[archipelago]

I hope it is okay to post here. I myself have struggled with mental illness and understand many aspects of what goes on. Right now though I am on the other side, trying to provide support and therapeutic help to people.

I work in a residential facility for people who have a range of psychotic disorders. Many have schizoaffective in their files, but frankly I am not sure what this really feels like or what it would mean to find some relief.

I really am attached to people, see all their strengths, and want to understand what things I may be able to do to support them. Of course every single person is different so it is hard for me to even understand how this particular diagnosis is made or what it means.

I am really hoping that people might be willing to share what they feel or what they have felt was helpful or what they wish they had to help them.

[A18793715]

I wish there was a med to stop the voices. My last t tried to get me to live in a group home like that. I hear multiple constant voices 24/7. They play on my fears and fuel my paranoia.

[KJ2791]

Originally Posted by archipelago

I hope it is okay to post here. I myself have struggled with mental illness and understand many aspects of what goes on. Right now though I am on the other side, trying to provide support and therapeutic help to people.

I work in a residential facility for people who have a range of psychotic disorders. Many have schizoaffective in their files, but frankly I am not sure what this really feels like or what it would mean to find some relief.

I really am attached to people, see all their strengths, and want to understand what things I may be able to do to support them. Of course every single person is different so it is hard for me to even understand how this particular diagnosis is made or what it means.

I am really hoping that people might be willing to share what they feel or what they have felt was helpful or what they wish they had to help them.

Here we go...of course everything I'll be addressing is from my perspective.

I've had hallucinations in the past, but I suffer from delusions now. The best way I can describe the delusions I have is a cross between hide and seek and a cross word puzzle. Reality is only as far as the puzzle you're trying to solve. Someone hides this puzzle within common objects (license plates, simple words, etc.). The simplest thing can set it off. For example, yesterday I looked at a document that had web sites listed. The cursor was blinking on a particular site and when I saw this I knew it had to mean something and tried to solve what that meant.

Since I'm bipolar as well, I have all the manic and depressive issues that go along with that. I probably don't need to explain those except to say it feels like a tug of war. I have mixed episodes so I'm cycling manic and depressive over and over again. One minute feeling as great as I've ever felt and the next laying in bed and not able to move.

We could go on for days discussing all the symptoms, but coming back to your initial goal, helping someone is subjective. I believe the first thing that must be done is getting stable on the meds. After a sense of reality is gained, you can move on to other therapies. What is valuable to me is someone that helps me stay grounded in reality. My psychologist is great at helping me, but the reality is I know what to look for when it comes to episodes. This self awareness helps me proactively address some of these issues.

Hope this rambling helped a little.

KJ