[Otter63]

My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia some time back. He doesn't think he is ill. We had seen signs from the time he was in his late teens. He is now 27.

My question is wether it is unusual for people with this disease to have marked differences in their world view and opinions. What I mean is a somewhat sudden shift.

Prior to his last psychotic episode and diagnosis, he was a devout Christian. He was a hard worker, kind, and never said anything bad about anyone.

Now he has dropped his faith and he has become racist against Hispanics. His ideas just seam to be turned upside down from his previous self.

Has anyone seen this?

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I am of the opinion that religion or spirituality is not helpful in serious-mental illness. But if your son is growing embittered , this is no good for his illness either. Is he taking his meds and stabilised otherwise. You said he does not accept he is ill.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Is he psychotic now---on meds? My pdoc told me about this one guy who was a total jerk to his whole family unless he was on meds which he didn't want to take so he had to be on injection and he said that he was just the nicest guy in the world on meds like night and day.

On a personal level while psychotic I was more friendly---I pretty much thought that I loved everyone---it was so much more apparent to me family guys whoever I really wanted to be around people but that's not my normal personality. For me meds/stabilization changed that but they also changed my personality to something else entirely rather than reading paranormal romance and listening to world music I switch quite strictly to non-fiction and EDM. I no longer enjoyed my job which was a life goal etc. After getting off meds entirely all my tastes switched back to my baseline state.

[Otter63]

I wouldn't say he's psychotic now although my hunch is that he does have delusional thinking that he keeps mostly to himself. He refuses to take any medication.

He isn't doing too bad overall, especially when he doesn't work. He is nice enough to family and helps out with chores sometimes. He can get agitated and angry when pushed.

He used to have many friends and now has virtually none. He spends most days in bed. If he is around more than a couple of people at a time, I can see he gets more and more agitated. He says he's not depressed, and I'm grateful for that.

I just want him to have the best life he can have.

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[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by Otter63

I wouldn't say he's psychotic now although my hunch is that he does have delusional thinking that he keeps mostly to himself. He refuses to take any medication.

He isn't doing too bad overall, especially when he doesn't work. He is nice enough to family and helps out with chores sometimes. He can get agitated and angry when pushed.

He used to have many friends and now has virtually none. He spends most days in bed. If he is around more than a couple of people at a time, I can see he gets more and more agitated. He says he's not depressed, and I'm grateful for that.

I just want him to have the best life he can have.

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Yeah delusions are considered psychotic in and of themselves---you don't have to have hallucinations etc. so if he's still delusional that could really affect his personality. It's possible that meds might get him closer to his old personality but if he doesn't want to take them and isn't hurting anyone there isn't anything you can do about that. If you just want to attribute this to the illness I think that's reasonable but its not going to impact the outcome of the situation either way.

[Secretum]

When I had my first serious encounter with psychosis, my entire personality changed. I went from being extremely gregarious and uninhibited to shy and socially anxious. I also went from being an average student to someone who couldn't stand to get anything lower than an A.

When my depression got to the point where I couldn't keep my A average, I became very laid back and lazy. I went from being a perfectionist to someone who could only produce sloppy work.

Since getting on a medication that works, I am slowly regaining my confidence in both social and academic contexts. I am relearning how to relate to people, and how to work hard and put effort into things.

So yes, mental illness and its treatment can cause lasting change in someone's personality.