What Happens In The Brain: A Picture Of Mental Health

@mimi

i feel for you.
i had symptoms starting at 9. too. voices and delusions. strong ones. i was labeled with psychotic depression at 12.i was on meds fairly consistantly from 12 until i was 19 or 20. i was dxd with schizoaffective - depressive subtype at 17. i think it was 15. but it went back to psychotic depression. at 17 it hasnt changed. only changing to paranoid schizophrenia when i was 21.

So there is SIPS and SOPS, I can't remember what they stand for I actually think I never knew but its like the PANSS but for people before they become fully psychotic. I was worried about some possible hallucinations I had while writing a grant and my therapist said they wouldn't even meet sips/sops criteria for psychosis, it was her way of telling me how mild they were.

Schizophrenia.com - Yale University PRIME Screening Test for Early Psychosis

http://www.schizophrenia.com/sztest/primetest.pdf here's the self screening prodrome test that I spoke of earlier.


EDIT::: what a trip; SP, you posted the same link that I referred to.

yeah I guess its just the short version of SIPS, I just posted the first google link I ran across on SIPS.

That's my point exactly that the impairment could be there, socially, academically, etc. but a lot of us get by anyhow, or we just present to a doctor w/ complaints of depression, lack of motivation etc. Because of how I was brought up, the stigma around MI, my education about symptoms, I wasn't always upfront with the pdoc about what was going on in my head ( see the test for prodromal symptoms [I still test positive 7 out of 12 ]). Maybe if I'd had a test like this it would have been different for me. I had such a fear, and still do, of being institutionalized, that I could not accept that I had these "psychotic" features. My mom told me that being that ill meant a cop-out. When I did talk about certain things that did concern me, I was dismissed by the pdoc. Maybe he didn't want to condemn me with a heavy Dx at the time. Maybe I just wasn't acting crazy enough.

I still have a positive score on that test, but I am highly functioning, even though I am impaired socially, academically and w/ work. I just pretend I'm "normal" most of the time. It is exhausting.

Is there a link to this 12 item questionnaire?

Or.... you could end up like me. By the time I got to the pdoc I could say "This happened to me." And they shrug and say, "That was 2 years ago and nothign we can do about it now."

I agree I just pretend I'm normal most of the time. I'm not angry, I'm not moody, I'm not depressed, I'm not struggling to dial this phone number, I'm not forgetting if it's afternoon or morning, I'm not wondering if they are whispering about me and why are they always whispering and keeping secrets?? I'm sorry I can't stop talking and the whole lunch room is staring at me but my mouth just keeps going.... Yup, exhausting.

I took the test. No idea how it is scored. Haha. I got 3 definately disagrees, 1 slightly agree, 3 somewhat agree, and 5 definately agrees.

http://www.schizophrenia.com/sztest/primetest.pdf here you go Little Didgee

I posted the link above, and to score it follow the link that Sometimes Psychotic posted.

To score the test, follow the link that Sometimes Psychotic posted. One or more Definite Agrees is considered positive.

A cop-out----nice---sorry your mom and pdoc dismissed what you were saying. I know I've said before but it was my friends that actually got me to the pdoc, I don't know what I would have done without them, probably lost my job and ended up on the street. I was really impaired, I actually thought that the pdoc was my uncle somehow and that he was going to help me pass a psych exam to get into the psychic AGA----that's the only reason I told the truth so thank God for that bit of luck. I really needed the meds at least initially---I remember my first reaction to them I described tubing you know the kind where you float down the river in an innertube with your arms dangling in the water and just float with the current. It was such a break.

Schizophrenia Test - Early Signs of Schizophrenia try following this link. it might be easier. I had a little trouble finding the exact link to score. You need to scroll down the first page and click on the "here" for scoring.

Be sure and realize that there is a disclaimer that says just because you score positive, it doesn't mean you are a certified nut case. It says if you are concerned about the results, then seek out a professional.

In a way you were fortunate to have such an acute episode. My experiences were subtle most of the time. When they were obvious, I was able to come out of an episode fairly quickly and "mask" my symptoms. I still believe that the grown-ups in my life ignored what was really going on with me. I think that if I'd been given the right treatment, mostly love and nurturing is what I needed, then I'd be very different now.

Thanks. I just did the test and scored it. The result did not surprise me.

THanks. It's hard for me to find what I'm looking for in big groups of text like that. Very hard, in fact nearly impossible.

The results are no surprise to me. I take the sz screaning here on PC sometimes (in the Quiz section.) I usually get a 13-15 score which is the "early signs of sz may be present." Not much I can do about it right now. I'm aware of what happened to me, I'm aware that I gat paranoid sometimes. I'm aware that some of the things I think some people validate them and others thing are crazy, so I don't know. And I'm aware my cognition is falling off. Aware of all this is all I've got, and only the Dx of Bipolar NOS. Haha.

Faerie, I believe that you are now aware and have insight. Hopefully if you do start to spiral you will be able to catch it before it gets worse. You and others mention that you had no awareness before. I believe it's about having awareness even with small things like sleep patterns, weight fluctuations, etc.

thats why i quit trying to develop insight
its only depresses me more.
i wish i had no insight. at all.
i no longer look hard or much as i use to.

I think sometimes it's hardest for our parents....mine still ask me if the dr has used the "s" word yet. I told them last time that I use the s word all the time and the dr has never corrected me. But I agree getting the right support is critical.

In a way I totally agree with Newtus. I felt extremely powerful. I was chosen, you know? I had magical powers that were so big that I was a threat to the evil forces. No one could mess with me, even if they were after me... I had built up magical barriers and protectors. I was researching how to fight back, and I believed I was powerful enough to bring them down. I miss feeling all powerful like that, actually. Sometimes I would just like to sink down and get washed way like a character in a story. But, I have to think of my kids and my husband and I know that wouldn't end out so well.

I do wonder what would have happened if I'd actually gone on the offensive, though. That might have been bad.

I had an MRI scan of brain and it showed up with nothing abnormal thank god. But I also had a EEG which I'm hoping I'll get the results off my doctor sometime today heh :/. It's interesting. Hah

Glutamate Neurocircuitry: Theoretical Underpinnings in Schizophrenia

So this article talks about the role of nmda or the glutamate receptor in the dopamine hypothesis. Basically it's still speculative but the author thinks that there is both too much and too little dopamine because of under stimulation of nmda, the glutamate receptor. It's pretty hard to understand but at the end there is a discussion of new meds in the pipeline. Anyway it's sort of a more detailed version and possibly more accurate version of the image you posted.

Basic gist is depending on the brain region there is either too much or too little dopamine so the d2 antagonists ie all the current meds both makes things better and worse depending on the part of the brain. Too little frontocortical dopamine leads to negative symptoms which are actually made worse by taking the meds. Too much limbic dopamine leads to positive symptoms like voices which theoretically can be corrected by DA antagonists but at the cost of increasing negative symptoms like decreased cognition.