I believe this is a key to overcoming our illness. Being wiser than the delusion(s). I think when John Nash said he “thought his way out of schizophrenia in old age” this is what he was alluding to. Trusting established medicine and then self evaluating his own ideas. To help control the emotional aspect of psychotic thoughts the lead to loss of touch with reality.
I know I’m not diagnosed schizophrenia, but I believe the crux of the discussion I’m posing is schizophrenia hence posting in schizophrenia and sza.
Edit. I used to have a problem with that quotation of John Nash. But the older I get. I understand he felt more and experienced more and appreicate it more now
That feels way above my head. I don’t know how to question my hallucinations and delusions. If my eyes stay playing tricks on me allot sometimes I can stop it before it becomes something more. But other thing like I hear music being played when no one is playing music according to my wife. But I still hear it and I will walk around the house looking for the music and put my phone to my ear and it’s off. I don’t know what my point was.
I think what i’m suggesting is that if someone contains their emotions, like how they feel about stuff (think stoicism). And try to believe in external knowledge like established facts (things that we know more for certain eg, having an understanding of foudnational scientific ideas can help with not trusting medicine)
It’s true that thought and feelings are connected, but sometimes, you can have intrusive thoughts completely triggered by external world whilst internal beliefs could be something like everything is connected by deities for example.
Sorry, I re-read and it’s a very introspective post to be fair, it’ll be hard to relate to
Yes, but like @Batik21 mentioned, it’s hard not to believe what’s right in front of you, when your own senses turn against you. While I usually figure out that I’m having delusions about, say, that I’m not really being poisoned and that my water probably doesn’t actually taste funny, it’s so real it’s still hard to get over.
I get lost in hallucinations and delusions. They’re more mild now. I feel like I have one foot reality and one in another world. I’ve seen too much to skew my reality for a few lifetimes. It’s easy to say I’m ok when things are mild. 2025 when I went to the psych ward for the 3rd time I went because the voices drove me crazy, 6 months voices non stop even in my sleep, it drove me crazy, a lot of synchronicity with the voices then I got to the psychward and hallucinated my family and friends were patients or staff. I told the doctor the symptoms were getting better on the new pill but they were getting worse. I just wanted to leave the hospital. I was out of it for another 2 weeks. It didn’t help that they couldn’t fill my script for a week after getting out of the hospital. That’s why now I believe the illness is episodic. Good episodes bad episodes. It’s like an imaginary friend who’s always there in my head. I never feel lonely because of it. Right now my symptoms are the best they’ve been, more tolerable. Good things
It’s interesting you feel not lonely because of the voices. I’ve felt that way whilst in a deep episode but coupled with it, I had awareness it wasn’t natural normal or whatever word best suits the description so it made me anxious.
To me. When I’m lonely. I feel a deep sense of isolation, and thoughts don’t even seem to soothe it. It’s partly why I listened to music for so much for so long. Because it (sometimes) made it seem less lonely.
My so-called delusions are real to me, I know intellectually that others have said they are delusions but I’ve not agreed. Without these delusions I’d be very lonely in a way because one is that I have four spirits in my head. Sometimes they annoy me but I wouldn’t want them to go because I’d be alone then. Sometimes I like them to talk to me and even laugh at me because it means I’m not alone. The spirit world is real. I live in my head. What’s real to me is everything I experience and believe no matter if others share that or not.
Well some do, Abilify isn’t that sedating at lower dose and that’s why I feel more able to deal with emotions caused by delusions. As for the intensity of emotions, that’s ofc subjective - that’s why I’ve asked it generally
I think you’re onto something here. If my mind can create hallucinations and delusions, what else can my mind create? Can my mind create a way to cope, identify, and mitigate the hallucinations and delusions? I will always take meds, but I think my mind can also play a major role towards recovery.
Another person I find fascinating is Wim Hof (the ice man). The man has proven that he can control his immune system with his mind. His world records are impossible to understand. I think he should be studied to better understand the relationship between the mind and body.