Help for School Project

Family
1

I’m doing a project for school where I need to interview someone with. Catatonis Schizoprenia. If You are interested please reply below.

  1. What is it like to live with the disorder? Do you feel you are treated differently because of it? How So?

  2. What are your symptoms?

  3. When were you diagnosed and who decided to take you for your diagnosis?

  4. Are some days worse than others? If so, what are the causes?

  5. What have you done to cope with this disorder? (Therapy? Medication?-Please specify) What seemed to work best if anything?

  6. What everyday things are harder because of this disorder?

  7. What was it like when you were first diagnosed?

  8. Do you think the disorder is getting better worse or staying about the same?

Thank you for your time. Please state your initials age and sex as well.

2

Catatonis Schizophrenia? Do you mean Catatonic Schizophrenia?

3

Yea sorry about that

4

Good luck interviewing anyone with catatonia. You will not get a coherent reply, if any at all. For some reason, catatonic schizophrenia has become very rare. I suggest you find a different project to work on. This seems like a dead end to me.

5

Not to be catty, but did you at least wikipedia first?

cat·a·ton·ic [kat-uh-ton-ik] Show IPA
adjective
1.
having catatonia, a syndrome characterized by muscular rigidity and mental stupor: The schizophrenic remained in a catatonic state.
2.
appearing to be in a daze or stupor; unresponsive, coma like.

6

It’s a project for school where she gave me the questions to ask. It must be an interview and not looking it up online.

7

Sorry, you will NOT be granted access to a catatonic schizophrenic patient to interview for a high school project. Your teacher is very naive and needs to do some of her own research.

8

To my knowledge there is no one on this forum with catatonia sz. It is rare. Maybe ask your teacher if you can do another sub-form of sz. Good luck with your project :smile:

Just because someone is diagnosed with catatonia sz it doesn’t mean they are catatonic 100% of the time. No different then someone with paranoid sz is not paranoid 100% of the time.

9

Actually, in the 6 years I’ve been on here @BarbieBF I’ve run across about 5 catatonic szers. At least they were in the past, but were no longer acutely ill. They’re out there, usually in a hospital.

10

Dear @devils15

I’m sorry you sort of drew the short straw and got a very hard topic. You can’t interview someone during a catatonic phase because they can’t answer you. I do know there are two extremes to the subtype and one person can swing between the two.

Please at least glance at the link.

I have had an Uncle who is suffering SZ slip into a catatonic state and due to the right meds, pulled out of it. He and the one other person I’ve ever met through a support group both really hated talking about those episodes. It brought back very painful memories for them, so they didn’t answer my questions either.

It’s very rare these days do to the fact that doctors medicate sooner and stabilize sooner and the new generation anti-psychotic’s I think also have a lot to do with why this subgroup is becoming rare.

Good luck and maybe go to your local mental health clinic and see if there is an educational seminar being held and then you can get better first hand information. Some of the normal hospitals in my city also have facilities for mental wellness. That might be a more effective place to start.

11

Sorry, as kidsister said, about the short end of the straw on this one. I would like to help, but I have never been catatonic. I’m schizoaffective. Maybe she’ll let you switch to that? I like the idea of helping the general population understand.

12

Thanks everyone for the advice. If anyone has Paranoid Schizophrenia or Disorganized Schizophrenia and would like to answer the questions, it would be greatly appreciated.

13

Ok, I’m feeling sorry that no one will help you with your project. So I’ll be brief here, and you can P.M. me if you need some extra.

What is it like to live with the disorder? Do you feel you are treated differently because of it? How So?
Part a) This disorder makes it very hard for me to read other people, make rational decisions, and it gets in the way of simple task that other’s take for granted.
part b) I am treated a little differently now because much of my history was spent in hospital. I don’t talk as well as I write so I do have a hard time communicating at work. The structure of my day is different.

What are your symptoms?
I’m undifferentiated SZ meaning I’ve got the mix of paranoid SZ and Disorganized Sz.
I have auditory, visual and tactile hallucinations. I get delusions. I get disorganized and loose track of simple tasks. I have false memories, intrusive thoughts, and I’m recovering from a long stint of deep negative symptoms that destroyed my motivation, my concentration, my memory, my cognitive abilities and kicked me into a deep depression.

When were you diagnosed and who decided to take you for your diagnosis?
I was officially diagnosed when I was 17. Though I was crumbling and falling apart long before then. I was in the middle of a deep psychotic episode and was taken in by the police when I was diagnosed. I was then court ordered hospitalized for a while while I stabilized.

Are some days worse than others? If so, what are the causes?
Yes, some days are worse then others. Usually it’s stress that amp’s up my head circus. But sometimes it’s just out of the blue, can’t pull myself together and can’t figure out why. But 75% of the time it’s hard core stress.

What have you done to cope with this disorder? (Therapy? Medication?-Please specify) What seemed to work best if anything? Medication to stabilize the brain chemistry and therapy to cope with the day to day stress and the act of living. I needed both. I still need both. I also need physical activity. I surf. So getting out in the middle of the ocean and having a chance to decompress from all the stimulus really helps my calm down.

What everyday things are harder because of this disorder? laundry, making toast, some times… driving. (that is when i grab my bus pass) keeping motivated to take care of myself and my apartment. Listening. I can’t listen to long lectures. I can’t focus enough to concentrate.

What was it like when you were first diagnosed?
I was in a high state mania and deep paranoia and anxiety. I was psychotic and at hospital I didn’t understand half of what was happening to me. When it really sank in, I still didn’t understand what that really meant. You see the worst of the worst on T.V. and stupid movies, and none of that was me. So I don’t think I believed the doc for a while.

Do you think the disorder is getting better worse or staying about the same?
I am recovering quickly. I hit a wall of stasis where I just couldn’t get better. My meds got changed up and BANG… I have a job I like, I have my own place, I’m back in college, I have a new girl friend, my family is healing and trusting me more. It was all a direct result of the med change and better therapy.

You have to understand, Meds can really effect us. The antipsychotics can actually mimic deep negative symptoms. There was a time I didn’t want to take meds, not because I didn’t want to get better, but they made me sicker then the illness it’s self.

Picture some of the drug commercials you see today… example… for allergies. They say say may cause blindness, vomiting, rash, kidney failure and death… but hey, you won’t have the sniffles any more… :smiley: Really?

For me, some of the AP’s I was on just ruined me more then any psychosis I could have lived through. But I finally got a good med mix and my life turned around quickly due to that. I post on here a lot… so pick through and you can get a pretty complete picture just from what I’ve posted in the past as well.

Thank you for your time. Please state your initials age and sex as well.
I’m J.M. I’m 29 and I’m male.

Good luck on your homework

14

http://fantastic.library.cornell.edu/imagerecord_l.php?record=295

Perhaps you could use this in your report? Looks catatonic.

15

Thank you for the response. I’ve read a lot about schizophrenia, but actually hearing it from someone makes it a lot easier to understand. I’'m glad the meds worked and i wish you the best in life.

16

Our son has a “working” diagnosis of catatonic schizophrenia. But he doesn’t acknowledge his illness very well and he has been in and out of the hospital and IN more days than not in the past year. He is in the hospital now. With all due respect, we are sacrificing our own lives and resources to try to help him. Maybe someday we will have this better under control if he lives long enough without other complications. (I just realized I am responding to an old post…)

17

@SurprisedJ - This just came up from many years ago. Thank you for posting this as it helps me understand what my son may be and has been going through. How are you doing 4 years later?