Hey guys. I’m wondering how long you had to wait before a diagnosis was given. I thought my son was getting better but he’s telling me that he is surrounded by televisions and they are all playing his show.
I don’t know if it’s occurring for him in real life. If he says it’s in his head, is that the same as a delusion? Sorry. I have many questions.
I had been suffering from depression for about eight years before I experienced psychosis. So when I did experience psychosis, my psychiatrist diagnosed me as major depression with psychosis. Then, about a year later, I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder with depression. Then, about a year later when I went back to the hospital with violent intrusive thoughts, they diagnosed me with chronic paranoid schizophrenia.
Sorry guys. Another question: can you please tell me what your family members first break looked like? I’m trying to get our son seen again and I’d like something to help present our case. Thank you all. p.s. No Adderall since Monday of last week. Still showing symptoms.
Ok. My son is only 10 and has autism so it’s hard to filter what is what. I know he’s always been anxious but that’s been it until now.
My son was diagnosed fairly quickly which I don’t think is the norm. Getting a diagnoses at age 10 may be hard. I would say to document whatever you can think of. It may seem unimportant but it may help to paint a bigger picture of what is going on.
The best way that I can look at delusions and hallucinations is that I see delusional statements as being I am or I can. Believing something is when there is nothing to support that believe. If he is seeing, hearing or feeling things that you can’t see, hear or feel then those are hallucinations.
I know you have directed your question to a care giver… but I hope you don’t mind if I butt in.
My parents are convinced more and more that I had a psychotic break when I was 5. But I wasn’t diagnosed until 17. I had a lot of the same symptoms that I did at 17. But I know some of the doctors did NOT want to put that label on my file before I hit puberty.
I think that’s why my parents were told it was ADD… ADHD… PTSD… OCD… on and on.
They did a lot of documentation after our house fire because I guess my mental crumbling was really obvious. However they were looking for drug use. Which by 14, I was using. But I was on meds for stuff that I might not have even have had.
But I’m 29 now. So that was at least 20 years ago. It doesn’t seem impossible to put that sticker on the file earlier lately.
It’s sad I know. But having the right word on the label got me the right meds.
I wish I could do something to soothe you. I can tell this hurts a lot. I can’t even imagine what it’s like having a child and having this happen. I can’t imagine what my mother and father went through. Just know you are doing the right thing. If this is sz I’ve heard the sooner it gets caught the better. You are doing the right thing. I heard another thing that is harder to pin down, trust your mother’s instinct. If they say this is normal and you don’t feel in your heart that this is normal for your son, try another doctor.
Are you part of an autism support group? Maybe scan a group like this online and see if you see anything. I know it’s not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis, but it will give you something to do.
I look forward to hearing the results, we are all here for you.
Sorry about your troubles that youre experiencing at the moment.
Firstly delusions are all to do with what he believes in his head, so he may be. Id just need to hear more of his symptoms, such as does he hear voices, or does he believe the tv is communicating with him.
Id just like to say schizophrenia is not an illness that is all that bad. The name itself just comes with stigma borne from bad portrayal in the media.
What Im trying to say is schizophrenia is not an illness you need to fear if your son is diagnosed. As you see from this website, all of us schizophrenics come across as nice well adjusted individuals, and the truth is we have all learned immensely from our experiences of schizophrenia. All Im saying is that a lot of people fear the worst when they hear the diagnosis of this illness but in truth this illness is not that bad at all. It can actually be very much a life growing experience.
All Im saying is don’t get despondent. These problems will lift. People who have schizophrenia can bounce back in short periods of time. They can be poorly one day, but good the next. Anyway, all Im trying to say is don’t get too down about it.
As regards your son’s diagnosis, psychiatrists sometimes dither over giving patients labels, so this may explain the delay in diagnosing your son. This is because psychiatrists are really looking for a cluster of symptoms and they want them to be present for a period of time before they diagnose. For example, for schizophrenia to be diagnosed psychiatrist generally look for the psychotic episode to be present for at least 6 months.
Anyway, I hope things improve for you and your son. You sound like a very caring parent.
I was symptomatic for over a year before being diagnosed. Now it’s been a year since I was diagnosed, and I am recovered. He is having delusions, pretty common one actually, I thought I was on TV. Have you seen the movie The Truman Show? Thats what I thought was going on.
I thought that myself, same as mortimermouse, Theres a film called the “Truman Show” that would interest you. Its a delusion a lot of us schizophrenics experience. I did myself too. Id advise you to watch the film. As I said the film is based on delusions schizophrenics have. Its a very good movie, well worth watching and you may come to understand more of what your son is experiencing.
My daughter has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizo-affective, bi-polar, depression, etc. I was told by a mental health care person who works for a hospital in the psych ward to not marry the diagnosis – just flirt with it. My daughter has many features of bipolar. She absolutely cannot take any kind of anti-depressants because it throws her into mania. So right now I would say my daughter is schizo-affective with a lot of bipolar features.
Hello molly i wander how old your daughter is and did all this start early ?
Hello Heidi, My daughter is 31 years old and she started showing strange behavior around 15 years old but at the time I believed it to be teenage angst. It became much worse when she started college as she experienced a complete meltdown and had to quit school.
Wishing you some luck with the doctors appt tomorrow this is such a difficult nut to crack as symptons can stop start and change so much at his young age I have had to be patient too Aden is just 13 last week and is soo private and dosent share his inner world He sticks his fingers in his ears in says SHHH whenever i try to question him about his mental state but he has admitted to intrusive thoughts .He also has a dual diagnosis ASD and Schiz He cannot be with other kids at all at present so he has self isolated < This is a waiting game Be strong and keep checking in with us >>>>