I have had schizophenia for 16 years now, and I know life is not the greatest with schizophrenia, but I try to stay in my Bible and talk to God. And I go to a men and women bible study every Friday night. And it helps me but, no one knows at my Bible study knows I have schizophrenia cause iam new to the bible study. And I know that people won’t deny me or reject me. But I do get nervous about opening up about it, and then people who have that stigma about schizophrenia might judge, even though we are in a Bible study in a great church, I just don’t want people to treat me like a kid who has a broken brain, and I need y’all help if you were in a Bible study or Church and some one spoke about schizophrenia and you were not schizophenic how would you respond to that person, cause there is never a opening to talk about schizophrenia never. So give me some pointers on this, iam not trying to be liked just accepted their is a difference in that. Cause people in church are sometimes the biggest Hippocrates I know trust me I know. And I have been looking for a girl friend for the longest and I don’t have a lot of money. But I am a good person I think, I just struggle with schizophrenia. I am not a serial killer or anything. I just want one good friend not a lot just one good one you know what I mean guys. Be real with me I won’t get offended just keep it real. Thank you God Bless y’all
I don’t think telling people you have schizophrenia is a good idea they might not understand
Thank you that is what I thought
I wouldnt mention schizphrenia.. if anythjng if you need to talk about it say mental health
Its hard for an sz guy to get a gf… dont give up, but also dont get jaded over it.. women have good reasons to avoid sz men in general even though you may specifically be a good guy
I wouldn’t bring it up unless it felt “natural”. Maybe if you get to know some of them outside of church you could bring it up somewhere down the road. I wouldn’t rush it.
I have worked a place for more than 10 years and never really mentioned it to anyone. I don’t see how it would be beneficial mentioning it.
I think it’s better to talk about it here or at a mental health club house where people understand where you are coming from.
I think you could mention it only if you feel comfortable to.
You dont need to tell them details of your schizophrenic experiences.
Good luck.
Thank you for that I really appreciate that. I know it’s hard to get a gf unless you get a schizophenic gf and that can be very hazardous trust me I know from experience it was one of my first and last gf I had. It was a lot to take and she gave me anxiety and that made my symptoms worse by far
Thank you @Zoe I appreciate that a lot
I went to church for 10 years before schizophrenia. Mixed bag, some people won’t judge. Sometimes people that go to church along time and they know everyone gossip. I would only talk about the Bible in church, no job nothing outside of church. The longer you’re there the more they’re gonna want to get to know you. I would always say I’m just a student of the bible. I never really talked to many people at church just hi and bye, I just went to service. When I would go to Bible study or events people would ask me details about my life but I would just talk about the Bible because I was earnestly trying to understand it.
Schizophrenic girlfriend aren’t you suffering enough? I kid.
Youre welcome !
I wouldn’t tell them unless you knew them well. People don’t know much about schizophrenia and what they’ve heard is usually absolutely awful.
It’s hard to predict how people will react. Everybody has their own experiences and prejudices and that kind of forms their opinions. I want to say that since it’s a church they will be nice and charitable and accepting but I have not always seen this happen. I had a friend with paranoid schizophrenia who belonged to the Mormon Church although he was the worst Mormon because he drank and smoked and cussed. While I knew him we lived in the same house and he often would go out evenings to hang out with church members. I guess I thought it was great he had a social life but one time I went with him to visit a church members family. When we got there it was embarrassing, they treated him like he was nothing, like he was a joke. I couldn’t believe it, these were the people he was always speaking so highly of. I saw another church member cheat him and steal his tool chest.
So church people aren’t necessarily always the best, fairest people. I mean it’s almost a stereotype that church people go to church on Sundays and act pious and nice and then in their personal life they are bad, dishonest people. I’ve heard so many stories and just look at some of these disgraced evangelicals like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert who put on a front for years that they were the most moral leaders and then they both had sex scandals and Jim Bakker spent time in prison for fraud. And others like Ted Haggerd and Peter Popoff had their own scandals. So like I said it’s hard to predict how people will react if/when you reveal you have schizophrenia. At the end of the day people are people and are not always nice. You’re taking a gamble by revealing it but who knows? On the other hand they might be perfectly fine with it.
Have a good day tomorrow you guys
Dont say to unknowns that you have sz . They dont deserve to hear that. Talk about positive things in life . Like weather what you doing people are not interested in your disease . Stay strong. People are bad and dont like people which can be dangerous or unpredictable. Even not . Its not common to talk about sz in this society. Its like being unknown