Newtothis, I know other people with a Schizophrenia diagnosis and they are quite different to my mum. They do not seem to have cycles of lucidity and confusion, but instead seem to be in an alternate reality state all the time. I have read that the diagnosis is difficult to make without constant long-term observation of the patient, and that makes sense. In my mum's case, she hasn't seen a psychiatrist in 30 years - she has just been given repeat prescriptions or occassionally had her meds changed by her ordinary GP if the side effects of one drug got too bad. She is on low dose anti psychotics now because the strong ones she should take make her twitch and shake uncontrollably.

Darvula