"Positive" and "negative" symptoms of schizophrenia.
Anyone else with schizophrenia here as well as I will understand this a lot.
The "negative" symptoms of schizophrenia (in my case thought disturbances, thought blocking, flattened affect, lack of pleasure, less energy than normal (I used to be hyperkinetic), low motivation, crap social skills and preference for solitude) sometimes destroy my life more than the "positive" symptoms of schizophrenia (in my case hearing voices, visual hallucinations, hallucinating strong smells, sometimes falling into delusional states).
If I heard voices and saw/smelt strange things, but had lots of energy, motivation and could experience pleasure, and have the ability to socialise, life wouldn't be so dire.
The hallucinations are horrible, awful, terrifying, but the "negative" symptoms mean that I don't socialise, I don't enjoy things, social situations are horribly uncomfortable etc... and that makes things 100 times harder.
What do you think; are the "negative" symptoms of schiozphrenia worse than the "positive" or are they about the same or the other way around.
|