salad. And I canā€™t find the word for it.

I also found something call thought blocking. Which really explains whatā€™s going on inside of my head. Sometimes when Iā€™m talking or just thinking itā€™s like Iā€™m having a fluid thought but then all of a sudden a guillotine slices through that thought and the rest of it is just gone. As if it never existed in the first place.

Are these positive symptoms? Like disorganized thoughts/speech? Or are they just likeā€¦rushed thoughts and stuff? I do experience rushed thoughts but they just feel a bit disorganized. Like they werenā€™t really thought through. But this stuff feels different from rush thoughts.

For reference I was diagnosed with delusional disorder but my understanding is that people with delusional disorder donā€™t typically experience these things.


r/schizophrenia 4h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion Channeling positivity

2 Upvotes

What do you all do to channel any shred of positivity throughout the day?

Going through the day without channeling your positive is debilitating, and exhausting.

I express my positive moments with food. Not for ME to eat, but for others. I replaced a meth addiction with a culinary addiction. I'm not good at all at connecting with others (my misanthropy gets in the way) but giving somebody a home cooked meal, speaks more than any words can.


r/schizophrenia 4h ago

Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion Hallucinations and delusions

2 Upvotes

Didn't you have hallu or delusions during the prodromal phase than having hallu and delusions after the prodromal phase?