hey did you know its almost schizophrenia spectrum awareness week (may 17-23)
i did my best to pretty this post up and cover everything but feel free to add or edit shit if you think i missed something
the szphrenia spectrum includes
schizophrenia
where you have some positive symptoms (shit like hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking) and some negative symptoms (memory loss, lack of expression, lack of emotion, loss of motivation/pleasure and lots others) or catatonia. some szphrenics might have more psychotic symptoms and others more thought disorder symptoms and still more can be mostly catatonic but it can be a mix too
just a quick tangent here catatonia is a kind of behaviour slash motor abnormality and it can involve immobility, unresponsiveness, mutism, staying in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time, echolalia or echopraxia (copying movements), repetitive movements and a lot more
schizophreniform disorder
pretty much the same except the symptoms onset way faster and havent lasted for more than a month. some people recover and others develop szphrenia from it anyway
schizoaffective disorder
when you dont meet the criteria for szphrenia all the way but also have symptoms of a mood disorder. there are different subtypes like depressive and manic and mixed and etc. and since its a tossup of symptoms schizoaffective people are really unique from eachother
cluster a personality disorders
-schizoid
disinclined to socializing and connecting with people. emotions are directed inward but arent really driven to share them intimately with anyone but an exceptional few for some. may have blunted affect or be apathetic
-schizotypal
unusual thought and speech or odd experiences with slash perceptions of reality. can have blunted affect. might prefer solitude and be suspicious of people. might avoid having close friends and have social anxiety or paranoia. usually assign some greater meaning to coincidences or feel they are magic or psychic in a way (but not caused by “delusions” or a religion)
-paranoid
suspicious of other peoples motives. might be hypervigilant or hold grudges or be quick to react to perceived betrayal. usually are doubtful of whether people are really loyal to them or read hidden meanings into things
some mythbusting and misc shit to know
sch*zo is not a casual adjective dont use it if youre not szphrenic
be critical of stuff that uses psychosis- and szphrenic-coded tropes for laughs or an evil effect
(common gimmicks include someone talking out loud at like voices in their head or conspiracy theorists)
we are not obligated to call our experiences hallucinations or delusions and whether or not we’re “delusional” isnt a reliable hallmark of our mental health
a lot of us have mixed up speech and it can be really hard for us to talk. as long as you can understand us dont point it out and dont make fun of it
(medication cw and doctors cw)
dont tell us we should be on meds or seeing a doctor. antipsychotics are a fucking huge gray area with whether they actually help or hurt more and most doctors have a very stereotyped understanding of the szphrenia spectrum
(end cw)
dont force us out of our reality (“you dont actually have magic powers” “youre just anxious”)
some of us get violent impulses and thats ok
some of us are just straight up not into socializing dont try to “get us out of the house”
sometimes we laugh or cry out of nowhere or are really blunt. sometimes we talk out loud to voices or say shit that doesnt make sense or mutter to ourselves or sit in weird positions. sometimes we do stereotypical things and its not weird or creepy
resources and other cool goodies
diagnosis checklists (psychosis, schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid) theyre also making ones for szphrenia and schizoaffective and catatonia
if you need me to clear anything up or are curious about something re: szphrenia spectrum my inbox is always open
tyvm for reading and please reblog to spread info about a spectrum of mental illnesses that are way too often just dust in the wind
