Dear Yogita:

Is it possible for you to go for a walk outside alone or with another person?

Please check the following website: sardaa. org (no space). It is a U.S. website. If you don’t live in the U.S., you can click Resources at the top of the page, then click International Group at the drop down menu, and you can send an email message so to  inquire about support groups in your country.

Please look at the website and let me know if it is of any help to you.

anita

Dear Yogita:

1. Diet, exercise and smoking: I read (Wikipedia on Schizophrenia) that associated with schizophrenia are the following: obesity, poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle, and smoking. You wrote that you are “at home whole day”-

– do you exercise daily inside your home, and how is your diet?

Clearly, you need to eat healthily and exercise every day: fast walks outdoors, if safe, are an excellent form of aerobic exercise, good for your health in many ways. Indoors, you can set a daily exercise routine, so that you are not sedentary (sitting or lying down for long periods of time during the day).

Wikipedia on Schizophrenia: “Exercise therapy has been shown to improve positive and negative symptoms, cognition, and improve quality of life. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve cognitive deficits of working memory and attention.. Supervised sessions are recommended. In the UK healthy eating advice is offered alongside exercise programs”

* “Positive symptoms” are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized thoughts and speech. “Negative symptoms” are little to no expressions of emotion (blunted affect), a poverty of speech, an inability to feel pleasure, a lack of desire to form relationships, a lack of motivation and apathy, withdrawal, self neglect, particularly in hygiene, etc.

I read that 80-90% of people with schizophrenia being regular smokers, as compared to 20% of the general population. I wonder if you smoke?

2. Medications: I read that the primary treatment of schizophrenia is the use of antipsychotic medications. And you shared that you take these medications and unfortunately you suffer from diabetes (one of the side effects of antipsychotics). I also read that if a person doesn’t experience psychotic symptoms for a long time, doctors reduce the doses or no longer prescribe the patient with antipsychotics at all.

How long has it been for you, since you experienced symptoms?

3. Psychotherapy: I read about Metacognitive training (MCT) is a new psychotherapeutic approach for the treatment of “the positive symptoms of psychosis, especially delusions”. It is based on the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy, but focuses on cognitive distortion most typical to people with schizophrenia, and it is done in an individual or group therapy format.

– I wonder if you ever attended psychotherapy and if such is available to you (after the pandemic I suppose).

4. ACT, standing for Assertive Community Treatment: it includes a nurse and/ or a social worker/ other professional visiting you in your home, helping you in a variety of ways. Anything like that available to you (pre- or post pandemic, I imagine)?

5. Other support services for education, employment, and housing: such are available for some people with schizophrenia, so I read in Wikipedia- anything of the kind available to you?

anita

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by .

Dear Yogita:

You are welcome.

“what do I do about lack of motivation”- resuming exercise and making a daily routine of exercise should help your motivation.

– “In my country, it is difficult to get a job if I have illness”- are there any social services in your country, such that help disabled people with employment, health care, housing etc.?

– “I am well educated”- what is your education and your previous work life?

– Regarding your guardians, are they your parents?

anita

Dear Yogita:

“Please suggest what kind of jobs can I do.. tell me what to do?”- I am not qualified to suggest jobs to you. I don’t even know in what country you live. And even if I did know in what country you live, all I can do is google for information, which is something that you can do as well.

Wikipedia,”Prognosis of schizophrenia”: “Schizophrenia and recovery often involve a continuing loss of self-esteem, alienation from friends and family, interruption of school and career, and social stigma… An increasingly influential model defines recovery as a process, similar to being ‘in recovery’ from drug and alcohol problems, and emphasizes a personal journey involving factors such as hope, choice, empowerment, social inclusion and achievement…

“Several factors have been associated with a better overall prognosis: Being female, rapid (vs. insidious) onset of symptoms, older age 0f first episode, predominantly positive (rather than negative) symptoms, presence of mood symptoms, and good pre-illness functioning. The strength and internal resources of the individual concerned, such as determination or psychological resilience, have also been associated with better prognosis.

“The attitude and level of support from people in the individual’s life can have a significant impact”.

My summary: Recovery is possible for you. It may not be complete recovery, but any recovery is better than none. According to the above the fact that you are female and that your illness started when you were 22 (15 years ago) and not earlier, are indications of better chances of recovery for yourself.

Think of recovery as a process, not a one time event. If you are determined to recover as much as is possible for you, you will succeed. You do need some social support where you live. Look for it, look for any help available from the government or organizations of any kind. In the context of this thread, you can post any time.

Please re-read what I quoted from Wikipedia regarding recovery from schizophrenia and look for more reading on recovery as a process. “What to do?”- determine to start that process and persist in it. Don’t give up and don’t give in. A better life for you is possible!

anita

Dear Yogita:

You are welcome. Please do post anytime and express to me how you feel, what you think, what progress you are making, if any, and how is life for you otherwise. I would like to know more about you.

anita