hi everyone,

i just wanted to share this, in case anyone else has the same problem

I always meet doctors or other people, who think i must be depressed because of my negative symptoms: you know, the low energy,social withdrawl, low motivation, little or no interest in usual activities or life, etc.

I was in the hospital again about 4 weeks ago because of a psychotic episode. I was not depressed and i havn't been for almost two years, but i think i appeared depressed because of my negative symptoms. The doctor i was assigned while i was in the hospital, wouldn't get off the subject and idea that he thought i was either depressed or bipolar, even though i kept repeating to him that i have not had mood problems for a long time. I told him that my mood is mostly flat and i am indifferent. It was quite frusterating, especially concidering the fact that he only evaluated me for about 10 or 15 minutes, didn;t ask me many questions, and didn't even seem to concider that i had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, yet he felt he had the right to give me a diagnosis of his own.

Anyways, after i made it really clear to him that i was getting frusterated and that i was not depressed or manic, he finally chose to say, that he thinks i have schizoaffective: depressed type (which i dont know if i agree with)

anyways...i've rambled again. From now on, whenever i go to a doctor or have to describe these negative symptoms, i'm going to put it like this:
"It's like having all (or most) of the symptoms of depression, minus the actual depressed feelings. My mood is mostly flat"

-becka