Fear of schizophrenia?

[abbey1812]

I have really bad health anxiety, and I'm the kind of person who reads/hears about a physical/psychological condition, and then immediately worries about it. Right now I'm in the middle of a book about schizophrenia, and, naturally, I immediately started worrying that I'm going to develop schizophrenia. I'm female, and I'm younger than what is considered the average onset age for women with schizophrenia, so I'm worried that it's only a matter of time for me before I inevitably develop the condition. I have no (known) family history of schizophrenia, I don't smoke weed, my parents were young when they had me, etc. Anytime I've ever felt "paranoid," these feelings were always linked to an anxious thought (like, "the only way some bad thing I'm worried about could happen is if someone is lying to me/watching me/etc"), and I've always been aware that these feelings aren't realistic.

Nevertheless, I can't help but worry about the (probably very small) chance that I either already have schizophrenia, or will develop the condition in a few years. Has anyone else ever dealt with this kind of thing? Any advice?

[Fishmanpa]

People who are truly in a psychotic state or are developing it, don't recognize they are or it's happening. I had some psychosis caused by steroids during cancer treatment. I have little to no memory of it.

Positive thought

[valleybear]

Fishmanpa is spot on as usual. If you are self aware and understand that your thoughts are unrealistic.... this is in no wa a symptom of schizophrenia.

[NancyW]

I have really bad health anxiety, and I'm the kind of person who reads/hears about a physical/psychological condition, and then immediately worries about it.

Right now I'm in the middle of a book about schizophrenia, and, naturally, I immediately started worrying that I'm going to develop schizophrenia.

Any advice?

Please stop reading books you know will trigger you. This episode is self inflicted and you have the power to stop it.

[ankietyjoe]

Schizophrenia is a catch all term for a number of different psychological conditions, most of which stem from severe trauma.

People who suffer with a lot of the conditions do actually know they have it, and can feel the effects before and after. During the psychosis however, it's almost always lost time.

The good news for you, is that it's not something that you just develop. Most modern thinking agrees that it requires a trigger, a trauma, an incident or incidents in your life. These need to be significant, and usually prolonged or repeated.

Schizophrenia has absolutely nothing to do with the traditional portrayal that is shown in the media.