I’m Scared to Death – I Might Have Schizophrenia..?

Question by john A: I’m scared to death – I might have schizophrenia..?
For a while now, I’ve been researching on what’s wrong with me.

It all started like this..

One night, I went to my friends house. We made the decision to smoke pot that night. Keep in mind this wasn’t my first time smoking. Anyways, I began to form extremely unreasonable thoughts (which are described as delusions) in my head that literally have stuck with me until today. The thoughts have only increased since that night. Thoughts like “the color red and anything asscociated with it represent evil” or.. “the number three represents indifference and is directly related with the color green” and much more bizzare thoughts as such. These thoughts, since that night have began to interfere with my social life… not too much but slightly. These thoughts have literally popped up in my head everysingle day since that night (August ’08) up until today (February ’09).

Today, I found out exactly what my bizzare thoughts are labelled or diagnosed as. They’re called “primary delusions” and “secondary delusions”. Primary delusions (which I seem to fall under more so than secondary delusions) are when delusions pop into your head out of the blue.. which is exactly what happened that night. I did more research on primary delusions and this is what scared me..
It said that primary delusions are a part of “first rank symptoms” leading to schizophrenia” along with other things I do as a result of my what I now know to be bizzare delusions. Things such as:

“voices heard arguing” – for this I don’t hear voices.. but rather I talk out loud trying to convince myself that the thoughts are stupid and irrelevant and completely false.

also.. “hearing voices commenting on one’s actions” – once again, I don’t actually hear these voices but I do, at times, comment outloud on something I do or don’t do..

After reading all this you may be wondering to yourself “So why do I think I have, or at least am forming, schizophrenia?” Well, I looked up on wikipedia some of the causes of schizophrenia and one of the causes was cannabis use… below is a direct quote

“Although about half of all patients with schizophrenia abuse drugs or alcohol, a clear causal connection between drug use and schizophrenia has been difficult to prove. The two most often used explanations for this are “substance use causes schizophrenia” and “substance use is a consequence of schizophrenia”, and they both may be correct.[68] A 2007 meta-analysis estimated that cannabis use is statistically associated with a dose-dependent increase in risk of development of psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.[69] There is little evidence to suggest that other drugs such as alcohol cause psychosis, or that psychotic individuals choose specific drugs to self-medicate; there is some support for the theory that they use drugs to cope with unpleasant states such as depression, anxiety, boredom and loneliness”

I really don’t know what to do because wikipedia also claims that signs of schizophrenia occurs during early adulthood… I’m eighteen years old right now.

What should I do?

Does anyone have or know anyone with schizophrenia? Am I overreacting or do I have reason to be as concerned as I am right now?

All answers are appreciated significantly

Best answer:

Answer by Simone M
I think that if you are concerned, you need to go see a professional. Only they can give you the answers you need. Dont be scared of havinga mental health issue. There are hundreds of thousands of people with these issues, and it can be managed….

talk to your GP, see a Psychiatrist or Psychologist, just make sure you seek help, otherwise you will just get more and more paranoid and worried….

all the best

Answer by K B
Sounds like you are really looking for answers for your symptoms. However, you do not sound like you have schizophrenia. There are many other disorders that can represent schizophrenia, like psychotic, neurotic and forms of depression. By all means it isn’t wise to diagnose yourself. If you are really concerned see a professional.

Anyway, even if you did have schizophrenia it’s treatable. It isn’t the end of the world. Many people with schizophrenia live productive lives after treatment.

Another thing to consider if you are taking illegal substances it can cause chemical imbalances in the brain. Which can resemble many disorders. If you want the symptoms to stop you might want to consider not taking the drugs. Many mental health professionals will not even diagnose you whilst taking drugs they will send you to alcohol and drug service for treatment first. Seeming it is not good practise to diagnose a disorder based on deliberate chemical alterations inflicted on the body. So the bottom line is until you get yourself clean there is little anyone can do for you.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!