Help me please!

[Kez_miller]

Hi guys for some reason I have this fear of developing schizophrenia and I just can't get it out my head, I haven't withdrawn from friends and family, I have withdrew from activities outside my home but that is because I think people are looking at me because of my weight as I'm a very big guy. I don't hear voices in my head only my own and I don't see things that are not their only floaters. But. Found out my father who I never seen actually has schizophrenea and this just made my fear worse. Can someone please shed some light on this horrible debilitating mental illness, I read that if you fear schizophrenea you won't get it? I'm so confused.

[nomorepanic]

How old are you can I ask?

How old was your dad when he was diagnosed?

[Kez_miller]

I'm 22 and I'm not sure how old my father was as I never met him , it's not even 100% sure he does all we know is he's been in and out of prison his whole life and is now in a secure mental prison

[anthrokid]

Hey Kieren,

I'm actually a psychology student who will be qualified as a provisional psychologist at the end of the year. I've done a lot of research and literature reviews regarding schizophrenia, so hopefully I can shed some light for you.

What you've read about "if you fear schizophrenea you won't get it" can be explained this way - People suffering from schizophrenia are absolutely unaware of their symptoms and believe them to be real experiences. They don't consider that their behaviour may be abnormal, or may be due to illness. What I mean by this is that if they are seeing/hearing strange things (i.e. hallucinations) they won't consider that perhaps these are not real. They'll feel 100% real, just as real as looking at yourself in the mirror, or hearing the tv. If you have a fear of schizophrenia, you are completely aware of your own state of mind and thoughts, and aware that in order to develop schizophrenia you'd have to be hallucinating, withdrawing, suffering unexplainable paranoia. Which indicates that you are not, in fact, suffering from schizophrenia.

From what you've said, you display NO symptoms of schizophrenia. The only symptoms I can identify from your post are your general anxiety symptoms. And although it is true that there is a genetic link in schizophrenia, it DOESN'T mean that you will suffer from schizophrenia. All it means is that you are more likely to suffer from schizophrenia than someone who does not have a parent who suffers from schizophrenia. You may have read something along the lines of "people who have an immediate relative who suffers from schizophrenia are more likely to suffer from schizophrenia". But, what you need to remember is that the normal risk of someone suffering from schizophrenia is LOW. So even though you may have a parent who suffers from schizophrenia, your risk is still only around the 10% mark. Which, to give you some perspective, is lower than the effectiveness of a condom (85%).