I just completed a questionnaire at http://www.about.com/ on how well I am coping with schizophrenia.
It made me realise how badly I cope sometimes. And I also now have an understanding of the medical terminology of the schizophrenia diagnosis, because of the questionnaire.
Here's my evaluation:
My active symptoms - eg voices etc, feeling negatively overpowered, thought disturbance - these are unchanged by medication, and intrude into my everyday life most of the time.
The passive symptoms, including my ability to look after myself and eat well and look after my dwelling/ clear up after myself - these are all impacted by the active symptoms. Periodically I go into depressions because of the painfulness of the condition, and at those times, I have trouble looking after myself in an ideal way.
In terms of cognitive symptoms, I am pretty normal, I think. Although my spoken language can often be awkward.
I was surprised to see that obsessive remorsefulness about the past is a symptom of the illness. I certainly have that, often feeling uncomfortable about past misdeeds.
Here is the link to the test: Schizophrenia assessment
I admit, I was also surprised to see that my chief active symptoms were summed up in these words, when I was asked if I:
So there's a consensus where we can meet, in those words. That's a pretty accurate diagnosis, above, of what the bad side of the condition is like - in theory. And I, who have the condition, will advocate for the opinion that the cause of this pain-causing condition is spiritual; the medics will argue that I am insane, although they have no spiritual perspective on Life in their system.
All this is interesting. I was in a good mood before I did this questionnaire, then I realised how much stress I am under! I have no job, but I still have stress. I have no dependents, but I still have stress. I do have lots of free time, but my quality of life means that the value of all the free time is sadly somewhat diminished.
I can describe the passive symptoms of trouble with routine and self-care by saying that every little thing seems a challenge to be avoided. But I have exhaustion too, (I really do), which adds to the difficulty and stress. But on the depressed days, I can be living in a real mess. I said today, things would be a lot easier if I had people to help me as a cook and a housekeeper!
So we can learn that stress is something to notice, because it causes breakdowns. And worse. I know how I feel sometimes. It's ultimately painful. I wish there was some medicine that would work for me, either for pain or for the strange inner drama I have! Let's wait and see...
It made me realise how badly I cope sometimes. And I also now have an understanding of the medical terminology of the schizophrenia diagnosis, because of the questionnaire.
Here's my evaluation:
My active symptoms - eg voices etc, feeling negatively overpowered, thought disturbance - these are unchanged by medication, and intrude into my everyday life most of the time.
The passive symptoms, including my ability to look after myself and eat well and look after my dwelling/ clear up after myself - these are all impacted by the active symptoms. Periodically I go into depressions because of the painfulness of the condition, and at those times, I have trouble looking after myself in an ideal way.
In terms of cognitive symptoms, I am pretty normal, I think. Although my spoken language can often be awkward.
I was surprised to see that obsessive remorsefulness about the past is a symptom of the illness. I certainly have that, often feeling uncomfortable about past misdeeds.
Here is the link to the test: Schizophrenia assessment
I admit, I was also surprised to see that my chief active symptoms were summed up in these words, when I was asked if I:
- Feel that you have some "special" ability that others don't have
- Fear that others are working/using their powers to hurt or harm you
- Hear sounds or voices when there is nobody around
- Think that others can read your mind or control your thoughts
So there's a consensus where we can meet, in those words. That's a pretty accurate diagnosis, above, of what the bad side of the condition is like - in theory. And I, who have the condition, will advocate for the opinion that the cause of this pain-causing condition is spiritual; the medics will argue that I am insane, although they have no spiritual perspective on Life in their system.
All this is interesting. I was in a good mood before I did this questionnaire, then I realised how much stress I am under! I have no job, but I still have stress. I have no dependents, but I still have stress. I do have lots of free time, but my quality of life means that the value of all the free time is sadly somewhat diminished.
I can describe the passive symptoms of trouble with routine and self-care by saying that every little thing seems a challenge to be avoided. But I have exhaustion too, (I really do), which adds to the difficulty and stress. But on the depressed days, I can be living in a real mess. I said today, things would be a lot easier if I had people to help me as a cook and a housekeeper!
So we can learn that stress is something to notice, because it causes breakdowns. And worse. I know how I feel sometimes. It's ultimately painful. I wish there was some medicine that would work for me, either for pain or for the strange inner drama I have! Let's wait and see...
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