[Victoria'smom]

Does anyone know you have SzA? I've told my husband but everyone else thinks I have BPI.

[A18793715]

I know because of all the research I've done.

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[Zeus123]

I told family and 3 great friends. Most think I have depression and look good, ha! Society doesn't know like my kids' school which sza has been known to affect their attendance. My kids are too young to understand and at times trigger me. My husband had to tell his boss because of all the times he had to take me to the pdoc/hospital. I try to keep to myself lately, thank god for this forum!

[A18793715]

Originally Posted by Zeus123

I told family and 3 great friends. Most think I have depression and look good, ha! Society doesn't know like my kids' school which sza has been known to affect their attendance. My kids are too young to understand and at times trigger me. My husband had to tell his boss because of all the times he had to take me to the pdoc/hospital. I try to keep to myself lately, thank god for this forum!

I love these forums as well. I'm so great full for such a nice community.

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most people i know, know i have SZA. in highschool, i was dx'd bi-polar 1, until i mysteriously left school to be hospitalized for like the 5th time. most of those people now know i have SZA. cops know i have SZA. yeah.

[Blue_Bird]

My family knows and my best friend does

[A18793715]

My family doesn't believe me. My mom thinks I hear ghosts, my dad tells me to just stop thinking about it and it'll go away. My sister uses me as a side show attraction to her friends. My close friends knows and my boyfriend. I've been cautious of who I tell because I've had too many people stop being my friend because of it.

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[falcon09]

My family knows, that's it, everyone else just thinks depression and anxiety.

[anton11415]

The distinguishing feature of wether you have Bi polar or Schizo affective disorder is if you have ever had a hallucination at least that is what all the literature I have read says.
And I think it also depends on the doctor there are some doctors that ascribe to what I just mention above and some who dont. Even though I have looked into this many times
hope this helps

[Blue_Bird]

Originally Posted by anton11415

The distinguishing feature of wether you have Bi polar or Schizo affective disorder is if you have ever had a hallucination at least that is what all the literature I have read says.
And I think it also depends on the doctor there are some doctors that ascribe to what I just mention above and some who dont. Even though I have looked into this many times
hope this helps

You can be just Bipolar and have hallucinations when you're having a manic episode or severe depressed episode.... that's Bipolar with psychosis, it's when the psychotic symptoms happen outside of mania and depressive episodes is when they start looking at Schizoaffective

[falcon09]

Originally Posted by Blue_Bird

You can be just Bipolar and have hallucinations when you're having a manic episode or severe depressed episode.... that's Bipolar with psychosis, it's when the psychotic symptoms happen outside of mania and depressive episodes is when they start looking at Schizoaffective

Had literally typed this up then saw you responded, but you're exactly right.

You have to have mood episodes and psychosis both happen at different times. According to the DSM 5, you actually have to have two or more psychotic episodes

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[Zeus123]

Originally Posted by A18793715

My family doesn't believe me. My mom thinks I hear ghosts, my dad tells me to just stop thinking about it and it'll go away. My sister uses me as a side show attraction to her friends. My close friends knows and my boyfriend. I've been cautious of who I tell because I've had too many people stop being my friend because of it.

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I'm sorry to hear that people have chosen to stop being your friend. This is the reason why I am so reluctant in telling all my family and friends. My T says I should say something but limit it to my comfort level like depression or anxiety. People already suspect something but I'm scared to reveal anything, right now.

I feel for ya! Hope it gets better!

All the people that are close to me (friends and family) know that I have sza. If someone needed to know that I have sza I have no shame in letting them know.

[spincera]

I was diagnosed with sza in early February, (but I was having symptoms of the illness prior to dz), so it is all pretty new to me. My pdoc is not very good at what she does, so she kept ignoring me until it got really bad. I am officially getting a new pdoc. I have an appointment with her next week.

[Zeus123]

Originally Posted by Thehours

All the people that are close to me (friends and family) know that I have sza. If someone needed to know that I have sza I have no shame in letting them know.

I wish I could feel no shame & just voice it. It's really difficult for me right now but holding on to the thought of braving it. It must be liberating!

Originally Posted by Zeus123

I wish I could feel no shame & just voice it. It's really difficult for me right now but holding on to the thought of braving it. It must be liberating!

It is liberating! But believe me I understand feeling shame about it. I guess I've just gone through my process and gotten to the point where I feel okay about it now. It also helps to know that I'm not alone and someone else somewhere can relate. Keep holding on to the thought of braving it

[Atypical_Disaster]

I'm diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective depending on the psychiatrist. But regardless of which "schizo" I'm diagnosed with, I keep that information to myself. Nobody outside of the psychiatry/psychology fields know about my diagnosis unless I tell them, and that is on a need-to-know basis only. I'm open about it here, because well I'm anonymous here.

[Atypical_Disaster]

Originally Posted by Blue_Bird

You can be just Bipolar and have hallucinations when you're having a manic episode or severe depressed episode.... that's Bipolar with psychosis, it's when the psychotic symptoms happen outside of mania and depressive episodes is when they start looking at Schizoaffective

Thank you for that dead on accurate post! Just thought that warranted more than the "thanks for this" button. You are absolutely correct, I have seen people with Bipolar I that are totally manic and having hallucinations/delusions/etc but they are not Schizoaffective because their psychotic symptoms only happen during a bad mood episode.

[AquariusRider]

For me,

A few best friends, a few family including my big sis know I have SZA and some ADHD.

For work, they can know I have ADHD but the SZA, I keep that **** sealed. Chances are good a few people now I have something worse than the ADHD, I had a previous co-worker ask me a few times in a problematic way of my mental illness.

This has happened a few times, it's usually a guy taller than me and he has a fat wife or girlfriend (nothing against fat people, here, seriously). I'm not kidding, if it's a co-worker asking in a ****** way about my mental illness, he has a fat wife.

[RisuNeko]

Im in the murky area between diagnoses right now. I am currently diagnosed bipolar I with psychotic features but I've been getting hallucinations while in very mild mood episodes for the past couple of years and now I'm finally between episodes and I'm getting more hallucinations than ever before, so now my pdoc is thinking schizoaffective. But he wants me to get a brain scan before he will diagnose me because he wants to rule out other possible neurological issues. Hopefully I'll get the brainscan soon so I know what the heck I'm dealing with for sure. I don't mind the hallucinations thankfully, but they probably make my coworkers think I'm totally nuts. They're not rude about it though. At least the one person I've told that I have hallucinations/reality check with a lot. She has a sister with psychosis issues so she's understanding that I'm not dangerous or to be feared or ridiculed.

[Seqoya]

I've told my mother and grandmother and they've told other family members. I've also told some of my friends including my best friend.

Everyone has been supportive. Some were not surprised.

[Thought+Broad.Girl]

Whole neighborhood knows because of how many time the police have gotten called! also it can at the worse times be hard to conceal. in the beginning at age 15 i used to actually go outside of my home and yell at the neighbors for bothering me while reading my mind. luckily those neighbors don't speak english very well and so they probably had no idea what i was saying! LOL but we get along better now. :P