I’m sorry to make another “it’s a spectrum” speech but we’ve grown by about 25% since last time, and it’s probable many people haven’t seen it.
Much like autism, there are people that are very low on the spectrum and you are able to identify them immediately by their demeanor and/or behaviors. On the other end of the spectrum you have people that are so mildly affected that it may be difficult for them to get a diagnosis and treatment.
I have personally throughout my life known over a dozen people somewhere on the spectrum, and I know several personal examples of people on both ends.
Most people know what the really low end of the spectrum look like and it’s most of the stories that we hear on the sub. But here’s what the high end of the spectrum looks like : I know people that have a diagnosis that have been in decades plus long marriages, are good parents, are good employees and successful at their career, and may even be a caretaker for an elderly or disabled loved one. You may not even believe these people have a diagnosis when you meet them unless they were to show you their medication. A couple of them are not on medication (withholding my opinion on that for this post because it’s ultimately their decision.) we don’t hear a lot from these people. Being open about their diagnosis could cost them their job, custody of their children, social standing in their community or church, along with a number of other unforeseen negative consequences.
Most of the people that I know are not at either extreme end. They’ve got struggles, but they’re working through them.
There are people on both ends of that spectrum that I know that are very kind, loving, positive people. I also know people on both ends of the spectrum that are abusive pieces of shit.
A couple of people went from very nice people to very mean people. It’s not all cases, but it does happen, and it’s really fucking terrible. Most don’t go through that kind of personality change in my experience, however, it does seem to be highly correlated to having violent or hostile voices. Most of them are not like my mother at all. Thankfully.
My mother was one of those not nice people. I was very lucky to have made it out of childhood alive. The same is true for my siblings. This post is not meant to be dismissive of anyone’s negative or even traumatic experiences. However, many people only know one person that they can base their opinion of people with this diagnosis on. If that person happens to be an abusive piece of shit, and/or on the very bottom end of that spectrum it can be hard to understand that that’s not true for everyone’s affected loved one.
thank you for the reminder bendy...i'm so sorry about your mom. My son is a jekyll and hyde type, it's heartbreaking.
I went through hell for years and lost everything before I was able to accept the illness and get the help I needed. I’m happily married, off medication, have a great career and have two amazing children.
What’s your career
Shift supervisor for a logistics company. I started out picking orders about two years ago and keep getting higher positions. We are building a brand new building in the next year and I will running that one.
Thank you for this, it's important information. What worries me the most is that, as far as I know (and please correct me if I'm wrong), autism doesn't "get worse". Like if a person is high functioning they don't just become low functioning. But with schizophrenia there's a potential for cognitive decline.
While my boyfriend is pretty high functioning (works full time and lives alone, even tho he has some issues) I do notice that since his last break his cognition seems to have declined. And I worry how much worse it can get over time. This was a very mild episode and he is medicated but I still notice a difference and it was a year ago. He also has the "bad" voices and he had an attempt which led to him starting medication four years ago.
I'm constantly reminding myself of how individual each case is but I'm someone who's had the worst case scenario happen every time in my life so it's very hard to stay positive. I wish someone could guarantee that he is never going to become one of the really bad cases.
Walnuts. Fatty fish. Not kidding. I can’t guarantee anything, but I can tell you that my son started massively upping the omega-3 foods that he eats and he says that it seems to have helped a little bit. I did the same things. My migraines got really bad and it did seem to help.
Thank you, he has a crappy diet (been getting better VERY slowly, I'm a pain in the ass but I'll take some credit for that). He has next to zero impulse control, particularly for sweets. His mom was a diabetic (and I strongly suspect she had schizophrenia as well but she passed and I never met her so I'll never know for sure). People with schizophrenia apparently have a higher rate of diabetes so that's what worries me, plus of course genetics.
BUT he does like nuts so that's easy to insist on. I've been trying to get him to take these codfish oil pills, apparently they are great (for nearly everyone!) but he gets grossed out even though they have literally no taste. But small steps!
Diabetes and schizophrenia are highly correlated. That’s a very common trait.
I don’t think I saw your last paragraph when I read your comment before. However, if it’s helpful, statistics are actually on your side. Most people, especially if they’re engaging in treatment and taking medication get better with age not worse. The two people that I know that got significantly worse with age, to the point that they are unable to live normal lives, never engaged in treatment or took medication. One of them was forced by a court for a year or so, but as soon as that was over, they stopped.