Yes, my Mom is very against medication. However, I am an adult and it is my choice in the end what I want to do. I stopped taking them because they were giving me horrible side effects and my Mom had me terrified by telling me all the ways it messes with your brain and could potentially make things worse. I also believe medication is part of government mind control and dummying us down purposely.
I have finally become open to trying something to help, because I can’t take living like this much longer. This is only my second day taking Abilfy, and so far I feel nothing but sleepy, which could be irrelevant.
You have people here you can talk to. Try not to think about such things.
Thank you, I will do my best. 
Hi Bunny,
I am sorry you are suffering and your family can not accept your illness. I know a lot of christians who think that way. It makes it difficult for people who grow up in very religious homes. I also am very “religious” and unfortunately religiosity became the feature of my son’s SA.
Please call your local Nami office. There are people there who can help you and help your family. You seem to be aware of the problem so that is a good thing. A lot of people have no insight.
Take care.
Hey @notmoses, what’s that book you always recommend? Think it could help explain to her family that she’s not possessed?
Don’t expect to feel anything except tired for a few weeks. And after a few months, the tired feeling should fade away. If you start feeling worse, tell your doctor immediately, because, unfortunately, your mom is right that the wrong medication can make things a lot worse. I once tried a medication that made me have suicidal thoughts. But it is totally worth it when you finally find the right one. My life is so much better now. I went from being homeless and constantly drunk to employed and in a stable relationship. It doesn’t make us dumber. It preserves the gray matter we have left. Each psychotic episode causes us to lose some gray matter, and medication is the best way to prevent that for most people.
Well, I’m not sure what all these voices mean, but there are real demons. I have seen them in my house, and even other places such as on the street, and at work (when I used to have a job…).
What is Nami?
And I am aware I am different and I have issues, yes. I just don’t know what they mean. I am glad my doctor told me to look for websites for people who hear voices, and that I googled my symptoms, or I would not have found this site. It has helped me a lot.
I have heard it preserves grey matter like @cj9556 said but I’d also like to add something.
What do you think, right now? Is this life? Is throwing out dolls and constantly praying for a miracle that will never happen living? I know that sounds harsh but that’s where I was too, but with bipolar. I didn’t become sza until later. I would pray for God to save me. I prayed and prayed and prayed. I was scrupulous in my habits. I wouldn’t let myself think bad about anyone (a habit that’s greatly hindered me) and I refused to lie about even the tiniest thing. If I said the cup on the picnic table was green when it was read, I would run down the person I told and correct myself.
It gets better. My life has improved vastly since I went to a good doctor and started certain pills. You probably aren’t going to get the right combination right of the bat but hopefully it will be a relief. I’ve been on some wonderful medications that lifted the veil of psychosis and bipolar until they stopped working. I’m still looking for the right answer but the attempts I’ve made along the way, by and large, have made me feel so much better than I ever have before.
Just remember, if a drug doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work. On the same coin not all doctors are equally competent. I had to go to three different doctors before I found a good one. If you don’t know where to find someone start with your general practitioner. Ask him/her. Work all the way through all the doctors you come in contact with. That’s how I met my doctor. My general practitioner noticed I had uncontrolled depression and told my mom. She said I was seeing someone but he wasn’t doing anything about it and so Dr. P gave her a name and we followed up on that. All these doctors go to conferences together so a lot of them know each other.
I have just given up on turning to my family for help. I am just going to leave them out of it, now.
So are you saying I am going to be so tired, sleeping all the time, and completely unproductive for a few months? 
I’m happy you are no longer homeless or drinking.
Alcohol is probably one of the worst things. For me it induces my hallucinations and anxiety.
What is grey matter?
Gray matter is a part of what makes up your brain. And yeah, you’ll probably be tired all the time for about 4-8 weeks. It depends on the person, but you’re small, and they’re still working on increasing your dose. Your body will adjust though, so just give it some time.
True ,fun fact is they use to dangle schizophrenics over a flaming pit to scare the demons out of them,that was before labotomys, imagine that
Not if they are “true believers” in extremist pronouncements. They rarely accept anything from outside their “boxes” of beliefs.
While sz is not associated with Christianity per se, it is powerfully correlated to having grown up with a parent or parents who were religious extremists of any sort. Sz in the children of such parents often remits if the children are 1) separated from their parents for several years, and 2) treated with one or more of the cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) that address distorted beliefs, delusions and other thought disorders so that the patients can parse out what is real from what is not, as well as understand where their anxiety-inducing ideas may have come from.
Bunny may also benefit from looking at this web page (at the link below) and looking into the better literature on groups with extreme beliefs by such authors as Eric Hoffer, Margaret Thaler Singer, Eric Galanter, Arthur Deikman, Stephen Hassan, Flo Conway, Michael Langone and Joel Kramer:
http://www.culthelp.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7&Itemid=5
My husband’s mother thought his illness was due to a curse his x-fiancee put on him. She begged me to take him down to the mosque so an imam could do a cleansing and remove the curse. (Apparently she had forgotten that he’d already done that, but that it didn’t help anything.) She and all of his family are also convinced that medications are bad. Now that he is doing better, they think it’s because he reduced his meds. Actually it’s the opposite. He’s doing better since he dramatically increased his meds. I’ll repeat what another person on here has already said, untreated psychotic episodes (hearing voices for instance), can cause brain damage. The sooner you get on meds and stay on them, the better your outcome will be. If your family doesn’t want you to take meds, listen to your doctor.
Wow, this is surprisingly similar to what I had experienced with my ex-wife and her family. They thought she was possessed and were trying to get her to see an imam that could perform an exorcism. Her family tells me that she is fine, all the while she is getting kicked out of one relatives house after another because they are all scared of her.
The only think that ever worked for her was medication, not praying, not fasting, just medication. Unfortunately she also thought the medicine was poison and refused to take it.
Sorry to hear that splifferton, that’s really too bad about your x.
Extreme religious and other authoritarian groups typically argue against interventions based on empirical science. Some argue that the principle reason they do so is that their own screwy ideas would been seen for what they are and so widely rejected that the group would evaporate. Eric Hoffer, Margaret Thaler Singer, Eric Galanter, Arthur Deikman, Stephen Hassan, Flo Conway, Michael Langone and Joel Kramer all touch upon this in their books on cults and the group dynamics of thought control.
My mother in law is Pentecostal, she claims all the time to have seen exorcisms. She said I need to be prayed over that I see and hear demons. She says often that I need to get off meds that they are dangerous
As I have written here more times than is probably necessary (or socially propitious) (hahaha), extreme, pseudo-spiritual (but actually not spiritual at all), delusional belief is strongly correlated to sz and is far more often observed in the families of sz patients than in the general population.
Think “sensitive child raised by whackos.” Make sense?
That makes sense, I wasn’t raised with them but their judgement and not understanding is hurtful. You’re awesome notmoses
Just well schooled, but thanx.
My family and I are all Pentecostal too, however I know I am still skeptical of the whole demon possessed theory.