Anyone know anything about schizophrenia?

[Hivenburs]

I often worry about having schizophrenia or developing it, due to the fact that I have a parent with the illness.. It usually comes on slow right?

[NoPoet]

It usually lays low until an activating event (a trigger). In my brother's case, it was always obvious he had some sort of problem, but it took over his life after the 9/11 attack. As I understand it, schizophrenia is something you are born with, although abusing mind altering drugs can create it (or something similar).

Also, I read somewhere that in all long term studies, people who develop schizophrenia tend to recover (go into permanent remission). I believe that studies show 50% of people recover within 20 years of being diagnosed.

Having a parent with schizophrenia does not mean that you must develop it. Do you think you may be hypervigilant towards it, and interpreting everything as a symptom?

[Hivenburs]

By mind altering drugs, what do you mean? Do you mean like marijuana? Or could benzos be included in that?.. I 100% believe I'm over analysing everything too much, kinda sucks.. Sorry to hear about your brother! Im sure he will get well soon :)

[NoPoet]

Yes, I mean anything which alters your state of mind but is not being prescribed as medication. By "abusing" I mean "taking without knowing the dose", "taking without knowing all the ingredients" and "taking for recreation rather than medication".

Cannabis, for example, has a few medical applications: it's good at treating certain types of chronic pain, it can help people to relax etc. But this needs to be used in carefully controlled doses, because any substance can be dangerous if it's used carelessly. Cannabis can create or worsen different types of psychosis. It can change your personality for the worse. As your body adapts to it, it might not provide enough of a hit any more and you move onto something stronger. (I've seen the last two happen, with people moving from cannabis to cocaine and ecstasy.)

This isn't to say these things will definitely happen. Plenty of people use it without ever having problems at all. It's just that the risks are there if it's not treated with respect.

[ankietyjoe]

I think it's better to learn about something if and when it happens.

[Mojo61]

Could it happen as a result of drug use when the person was much younger - like 35 odd years ago? :scared15: