The schizo trap

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Hello,

I was just browsing through the forum and happy to see that I'm not the only one that has fallen victim of the "schizo trap". I felt this way about a year ago, and ended up having an anxiety attack (which I get rarely) and saw a psychologist about it, who said I was fine and it's all anxiety. My GP said the same thing.

People have assumed I have a mental problem from my bad rapport and jumping from idea to idea, and I've been fired from a job before for being "not all there" as I'm a little aloof. This drastically affected the anxiety.

Anyway, after trying effexor and it not working, I wanted to stay away from meds. I took up smoking and started experimenting with drugs and things went downhill. I took cocaine two nights ago, and it caused me to be more sociable yet I acted odd to people at the party and stared at them. My buddy told me "dude...people are starting to notice you're staring at them and talking really, really fast". The self consciousness kicked in and I basically crashed. I got really paranoid because of it, in addition to the comedown, and people were saying things like "I think he has something else mental like autism or something..." because of my behavior. Another person thought I was schizo and talked about conspiracy theories just to be an ass (I don't have any interest in conspiracy theories).

So I'm not doing any more drugs ever - but now I'm stuck in another hypochondria loop. Part of me feels like there's enough evidence that I must have it, and another part of me feels like it's all stemmed from deep-rooted anxiety.

Sorry about the essay, but has anyone else been called schizo or labeled as a someone with a mental illness by others because of their anxiety?

Thanks in advance

[hockeyplayer]

are you hallucinating?

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are you hallucinating?

No, I don't have any aural or visual hallucinations, don't believe in supernatural powers or get involved with conspiracies, or anything like that.
I'll sometimes overelaborate on details when talking, often have nothing to say, and I'm more aloof than most people.

Cheers for the response

[hockeyplayer]

well of course anxiety has made me isolating myself , and am more ''in the moon'' ( dont know how to say it in english , like I'M not ''all there'' ) but that's because anxiety makes you focus on your own self and you sometimes forget your surrounding.If you're really scared of having schizophrenia , I would advice you to go to a psychiatrist because without hallucination it's difficult to say if it's possible to have schizophrenia , I don't know the disease well enough.

I personally thought I was going crazy multiple times in an classic anxiety/panic way , but that never lasted very long and I wasn't hallucinating.I never really thought I was schizophrenic so if you're really concerned you should truly go see a doctor.

Since you're in Montreal , see a general doctor and ask him to see a psychiatrist , but if you REALLY can't wait because you're really not feeling all there and it concerns you to no end you can go to Louis H. Lafontaine Emergency Room ( I have no experience going to a psychiatric E.R. so just go if it's really an emergency because I don't know how it works , maybe they can keep you under observation if they feel you're a danger to yourself or others but I'm not sure so I wanted to warn you before you just go there without good reason )

[Robbed]

Worried that you are schizophrenic? Join the club. Virtually ALL anxiety sufferes have worried that they are schizophrenic, psychotic, or bipolar at some point in time. But there is an old saying that, if you are worried about having a condition like schizophrenia or psychosis, then you probably don't have it. People with these conditions are convinced that their delusional thoughts are true and DON'T worry about such things as the fact that they have these conditions. I think you are probably okay.

As for the situation with your 'friends', it sounds like you just took a drug that you shouldn't have. Amphetamines, for instance, tend to make people more talkative AND make them rant on. They also can make people paranoid. And the comedown can be quite bad. The fact that you had this sort of a reaction to a speed-type drug is certainly nothing too out of the ordinary - especially if you have anxiety disorder. A bad reaction to a drug DOESN'T mean that you have anxiety disorder. Also, it sounds like you are not hanging out with such a good bunch of people. The kinds of people who try to make things worse for you when you are having a bad drug reaction or say that you have autism are perhaps not the best kinds of people to hang out with - especially if this happened after they furnished you with the drug in the first place (and I'm guessing they DID). It sounds like you could use some better friends.

As for overelaborating on details, having little to say, and being aloof, this is probably the result of (1) being uncomfortable around people, and (2) needing a little work when it comes to social/conversational skills (believe me, I know about these sorts of things). The worst thing about this is that these two things basically feed each other, which doesn't make for a good situation. Unfortunately, the only way to really improve these things is to actually be around other people. But you need a better social environment than your current social environment. You need to find people who are more like-minded AND more supportive. Unfortunately, though, this is not always the easiest thing to do. They are out there. But, as you know, SO many peope out there are just plain toxic.

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Thanks for the elaborate response guys.


Worried that you are schizophrenic? Join the club. Virtually ALL anxiety sufferes have worried that they are schizophrenic, psychotic, or bipolar at some point in time. But there is an old saying that, if you are worried about having a condition like schizophrenia or psychosis, then you probably don't have it. People with these conditions are convinced that their delusional thoughts are true and DON'T worry about such things as the fact that they have these conditions. I think you are probably okay.

As for the situation with your 'friends', it sounds like you just took a drug that you shouldn't have. Amphetamines, for instance, tend to make people more talkative AND make them rant on. They also can make people paranoid. And the comedown can be quite bad. The fact that you had this sort of a reaction to a speed-type drug is certainly nothing too out of the ordinary - especially if you have anxiety disorder. A bad reaction to a drug DOESN'T mean that you have anxiety disorder. Also, it sounds like you are not hanging out with such a good bunch of people. The kinds of people who try to make things worse for you when you are having a bad drug reaction or say that you have autism are perhaps not the best kinds of people to hang out with - especially if this happened after they furnished you with the drug in the first place (and I'm guessing they DID). It sounds like you could use some better friends.

As for overelaborating on details, having little to say, and being aloof, this is probably the result of (1) being uncomfortable around people, and (2) needing a little work when it comes to social/conversational skills (believe me, I know about these sorts of things). The worst thing about this is that these two things basically feed each other, which doesn't make for a good situation. Unfortunately, the only way to really improve these things is to actually be around other people. But you need a better social environment than your current social environment. You need to find people who are more like-minded AND more supportive. Unfortunately, though, this is not always the easiest thing to do. They are out there. But, as you know, SO many peope out there are just plain toxic.


You're absolutely right about the people - it was a party that a friend brought me to and they were plain disrespectful. This friend does a lot of drugs and was encouraging me to 'take more' when I was coming down but that wouldn't have been good at all and only make things worse. I'm keeping optimistic about it and seeing it as a learning experience.

I've had anxiety for about 5 years, and it comes in waves of being more intense, like the party experience I described. Most drugs tend to escalate it, so I'm going to stay away from them.

I have been reading quite a bit on communication lately and it's helping. Do you have any book suggestions?


well of course anxiety has made me isolating myself , and am more ''in the moon'' ( dont know how to say it in english , like I'M not ''all there'' ) but that's because anxiety makes you focus on your own self and you sometimes forget your surrounding

That's exactly how I feel - my initial response to any problem is "what is it me?!" and just get fearful that I made a bad choice. In return, it escalates so much that it makes me the cause of the problem, it just feeds itself as Robbed said.

[hockeyplayer]

try to be careful with drugs , I used to take them when I felt better , not when I felt worst , which is ironic but true.

[hockeyplayer]

5 minutes ago , I just had a moment when I felt I was going crazy , actually thinking wow I might have schizophrenia since this is a disease that come later in life , but here I am once again , feeling just fine and sane.This is ridiculous.MY eyes were floating for a moment , had hot flashes and cramp in my head.all gone almost.

[Robbed]

You're absolutely right about the people - it was a party that a friend brought me to and they were plain disrespectful. This friend does a lot of drugs and was encouraging me to 'take more' when I was coming down but that wouldn't have been good at all and only make things worse. I'm keeping optimistic about it and seeing it as a learning experience.

I've had anxiety for about 5 years, and it comes in waves of being more intense, like the party experience I described. Most drugs tend to escalate it, so I'm going to stay away from them.

I have been reading quite a bit on communication lately and it's helping. Do you have any book suggestions?

When it comes to drugs, I've been there and done that. And taking more drugs when 'coming down' is definitely NOT the way to go. I have to admit that I have done this on a few occasions. And at the very best, it postpones the comedown. But when you DO come down, it just hits you THAT much harder. YUCK!!!! Now THAT'S something I sure don't miss. Trust your instincts on this one, and when it comes to taking drugs in general. In fact, when I look back at my experiences with drugs, I see that they actually CAUSED me to develop an anxiety disorder for a time. Only after I stopped for good did this anxiety disorder start to heal (it took a couple of years for me to heal completely, but you might be different altogether). In other words, keeping away from drugs can GREATLY help when it comes to recovery from anxiety disorder.

As for good books when it comes to communication, I have to admit that I have not really read any books dealing specifically with this. So I really can't suggest anything. I DO know that I probably should read some books to help me to communicate better with other people. So if you could suggest something to me, I would certainly appreciate that. One thing that I have recently tried is joining a group for people with social anxiety. Thus far, my experiences with the group have been positive, although I have only gone a couple of times. Only time will tell how helpful this ultimately turns out to be. However, a support group of some sort is probably particularly helpful for social anxiety - overcoming social anxiety is all about learning to be more comfortable around people and learning to better interact with them. This might be something worth looking into, especially if you can't afford therapy sessions.