Posted by Racer on April 16, 2005, at 2:46:26
In reply to SCHIZOPHRNIA...im scared!, posted by lydia on April 15, 2005, at 22:18:43
I know one thing: your doctors are patting you on the head instead of answering your questions, which always makes me grind my teeth. I don't think you're out of line at all in being upset.
As for your specific fears, they're reasonable -- to a point. There are things about it that I have read: that more people with it are born in the early part of the year, that it seems to be related to a prenatal virus, etc. Beyond that, I haven't read anything about genetics of it. (Or, if I have, I'm way too tired to remember anything...)
The depersonalization, disorientation, etc, are common enough symptoms of anxiety, as well as other mood disorders or epilepsy, or any number of other things. (Personally, I know I have a fever when I start seeing elephants in my bed -- weird, but true. Once the elephants start walking over me, I know it's time to hit the ER. I'm not psychotic, it's just something that happens when I have a high fever...) Although this probably isn't any more comforting coming from me than from the doctor, you're probably OK.
Here's another factor to consider: in schizophrenia, the hallucinations, etc, are not experienced as being hallucinations -- you won't say that you're hearing voices that aren't there, you'll be hearing voices speaking directly into your head, or from invisible people. As long as you're aware that these things are going on, you probably aren't showing early signs of anything Really Really Bad.
'Nother thought for you: most seizure disorders won't show up on the average EEG, unless you have a seizure in the middle of it... You might talk to your doctor or neurologist about diagnostic certainties, just to make sure it's been ruled out.
And, finally, can you tell your doctor that -- even if it is entirely unlikely that there's anything really bad going on, in his opinion -- you're worried about it, it's upsetting you, and you just really want these things ruled out, so that you can relax and move on in your life. You might use those same comments to ask him to explain WHY he says PS is so unlikely. (Although he may say that you wouldn't be worried if it was PS, which might be true...)
Hope something in there helped -- I'm overtired and a bit depressed, neither of which helps my communication skills...
poster:Racer
thread:484922
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050413/msgs/484974.html