Quote:
Originally Posted by Atypical_Disaster
I get that this forum isn't all that active but I'm really curious so I'm going to try anyway. If you have schizoaffective disorder and wouldn't mind indulging me in my curiosity, I'd appreciate some answers to some questions:
|
I know that you started this thread a while ago, so I'm not sure if you still want answers, but what the heck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atypical_Disaster
What type of schizoaffective do you have, depressive or bipolar?
|
Well I went from a diagnosis of bipolar 2 with psychotic features to sza, so I'm guessing bipolar type. Really depression has been my overwhelming problem the last 6 years, with a handful of lovely hypomanic episodes followed immediately by hellish mixed episodes. Pdoc takes me at my word on these as he's not seen anything other than depression and psychotic stuff in me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atypical_Disaster
What would you say is more prominent in your illness, mood issues or psychosis issues?
|
I was only diagnosed sza at the end of May, and the diagnosis was only brought up a couple of months before that. Basically the depression was always an issue and, when it was worse, I had some psychotic stuff like voices. However, the last 6 months definitely, but maybe up to a year, the psychotic stuff has been more prominent than the depression. I was still depressed, but less so, and the voices and paranoia were more distressing. Now it's swung back to the depression being worse with the voices almost non-existent, but I don't know if it's just a coincidence or my Abilify/aripiprazole starting to work?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atypical_Disaster
How long did it take you to realize and/or accept that you had an illness?
|
Well I knew something was wrong depression-wise quite quickly 6 years ago because I had completely lost my motivation to study a topic I'd always been looking forward to. It took me 6 months to realise that it wasn't going away on its own and to go to my GP. When pdoc first mentioned a sza diagnosis, I freaked out at the worse prognosis, but over a couple of months I realised that I had whatever I had and my prognosis is whatever it is, regardless of what it says on paper.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atypical_Disaster
How long did it take your doctors to diagnose you correctly?
|
In the last 6 years I was diagnosed with depression, then depression with psychotic features, then bipolar 2 with psychotic features, and now schizoaffective, but I can honestly say that my condition has been evolving over that time. I honestly don't think I was sza this time last year, but there have been times when pdocs have ignored symptoms and so I was diagnosed with psychotic features after many months of suffering, and bipolar symptoms after many years of having those types of episodes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Atypical_Disaster
Do you trust the diagnosis or do you doubt it? Why or why not?
|
It took me a couple of months to get my head around another change in my diagnosis, mainly because I was scared about what it meant for my life i.e. worse prognosis than bipolar with psychosis, worse stigma etc. But then I realised that it was a more accurate reflection of what had been going on the last 6 months +, and that I am who I am regardless of what the diagnosis is. I am still afraid of the stigma though so haven't told many people.
I hope my rambling helps Atypical
*Willow*