Schizophrenia an require longer-term treatment. It takes at least six months of symptoms to be diagnosed and treatment may be recommended after symptoms have reduced. Show
While your mental health issue is being treated, life continues. How can you live the best life you can with schizophrenia?
Deciding what recovery means to youRecovery is a word that means different things to different people. What does it mean to say you’ve recovered from schizophrenia? Your doctors might say you’ve recovered when your symptoms reduce by a certain amount over a certain time. Other people might say that if you can take part in life again — if you can get and keep a job, have meaningful relationships and generally do the everyday things you want to do — that means you’ve recovered. Or maybe it means managing your symptoms so you can do some self-care tasks. Your idea of recovery is personal, and it can change over time. Talk to your doctors, your family and friends and the other important people in your life, about how they picture your recovery. Their advice can help you decide your short-term and longer-term goals for recovery. The outlook for people with schizophrenia is better than many realise, especially when you get consistent treatment that starts as early as possible after symptoms are diagnosed. Many people live a fulfilling life with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Related: Managing symptoms of schizophrenia
Sticking with treatmentYour diagnosis and treatment could change as you and your treating mental health professionals learn more about the form your mental health issues are taking. While this can leave you feeling insecure, it’s important that you commit to treatment with a supportive team of health professionals, even if you’re frustrated. Consistent, long-term treatment with a support team you trust is so important for schizophrenia recovery. Sometimes, people who start taking their medication and feel their symptoms reduce can believe they’re well enough to stop treatment. Stopping medication too soon can make symptoms return. To avoid this, always check in with your GP or psychiatrist before making changes to your medications. Related:Thinking about stopping your medication? Functional recoverySymptoms of schizophrenia can interrupt your work or study life, your relationships and your ability to engage with life in general. If you experience schizophrenia for the first time when you’re young, it can stop you getting started with those things. An important part of managing life with schizophrenia is to seek help with getting those things going again — work or study, relationships, your capacity to do things that are meaningful to you. This is called functional recovery. Studies have shown that an early functional recovery gives you a better chance of long-term recovery. So getting on track with work, study, housing, relationships and health is just as important, perhaps even more so, than eliminating positive symptoms like delusions or hallucinations. Related: Getting back to work
Looking after your physical healthSchizophrenia takes a toll on your physical health as well as your mental health. It can sap your energy, confidence and motivation — you might feel less capable of keeping up your physical health or lose the desire to try. Another major influence on your physical health is the side-effects of antipsychotic medication. Newer antipsychotic medications have fewer side-effects, but weight gain is still a common one. People being treated for schizophrenia are much more likely than the general population to be overweight, have high blood pressure and develop diabetes. They’re also more likely to smoke, drink too much and use recreational drugs, which can have a negative effect on your mental and physical health. If you’re struggling with these problems, you may hear your doctor use the term metabolic syndrome. It means you have some combination of:
Metabolic syndrome is common in people with a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet, but it’s especially common in people with schizophrenia. There is support to help you get healthy and stay healthy. Related: Healthy living guide • Diabetes & mental health • Cannabis & psychosis • Smoking & mental health issues • Mental health issues & physical health
Finding supportCommunity supportThere are many government and community-run support providers available in Australia. These include:
These types of programs often employ peer support workers – people with a lived experience of mental health issue who have undertaken training in mental health. Organisations that can connect you with community support services include:
Coping with stigmaYou have a right to be treated with the same dignity, respect and care as everyone else. Sadly, for people living with mental health issues, that doesn’t always happen. There’s a lot of ignorance about mental health issues in our society. Words like ‘psychotic’ and ‘schizophrenic’ can be misused to refer to violence or danger. Some people react fearfully or judgmentally when they learn a person is living with schizophrenia. The situation is improving, but it’s still very common for people with mental health issues to encounter stigma, which can cause problems with relationships, employment and your own self-esteem. For that reason, some people choose carefully who they tell about their diagnosis or experiences. Related:Disclosure & dating • Legal rights & responsibilities • Who should I trust to tell about my mental health issue? How do you cope? You can’t single-handedly fix the problem of mental health stigma, but there are two ways you can strengthen yourself against its effects: Get informedKnowledge is power. Trustworthy, evidence-based sources of information about schizophrenia can give you a strong sense of what this diagnosis really is, and what it isn’t. When you’re informed, you can spot stigma and wrong information and call it out for what it is. Related: Guide to reducing stigma • Fact vs myth: mental health basics • Fact vs myth: treatment & recovery • Fact vs myth: mental health issues & violence • Fact vs myth: specific disorders Get involvedYour mental health doesn’t have to isolate you. There are a lot of people out there going through something very similar, and places exist for you to meet them, tell your story and hear theirs. The SANE Forums provide a safe, anonymous, respectful place for people to share their experiences and make connections. It’s available 24/7 and moderated by mental health professionals. There’s no better protection against stigma than feeling like you belong to a community, and that’s what the Forums are for.
Planning for the futureRelapse prevention planA relapse is when, after you recover from an episode of psychosis, your symptoms return and you experience another episode. A relapse prevention plan is a powerful tool for staying well and avoiding a worsening of your mental health issue. Making a plan involves:
Having a relapse prevention can make you and the people who care for you feel more secure, even if you never have to use it. You can read more about relapse prevention plans at Orygen and Here to Help. Advance care directivesBecause of the way schizophrenia affects thinking, feeling and behaviour, if your symptoms worsen at some time in the future, you may not be able to make good decisions about your care. It can also be hard for the people around you to know what’s best for you when the situation is intense and confusing. An advance care directive is your instructions for what you want to happen if you can’t make your own choices, and who you authorise to make decisions for you. If you make an advance care directive, keep a copy somewhere obvious and make sure the people close to you know about it, including any health professionals you are working with. Ask them to carry a simple summary of what to do and where to call for help if needed — in their phones, for example. Having an advance care directive makes it much easier on you and the people who care for you if you ever need serious help. You can find out more at Advance Care Planning Australia.
How long does schizophrenia take to diagnose?To receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a person must have experienced at least two of the following symptoms most of the time during a one-month period, with some level of disturbance being present for six months: delusions, such as a belief that a person is being poisoned.
Is it hard to get diagnosed with schizophrenia?Diagnosis. Diagnosing schizophrenia is not easy. Sometimes using drugs, such as methamphetamines or LSD, can cause a person to have schizophrenia-like symptoms. The difficulty of diagnosing this illness is compounded by the fact that many people who are diagnosed do not believe they have it.
How fast is the onset of schizophrenia?In some people, schizophrenia appears suddenly and without warning. But for most, it comes on slowly, with subtle warning signs and a gradual decline in functioning, long before the first severe episode. Often, friends or family members will know early on that something is wrong, without knowing exactly what.
How do schizophrenics get diagnosed?Schizophrenia can usually be diagnosed if: you've experienced 1 or more of the following symptoms most of the time for a month: delusions, hallucinations, hearing voices, incoherent speech, or negative symptoms, such as a flattening of emotions.
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How long does it take to be diagnosed with schizophrenia
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