can i go crazy/schizophrenic?

[kimmy]

can i go crazy? make my self schizophrenic?? i get so caught up in my thaughts! i give myself panics, when i feel them start, i just think, this is it now, bye sane world! (ok not as dramatic as that) but you get my drift? im scared il turn myself crazy?!!!! i dont here voices, thank god, but i end up just talking to my self, in my head. i want this to stop, it gets me down. ive always been anxious[8)]

[pips]

Hi Kimmy,

A big warm welcome to you. Sorry to hear you are feeling bad!

The answer is NO you can't make yourself go schizophrenic so please don't worry.

I know how difficult it is when those irrational thoughts start coming. Your mind is a very poweful tool and when you are feeling anxious or having a panic attack. It feels like you are totally out of control and going crazy. I have been there and my brain still does feel a bit out of control occasionally but i do my best to think rationally and this helps The key is to reduce those feelings and understand why this is happening to you. (Take a look at Megs First Steps http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/firststeps.htm ) if you haven't already it is extremely useful. Please remember that you are NOT & will NOT go mad!

For one thing a mad person doesn't even think they are mad they are totally oblivious to how they are reacting!

I hope you feel better soon. You will find lots of help and support here.

Take Care

Love PIP'S XX

[lisarose]

Hi Kimmy,

I know it may feel like you are going crazy and losing your mind, but this is only a feeling brought on by anxiety. You cannot make yourself schizophrenic! You are probably best talking to someone more qualified but I have been studying schizophrenia at college and it doesn't sound to me like you have it as i think you are still in touch with reality even though it might not feel like that sometimes.

I often talk to my self and have so many thoughts racing round in my mind that I feel like my brain will explode at times but I know it is all part and parcel of suffering from anxiety. When i was at my worst in 2001 I got admitted to a pyschiatric unit with post natal depression but I was on the same ward as people suffering from schizophrenia and other really bad mental illnesses and I kept thinking to my self that everyone thought I was crazy and that that was why I wasput in there in the first place. it was the worst experience of my life as I saw some terrible things in there and don't wish to ever go back but it proved to me that I wasn't crazy just depressed and anxious and that mental illness is not just about schizophrenia etc and that just becuase you are anxious/have panic attacks it doesn't make you crazy! I have come through the worst now and I doing O.K most days but I think the anxiety will always be with me but it can be controlled and you can move forward with your life, it just takes time.
There alot of people on this website who can sympathize with you and we have all probably felt like we were going crazy at one time or another.
Hope this makes you feel a bit better and if you are still worried go and see your doctor and don't worry that he will think you are crazy as they deal with this thing every day and it is more common than you think.

Take care and keep posting!

Love Lisaxxx

[FAN]

hi no i dont think you can send yourself crazy im sure someone who was would be unaware of the fact, i talk to myself constantly and sometimes i even answer myself lol dont worry bout it too much im sure your fine

fan x

[seh1980]

Although we sometimes feel that we are going crazy, it can't and won't happen. We get paranoid and start to believe it so it is just our mind playing tricks on us.

Sarah :D

[vernon]

hi Kimmy. No i dont think so either as its an iness, we dont realy have an illness as such what we have are just thoughts that seem to control our lives?. I have suffered anxiety/ phobias and panic for about 40 years on and off but have had good years between. I have tried everything all kinds of theropys, relaxation and meds but i think at the end of the day we have to train our thoughts(not easy). I have found now that relaxation realy does help me, maybe cos I have put all my belief it. I do relaxation for about 30 mins before i get up every morning and the same every night, even if i feel ok i still do it like having a wash or shower, has to be donr dort of thing. I also kepp telling myself I am ok and I am not afraid over and over and realy found this has helped me a lot. hope this is some help to u, its slow but at last i think its working. Take Care, Vernon

[Meg]

Kimmy, we often think we're going crazy as its the only explanation we can find to explain how extreme and abnormal we feel.

We are so used to feeling in control of our thoughts and judgements. Now we feel it's all being done by some inner force and we cannot explain it, so our assessment is that we must be going mad as we don't know what else it could be.

As Vernon so rightly says, cumulative relaxation and positive mantras are extremely beneficial.


Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[tessa]

I am with you on this. I can remember thinking that maybe I should just drive myself to the mental hospital on several occasions. I too thought that I was going to become schizophrenic. It is good to know that we will not. Hang in there!!![:P]

tessa

[jude]

Hi Kimmy,

I have a friend who has manic depression and suffers from psychotic episodes. Is this what you are scared of.
She came to see me aon Sunday and I asked her what it was like to 'go mad'.
She said:
'Jude you dont know about it. I didnt realise I was going mad. I thought it was all real. I can promise you that if you were going mad, you would be the last to know about it. You certainly wouldnt be trying to stop yourself'

Bless her heart,I witnessed one of her episodes, and believe me, she didnt know any different. She can hardly remember being there.

I have posted many times on here about the psychological symptoms, because they terrify me, but I know Im not going mad, just cant handle feeling like that.

Hope this helps you Kimmy.

Jude x