I have recieved CBT however that was before i was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I was wrongly diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder which i got treatment for. Though it was aimed at personality disorders i did find it helpful.
However like you, after i got my schizophrenia diagnosis, almost all of my treatment has been medication. I am against meds for me as they have never really helped me and given me a lot of serious side effects and i spent about two years argueing with my psych about how we should go about treatment. I wanted therapy, she insisted i had to be stabilized with medication before recieving that. That meant two and a half years where my only treatment was medication and hospitalisations because the medication did not stabilise me at all.
Two and a half months ago though, i started refusing to take my medication. I have been on almost every kind of antipsychotic, mood stabilizer and antidepressive over the past ten years with absolutely no effect. I still have several hospitalizations a year where they then drug me to the point of not being able to tie my shoe laces and then send me home. It is not helpful.
So i came right out and said, your methods are clearly not working, now we are doing it my way. No meds, my psychiatric nurse visits me more often and i have been referred to a psychologist for the first time in many years. For me it is tricky with medication because they never really did much for me. I can see that it helps other people, it just never helped me. When i am in crisis, having a psychosis i have found out that PRN helps with my symptoms when i get overwhelmed but more long term antipsychotics doesnt lessen my psychotic episodes, make them shorter or occure less. I have to sit through these psychotic episodes which varies in length and intensity. Sometimes i manage at home, other times i need hospital and sometimes i need PRN. However i think it would be helpful for me to learn skills to cope with episodes like these. I know they will come, several times a year and i know they dont last forever. What i need now are skills so that i can sit through them without getting hospitalised.
Personally, i have gotten better without meds. I am no longer drowsi or have side effects. I am far more present in conversations, many people including professionals have said that. I can feel more. I get more sad, more angry, more happy which was, i admit, overwhelming to begin wi cause i havent felt that for years however, i quickly learned how to cope with it and after all. These are healthy feelings i want to feel.
I am not telling you to stop taking your meds. Doing what i did can be very dangerous however sometimes you need to do drastic things to get through to your professionals. Personally, i think people with schizophrenia often get far too little therapy. We are mostly just drugged up and sometimes that is necessary yea, but there are cases where is is not and therapy should always be offered as well. Medication is not gonna cure you. It might treat your symptoms but wouldnt it be better to learn how to cope without meds? Souldnt that be our goal?
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