@Schizophrenia | @SchizoaffectiveDisorder | @DelusionalDisorder

[daylightdelight]

Hi, all!! Much love to you all, first of all!!

I’ve just been wondering if anybody could possibly point out any forum(s) or blog(s) or group(s), which already exist…. in regards to the above in this post’s title mentioned mental health related subclasses / diagnoses? 

I am only asking, because I cannot ever seem to come across anybody in any mental health hospital ever, in the ~15+ admittions of mine of up to 4 months length each, not in conversation with anybody? And, so, I come to feel quite isolated, as much as I am dying to hear from anybody else‘s experiences with a similar background. Just to try and make some sense out of all the madness, purely for myself.

If there isn’t such a specifically themed, targeted support group yet, then I would love to open up one, right here!! 🤗

For anybody to join in, to share their story, to share their kind words and feelings, or just to listen and learn a bit more about these often widely misunderstood, yet mysterious and intriguing mindsets that stem from, and surround all those areas of the so-called „@schizo“ family terminology.

Is anybody reading this wishing to add a few paragraphes on this? Pretty, please!!; Or, is anybody out here caring enough to listen to us partially or temporarily @inSANE / @delusional people here for a moment??? 

Thanks so much for any input at all!!!

Thank you all for your presence. 🩷 🙏 🩷

[holdinghope5]

Good morning @daylightdelight ,

I will tag @Dimity and @RiverSeal who may be able to provide more insights.

You are certainly not alone on this journey.

[daylightdelight]

Thank you so much!!! Much appreciated. I cannot wait now. Some people around me who understand and can relate, would be absolutely incredible.

[Rhymster]

@daylightdelight I grew up with a delusional schizophrenic Mother so will offer this advice you have schizophrenia that is not who you are.

[Dimity]

Hello @daylightdelight @holdinghope5 

There are quite a few people on the forums who live with schizophrenia schizoaffective disorder or bipolar 1. We haven't coalesced into a dedicated thread for quite a while (there was one on bipolar).

Re support grouos, many years ago in Victoria there were local and regional groups for the Schizophrenia Fellowship and GROW but I don't know what's in that space now. In my experience a lot of community supports folded after NDIS monetised individual packages. 

@RiverSeal started a thread recently, but it seems to morphed into a resources board that you can't reply to.

Maybe a forums space for people with lived and/or caring experience of psychosis would be helpful. But with the longterm or chronic nature of these disorders a lot of people have met up and chat in  long-running social threads so you might not see many new discussions.. Quite a few of the new posts are from people in crisis desperate for help for themselves or loved ones and there aren't often good answers, which is very sad. A place to discuss coping strategies for the side effects of medications is something else I'd appreciate. 

[Eden1919]

@daylightdelight  Hi i have schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type) it can be very isolating at times it would be great to find a community of sorts there are some communities for psychosis spec stuff on discord if you use that or there are some good youtube channels which i can link later if you would like and if it is ok with sane but yeah there are some spaces out there they can be a little tricky to find but it is possible. 

[daylightdelight]

Thank you for your thoughts on this! Where can I find those long ongoing threads that you‘re speaking of, please? Or do I just basically need to stay observant on here to not miss anything popping up again? Or perhaps I should dig a little deeper into those many pages of discussions to catch up on things on here!

[daylightdelight]

If you could link a few of those YouTube Channels you mentioned, that would be awesome. I was literally just released from the ward again just yesterday. And I feel like, I can just never actually get any of my complex thought and belief systems (aka delusions) across to anybody at all, and nobody (such as psychiatrists or nurses) even seem to bother trying to understand any of it either, which I can totally understand. Would just be soooooo soothing to actually exchange different delusional perspectives, just to show how deep and dark and lonely one can go inside their own minds….. Just want to feel heard and seen one day, to be honest….

[DogMan79]

Hi @daylightdelight 

Forums have largely died out. First, traffic migrated to facebook groups like "Schizoaffective and Beyond"

But they constantly get shut down with Meta's terms of use surrounding self harm talk. So the groups vanish

Apparently young people use youtube. Although I'm unclear on how to use it as a community and not a streaming service. Or discord, which is apparently like old school IRC Chats

[Lost10]

@daylightdelight 

Thanks for opening up this chat with us! 🙂 🙏 

I would love to chat further id love to ask you some questions. pease feel free to answer anything you comfortable if not that's ok. Were all on this journey and we get it!

Well done on opening up the conversation! 

Have you had any particularly good or bad experiences with a therapist or doctor?

What's one small, everyday thing your condition makes harder that most people wouldn't think of?

What was it like for you to first accept that you were dealing with a mental illness?

What was your life like before you sought help, and what were the key differences after you started treatment?"

​Can you share an experience where you had to explain your mental health condition to someone who didn't understand, and what that felt like?"

​What's a common misconception about your illness that you wish you could correct for everyone?

​How do you manage your condition on days when you feel overwhelmed or don't have the energy to do 'the right thing'?

​What's one thing you do to advocate for yourself when you're feeling especially vulnerable?

What's your advice for people wanting to seek help but hesitated?