Costello,

I'm not sure what to make of your son's shiny eyes but I can say that it sounds like your son is gaining insight into his illness with him checking with you about his thoughts. That's a good thing. Also, I'm sure you are well aware that stress, especially from a job hunt, can exacerbate his symptoms. As long as the stressor is there he will be symptomatic.

Personally, I don't do well under stress and therefore try to remedy the offending stressor to make life more tolerable and if I'm unable to then a med adjustment is considered, but usually I tend to isolate because I just get overwhelmed with life. And that overwhelmed feeling tends to make me feel irritable, thus the need to isolate more.

But I will say the more your son gains insight into his illness, the more he will be able to address his stressors to make them more manageable in his daily life. A book on Mindfulness is a great place to try to start cultivating that insight.