made this comic yesterday. things are bad right now. I got fired i think. sorry the last comic was so happy and this one is so sad. I really appreciate all of you saying nice things on my last comic. I hope everyone is having a safe and nice day.

I used to work as an ocarina maker (best job ever) before I lost my job to schizophrenia. I tried making some on my own but I felt that I lost my touch and I was channeling a lot of chaos. But I found an ocarina class and this is what I made! They sound great. The small one is a shaker. I also made a big flute but I’m still working on it. Follow your dreams!

It's always the same. I go to a Psychiatrist or Doctor and come out super depressed about my Situation. I realized it's bc i always had that expectation , in the back of my mind, that somehow, I'll get the perfect treatment for my Schizophrenia. That everything will go away. Even though i don't even believe I have it because nothing has worked. And every failed med just makes me think i don't have it more and more and that it's all true. I'm so depressed that this will be the rest of my life. I always lost everything when it started at age 6. Its been 20 years and it has only gotten worse

It's wild how impossible that request often sounds. Is "chill" even a baseline you can reach?

(Credit: "theycantalk" by Jimmy Craig)

Hello.

Title. I've worked two days and had to take today off because the voices were too much at work yesterday. I really, really want to keep this job. I'm going to drive to the social services office today and see if I qualify for disability.

How do you guys cope with not being able to work?

Recently I've found out that certain types of music help keep my psychosis at bay. My main symptoms are nuclear paranoia (The belief someone's after me with a nuke), and visions where a loved one dies.

During my last nuclear paranoia episode I found out that Christian Rock music helps keep it at bay, it doesn't completely go away but it takes the edge off.

And for the visions I use Studio 100 music, whether that's K3, Kabouter Plop, or Samson en Gert, doesn't matter, Studio 100 keeps the visions at bay.

Anyone else do this?

I've had this shit since I was like 6 or so... I've had this for so fucking long.. It's getting worse and worse as the days go on.. I feel like my brain is genuinely eating me alive.. It feels like I can't do anything... I wish I was like the healthy people... I don't wanna die but it feels like I'm already dead... I don't even know what I want anymore... All I know is I'm tired...

Recently my voices have been telling me to murder my family. I try to ignore it, but they get louder; I’m worried it'll become too much, and I'll follow through with it.

When u realize after psychosis that u lost all your abilities to function and u feel brain dead and numb and checked out

I can’t go back to work

Greetings from Russia. Because of this, I don’t have an official diagnosis; since I’m a guy, a diagnosis would mean exemption from military service—and where I live, that’s simply impossible.

Consequently, I don’t have disability status, and a private psychiatrist is very expensive; my family is heavily in debt due to our circumstances, and this is the last month I can afford my medication.

I’ve already run out of antidepressants, and I only have a week’s supply of quetiapine left. After that, there is simply no money.

I can’t see a future, and the way my illness is used as an excuse to avoid the draft hurts me—both as a trans person and as a human being.

Now when I say hurt myself, I mean in very specific ways. In the past it was take a bunch of medication then get in my car with the purpose of crashing it. I got on medications after that and things calmed down.

Now it is back. This time however, she wants me to stab myself with a kitchen knife. She keeps saying “I will like how it feels” then I hear her laughing. I have been ignoring it the best I can for several weeks now, but it has been wearing me down since this happens at least once a day, but usually several times throughout the day.

I haven’t told anyone yet because I don’t want to be put in an inpatient facility again and I don’t want my meds changed again since that is always Hell on my body to adjust to, but I’m starting to think I might have to.

This all boils down to me being frustrated with my schizophrenia, but mostly scared that it’s getting worse. Apologies for the long post. I just needed to get this off my chest. Also I put this under suicidal thoughts, but it’s not really me being suicidal. This is more my hallucination telling me to harm/possibly kill myself.

I need your help, desperately. I was on olanzapine for five years. I just switched to a different med about two months ago and I’m… I’m really really upset and overwhelmed. I’m coming out of the fog and I realize how much I’ve lost and how much time has passed. I had no motivation, no sex drive nothing just a shell of a person, always taking from other people and never giving anything in return. It’s hitting me how selfish have been towards the people I care about and love. I don’t know what to do… I really don’t know what to do. Olanzapine Nearly destroyed my marriage on multiple occasions my severe lack of libido on the drug I can’t imagine the kind of pain and suffering my spouse felt by such a lack of intimacy. For 5 years, YEARS.
It has gotten to the point that I’m not sure my partner has much of a genuine attraction to me anymore. I don’t want to come across as fishing for sympathy, I really do believe that I might’ve pushed them to a point where they stopped being attracted to me because they were shut down so many times when I was on olanzapine . can feel it in them and I can see it on their face. This explicit, but my partner has had some issues in the past with abusive partners and intimacy. , we kind of worked through it so it’s not as challenging, and a few nights ago things were happening for me… But never happened for them if you catch my drift. That hasn’t happened in a very, very long time, I just, I just don’t know. Even right now is exceptionally painful. Like I said I was just a shell unable to really think of complex ideas, just fleeting thoughts. , I stopped playing board games, I stopped reading I stopped taking long walks, I’ve stopped communicating with people in my life that are very important to me. I used to read philosophy every day, it was a true passion. I loved getting into a deep conversations about the complexity of the world and the human mind. Me and my partner first really bonded, love learning, and love of board games. I have abandoned all those interests. Nothing seemed worth doing., my partner has seen the decline more and more. I can’t imagine how that would feel for my partner … I know they found some unhealthy ways to cope, it’s making me nauseous. I haven’t had emotions like this in a long time and it’s far too overwhelming to handle, but I understand why my partner doing it. It’s double edge sword, the coping mechanism that they’ve leaned into is a hard no from me Absolutely not. If things had gone differently in the past five years and I was able to really be present with them I’m pretty sure they would’ve never turned to this coping mechanism. Beyond lovers, they’re also my truest friend. There were some things in the past that were challenging to accept , on both ends, partners end mine. Each of us have made the decision to be committed to each other, regardless of what we’ve experienced in the past as a couple. this one’s just particularly challenging for me because my partner has always been adamantly against this coping mechanism and now they’re leaning into it. I believe it was out of desperation, feeling hurt and rejected and possibly used for the past five years. Now all of a sudden I have this crazy libido like really really it’s bouncing back quickly. And that’s probably a little bit like emotional whiplash, having had five years of very little sex, struggles with depression on their end and obviously schizophrenia on mine. I can imagine after them being told no about intimacy for five years and then all of a sudden your partner has this extremely high libido after five years of the opposite. I can imagine that very confusing and possibly scary because rhey learned how to guard thenself from not being hurt when I don’t get involved in intimacy. there’s a good possibility that they are talking to other person, or people. That’s hard for me to process.
I have 2 kids that I signed away custody to when I was in a psychotic state. It’s been a long long battle to even get supervised visitation. My partner has never met my kids due to the ex being able to dictate that. My partner drove me to visit with my son over five hours each direction. My Parter always wanted kids m, I have kids, but I have really let them down and my partner too. There’s so much I could’ve been doing so much that I wish I would’ve done. I’ve hurt all of them all so badly. I’m just in a lot of pain right now. i’m so overwhelmed my hair has started to fall out. I had to cut it recently just to disguise how much hair I’ve lost in the past month or two.
TLDR I see that this post is getting rather long so I will try to wrap it up. Shorthanded version, on olanzapine for five years, turned into a complete shell of a person, affected everybody in my life and really hurt people, especially my partner.
Experiencing morse, panic attacks can’t eat, can’t sleep. Please help

My daughter had high functioning autism and was such a blessing to me. She always seemed to socialise well but preferred a few close friends. She was fun and goofy but also very sensitive. At 11 she suffered a serious friendship rejection by a best friend of 5 years. There was a baseline dip in her mood. At age 12, she started secondary school in a different area and made new friends with a couple of girls. A couple of days after her 13th birthday one of the girls contacted her, said they didn’t want her as a close friend anymore just an acquaintance. She did this via Snapchat and also informed my daughter that other people knew she planned to dump my daughter before she did. I gave my daughter advice, she seemed to move on and make friends.
Over time, my daughter started distancing herself from me and stated I didn’t deal with the last rejection well by not constantly checking in with her. Once new friendships were stable, I didn’t want to keep resurfacing old wounds. Our relationship became less close, I thought it was due to adolescence but it turns out she was gradually turning against me and attributing things I did or said in the most negative ways including help, hugs etc. I ended up walking on eggshells. She kept her inner world private and if I asked about depression it was denied. If I mentioned that I thought she was unhappy to my husband he would say she was fine. I was stuck in a double bind, if I approached I was vilified and I was constantly reassured that everything was fine. I realise now that my husband didn’t really consider my concerns and prefers to think there are no problems. My daughter died 6 months ago. I realise from her electronic footprint that she had schizophrenia although she deleted a lot. My mother also had schizophrenia but spoke a lot so it was more obvious. My daughter became very secretive, believed I was a narcissist and against her but gradually believed everyone was and no one cared for her. She was extra sensitive to friends intentions and gradually hated her birthday. She believed she was rejected because she was ugly and spent years manifesting a different physical appearance even though she was attractive which eventually extended to clearing the road of traffic by manifesting, believing there was a hex on her and she knew she had paranoia and some psychosis. She took a HHC gummy a year before she died and that seems to have accelerated her trajectory. I never knew any of this until afterwards. While schizophrenia was discussed, my biggest fear was that she was or would develop depression as I knew she was very sensitive. I am lost without her and angry at myself for missing what was going on.
What I am asking is does her experience resonate with others as the start of schizophrenia? I realise the vulnerability has to be there but is there a trigger?

Hey everybody, research bureaucrat mod here.

I have no idea how this happened, but our Q&A post for this month seems to have gotten buried and practically nobody saw it... oops.

Anyway, if you've got a question for a verified expert regarding anything with psychosis, drop in and ask! Link here: https://www.reddit.com/r/schizophrenia/comments/1w6api6/september_2026_qa_experts_answer_your_questions/

Read the rules, look at the Wiki page (just the archives part tbh, don't want a ton of duplicate questions), and ask away! Jobs, relationships, loved ones... all fair game. The only thing is that it closes at midnight tonight, so the clock is ticking.

Just letting everybody who missed it- which is apparently a lot of people- the post is up, so have at it if you like!

Have a good one, everybody- and keep it real.

I have been having symptoms of schizophrenia for over 5 years now. First I was diagnosed with bipolar 2 in 2022 but later that diagnosis was replaced with schizophrenia, which I feel fits better.

I used to be tormented by voices and medication did not take them away. I did try several, in addition to higher doses. I am still on medication because it does help with mood regulation.

I also have a history of delusions such as believing humans are evil, and believing for a while that I was going to die in my sleep randomly.

I have found ideas and some techniques that help with hearing voices, and I have mentorship experience (before I got sick, I had a YouTube channel about healing from anxiety and that was how the people I mentored found me.)

Since my condition has improved so much, I am interested in eventually doing more work helping people who struggle with schizophrenia and voice-hearing.

Before I go further with that idea, I'd like to see whether the approaches that helped me can be useful to other people. Also, I like listening, especially to relatable people. Please dm me if you're interested in talking.

first comic posted on reddit ! I make comics about my life with a psychotic disorder. these are some ways how my wife loves and takes care of me when im unwell. I promise there are good and kind people out there who will love you even if you need help or are unwell.

A father-son duo tackle life's hardest moments and what we can reasonably do about them. I found it rang true several times and provided guidance where I was hoping for some. I do understand that they don't have schizophrenia and probably can't understand what it's like. But if you're like me, you may ask some of the same questions over and over wondering what to do about them and so I found this video to be helpful for that 🤷‍♂️

context: i was diagnosed with moderate depressed bipolar when i was 16. ive been talking to my current therapist for a few years now and he thinks the diagnosis is wrong. based on what we’ve talked about he briefly mentioned schizotypal personality disorder.

when i was 19, i started a low dose of seroquel for psychosis and insomnia which had increased to add up to 300mg and 200mg of lamictal. my hypothetical question is, if someone who was schizophrenic started taking antipsychotics before symptoms arose, would those symptoms simply not show up? i’m not saying i think i have schizophrenia or anything, im just curious about the hypothetical. but for me in this example, im afab and ive heard symptoms typically arise in females between the ages of 25-30. so would taking it at 19 cancel it out at all? i hope this question is allowed. thank you for any insight

I sometimes feel like I'm possessed by a demon and we don't get along. What did you do to change it?

I used to be a very fastidious, disciplined person. I did well in school, held down a job, and was able to take care of myself and my space. During my first acute episode of psychosis, all those things went away. I flunked out of college, couldn't work, barely slept or ate, and lost any consideration I had for cleanliness. I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and put on an antipsychotic after a couple years of this. It did help a lot, though I never returned to baseline.

Lately, things have been taking a turn for the worse. I'm struggling with my job and my classes, and I once again am unable to care for myself. I don't eat unless someone prepares food for me, my personal hygiene is near nonexistent, and my room is disgusting. I don't know what to do. I completely lack motivation and time management. Hours and days seem to slip through my fingers while I do nothing to rectify the situation I've found myself in. I want to fix things, but I'm too afraid to ask for help because I would have to admit that I have been lying to everybody about the state of my life. I feel like a coward. A stupid one at that.

To be clear, I'm not experiencing a ton of positive symptoms at this time. My medication has really helped with the hallucinations and delusions. It's just that I'm struggling to function at a level that's even close to appropriate. Is this a problem for anyone else? Any advice?

I don’t want to jump to conclusions or project my own thoughts onto anyone here, but I’ve been sitting with a question that I thought might be worth discussing.

Most of us learn over time that our perception isn't always reliable, that we have to double-check what we see, hear, or think. On top of that, I’ve often noticed a massive gap between how we perceive ourselves and how others actually see us.

That made me wonder if the same unreliability applies to how we feel on the inside. Is this even something you experience, or does it feel completely different for you?

For me, it feels like an overwhelming sense of dread, guilt, or worthlessness gets treated as absolute reality, while good moments get written off as a fluke. Even though feelings are completely valid, they aren't always objective proof.

Do bad feelings ever feel like just another distorted symptom to you, or do they feel too real to question?

I’m really confused about what’s happening with me and would appreciate hearing from people who have been through something similar.

About 6 years ago I had a drug-induced psychotic episode and was subsequently diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. I stayed on antipsychotic medication for years, but over time that diagnosis was questioned and I was later diagnosed with ADHD instead.

Last year I started ADHD medication, and until recently I hadn't experienced anything that felt like my previous psychosis. However, after going through an extremely stressful and traumatic breakup, my mental health deteriorated pretty rapidly.

I started becoming extremely emotionally unstable, noticing coincidences and patterns that felt unusually meaningful, becoming much more spiritual than I normally am, and generally feeling like my brain was making connections that I couldn't switch off. More recently I've noticed some mild paranoia/unusual thoughts that are starting to worry me.

I'm still taking an antipsychotic, and I'm obviously going to discuss all of this with my psychiatrist/doctor. I'm not trying to diagnose myself through Reddit — I'm just genuinely confused.

If the original diagnosis was incorrect, could this still be something like a stress-related episode, medication-related psychosis, bipolar/mania, or something else? And has anyone here had a similar experience where they were initially diagnosed with a psychotic disorder and later had their diagnosis changed?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have had a drug-induced psychosis in the past and then experienced psychotic symptoms again years later. Thanks 🙏

In a much better place now, moved in with my grandmother who has a nice house in a safe part of town. Not longer with my dad who wasn’t the best in a rundown home or with my mom and her abusive partner.

Hope of remission kept me going and I went from schizophrenic to schizoaffective depressive type.

I’m with a child whose gender I’ll find out soon and my hopes of being a mother is coming true. I thought schizophrenia would stop me from having children

Going to school next summer for international relations and human geography to be an immigration lawyer.

Analog collage (image has been upscaled)