schizophrenia

this is not necessarily schizophrenia: life is full of bitchy people & it could be that your perception of peoples' behaviour because of your sensitivity:is correct. people often put others down:to make themselves feel better.if you don't think you're the prime-minister,not hearing voices,not having acute panic episodes...all at once,then you've just got those adolescent blues which is a normal part of being a teenager.

rhys, dont wory you can get thru this. i smoked weed everyday for years and at 17 was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 6 months. they said ive got paranoid schizophrenia and i thought it was the end of the world, but now ive got 2 kids and a wife and altho im not better, i still have relapses all the time, i think that people are out to get me too and it can make my life hell but I hopefully get thru each episode as it comes and goes and try to have a decent life. you can get thru it too, good luck mate.

Don't know if you're still reading this but... Unless you give up smoking cannabis, the chances are you'll still be troubled by paranoia etc. My son was in the same position as you are a few years ago. Unfortunately, he went on to develop schizophrenia because he WOULD NOT give up cannabis, now he's on medication for probably the rest of his life. Do you want to risk this? His illness crippled our family and him - is that a risk you're prepared to take? Yes, he's a lot better now, after a long stay in a Psychiatric hospital but he's not the same person that he once was - a heavy price to pay at any age. Take some advice and quit the drugs, yes cannabis is a drug, and it can wreak havoc on your mind. Don't be fooled by the fact that it was downgraded - it's dangerous.

Have you ever heard of drug induced psychosis? in terms of cannabis use it is where the TCH levels in the brain get so high it induces psychosis. TCH is found in cannabis.

psychosis can include anything from paranoia, hallucinations - hearing/ seeing things, and odd beliefs i.e thinking you are famous etc.

85% of people diagnosed with drug induced psychosis will go on to have fulfilling lives if the drug use is stopped and even if it is just controlled so that the TCH levels dont become too high. fro example skunk contains more TCH than 'solids'.

Have you actually been diagnosed or did your friends say you had it?

I AM NOT A SUFFERER But my brother was. Its been 8yrs now and I still love and miss him. It hurts when you cant help your loved ones. But hurts even more when they take thier own life because they cant take it anymore. It was really difficult to get the docs to listen at first and the dianosis took a while. When he felt well my loving brother really did not want to take the drugs due to the side-affects. Then he would be back in hospital and the whole stablisation had to start over. There was no help offered from the health service to enable him to seek ways to deal with his illness. We all just muddled through.

Hopefully there has been a big improvement and there are lots of support services available to sufferers and thier families. My advice is seek out the help and take whatever is offered.

I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE MY BROTHER HERE! Even on one of his bad days.

Just to tell him one more time I love him and still love him when he has a episode. Even though there were difficult times. And I would say dont give up. And would tell him I would never give up on him.

[b:d06dd7b25b]TAKE CARE OF EACHOTHER[/b:d06dd7b25b].[b:d06dd7b25b][/b:d06dd7b25b]