[AquariusRider]

Halo folks,

For starters, I was diagnosed with SchizoAff Disorder or SZA in 2004, at the time, there wasn't so much info about it, I just believed at the time that this was something new they came up with and I was misdiagnosed. Yes, I have been medicated back in 04-05 and briefly in 2011, otherwise I have been going without meds for a while. And yes, that is scary.

Despite the scary part, I have been working at the same job for over 5 years where I work 50+ hours and sometimes see 60+ hours. Plus, I have lived alone for nearly 5 years now. During my time of not knowing much of SZA, yes, I had times where my mind would just race, plus, I knew I had ADD/ADHD of that sort. But, the important part is that I work, I'm doing well for myself, I get out to festivals, concerts, ball games, museums, I can almost do it all.

Yes, I had a problem with racing thoughts, ADHD and SZA issues, but it was never that bad, just a couple of nights where I was up till 2am trying to get some sleep and my mind wouldn't allow me. I also noticed that during work, my mind would race, but I took it as it was my own problem due to my job being repetitive (working in the assembly line) and my mind would just go on a crap shoot due to the second nature of my job.

It wasn't until last year (2014) is when I go onto an online course for programming and I had troubles due to the ADHD and my learning disability that I realized something was wrong. I stuck it out with school until October of last year and decided to end it. It was bad enough for me to work 50-60 hours a week and trying to learn a programming language at the same time. I may return to school due to noted job circumstances coming up.

Just around March this year, I stumbled onto a vid by Kati Morton about SZA and Schizophrenia, how she described SZA has influenced me to get help. I have started and April and my therapist is working with me, I'm likely to be on medication soon, just not liking Rispedal (spelled wrong) or Abilify. She's thinking of something called Geodem (did I get that right?)

And yes, this is a long post so my question is, I have told a few people about my SZA just recently and they look at me like this: And so, I wonder if SZA is that serious.

Thanks and hopefully I didn't waste too much of your time with this post.

[pegasus]

You'll find that a lot of people do not understand mental health issues and their general reaction is as you describe. You are doing all the right things to stay as healthy as you can with meds and therapy and good on you with the work situation also, just remember to do good self-care.

[Blue_Bird]

We have a forum for Schizoaffective Disorder Schizoaffective Disorder - Forums at Psych Central

[avlady]

welcome. i also have shcitzophrenia, a bit different than disorder, i know what you mean too when your mind races and you can't concentrate. meds helped me and especially the risperdal and clonazapine. i wish you good luck

[Victoria'smom]

SzA is a mixture of mood disorder and scizoprenia. It is serious but all mental illness is.

[AquariusRider]

Thanks everyone for your help.