Mental Illness - is it a Life thing?

[Steel Maiden]

Do you ever feel like your mental illness will be with you for life?

As you probably know, I have paranoid schizophrenia.

I've been told by many psychiatrists that I will hear Voices for the rest of my life.

I keep trying to get my hospital admissions sorted and never go back to hospital again, but I just know I'll be in and out of them for a while to come now...

What do you feel about your mental illness? Do you think it will go away or do you feel like its a life sentence (and I'm not talking just 25 years here)? Or have you recovered completely from a mental illness?

[whirlpools]

i think you can never tell what's going to happen. things develop so fast now and they're always doing research and finding new things, so perhaps they'll find a quick cure for psychosis and other mental illnesses.

of course, they might not, and things might be this way forever, yes. i think things change, though, things don't stay the same. i think i'll always have difficulties with my mental health but that in years to come those difficulties will be different and hopefully less impacting.

i think everyone has difficulties with their mental health throughout life, and that for some those will be more severe, i don't want to patronise you though by suggesting that some illnesses are the same as others. sorry i'm not explaining well - very tired.

[l'il esky]

yup, i totally do think it is a life sentance, i have struggled with this since i was 13 and wasnt that happy before then. im 25 now so it is half my life and i dont remember much before that. admitidly i aint doing great at the mo, lots of changes going on that i cant cope with, so maybe if i was feeling a little better i would have a different view on things....but i can always see it being part of life, my scars will be a constant reminder!

anyway my hope its that all this crap will make me stronger and someday i will be allowed the life with the hubby and children that i crave and be happy.....but who knows some of us arent that lucky!

xx

[Wellingtons]

I hope not; it affects too much, and I'm bored of it. I want to do things.

[x-dying-inside-x]

In my heart i know there is a big chance i will live with this forever but at the same time i hope it's not because if it is then there is a chance i can't do what i want at uni.

[Steel Maiden]

Thanks for the posts.

Yes one day they could find a fantastic cure, like in my illness they could find a way to fix the dopamine receptors.

But if they don't, then I guess mental illness will impact us for a while.

I've been suffering since I was 12. Now I am 19. But I am looking forward to going to uni this October. They're very helpful up there in Cambridge.

[sherlock holmes]

I'm starting to think I'll be this way for life.

I have borderline personality disorder so there is a chance it'll be with me until my thirties/forties at least.

[ThinkingofRecovery]

Apparently I have bpd and I am 27 - being this old and sztill having it, I can't help think that it is going to be a permanent struggle as it should be abating of its own accord by now, surely. A bit old to be diagnosed with such a thing and the voices sure as hell believe this is how I am always going to be. It scares me.

[Ranger Fairy]

I have borderline and bipolar and will prob suffer to some degree for the rest of my life however I have hope that I will learn to mange living a decent life with them.

xxx

[Breeze]

I had some training/awareness on MH recently and the lady tutor said she had spent years in and out of hosp as she was paranoid schizophrenic. She has not had any symptoms,voices, delusions, NOTHING for 6 years now. She is on no meds at all. And the Dr has said she is in 'remission'.

I do believe you can overcome a lot of the MH problems in time or at least manage them to a better functioning degree.
Well I like to hope so.

My Dad hasn't been as fortunate though.

But I like to have hope.

[Isoverity]

I think it's only a life sentence if you put all your faith in psychiatrists etc. They aren't bad at classifying things but as for causes of problems they are lost - very lost. The field has also become very corrupt with lots of junk science, patronage and political influences. Some are useful and maybe even most mean well but on the whole they have done more damage than good imo Its all about the pill and bill.

[alienshe_cheesycake]

I've only been having the voices and pychosis for about a year now but I'm starting to think its never going to go away, I'm terrified it will be a life long thing :-/

and the depression and other stuff anxiety and that just feel like part of my personality so I do feel like all that stuff will be with me for life, which is a bit depressing

then again theres always hope, I was talking to a mental health proffessional once and they were telling me about a person who had pychosis for about 15 years in and out of hospital but one day it just stopped and they never heard voices again, so I don't know.....

[justapuppetonastring]

I have paranoid schizophrenia too and dont think i will be ever free of the voices etc I hope im wrong i really do but i just cant see it however hearing that people have gone into remission gives me hope.

[Steel Maiden]

Yes I could go into remission I hope...

But my schiz sometimes is ok but it always gets worse in the end. I'll be doing fine for a few months with manageable Voices/hallucinations and minimal paranoia etc but then something will come along to stress me out a bit like exams and then I will start to deteriorate. I often end up in hospital over long holidays (I hate long holidays and find them stressful) and just after exams.

Its just that when I think things are going well, then something happens to make things worse.

And you can't escape stress in life, can you?

Depression is evil. Its horrible. I get it every day but only moderately. It gets severe about once a week where its enough to hurt and I can't stop crying.

But all these good stories I hear about remission give me hope.

Thanks all.

Thank you so much.

I am starting to believe I will never be totally well. And that no meds will help me. Not sure if that's true or not.

[rustedchains]

In some ways I think it is like cancer. While you can and often do go into remission, it can still come back with a vengeance without warning.

[lozza]

I too have bpd and am feeling like I'll never be free of this crap. I do still hope though that one day I may be free and ok but... I don't know... as the years go on my shining light fades that little bit more...

With saying this though I am still going out of my way to try and recover... taking meds as I'm supposed, seeing my counselor, pdoc and gp reguarly and trying my hardest to be in life and not just a spectator...

I dont know if things will ever get better but maybe one day we finally find out...

[Steel Maiden]

Yes it is good to keep up with appointments and meds etc. I always keep up with my psychiatrist/psychologist/social worker appointments, but I am not so good with medication. I often tend to either abuse it or just stop taking it completely. I cannot seem to learn that that equals relapse.

But life sentence definitely. On this documentary on TV, a psychiatrist said that schizophrenia is the mental equivalent of cancer except you don't die from it as often. So I agree with the cancer thing.

[flying_kiwifruit]

I feel that i will have mental health problems for my entire life but as my life changes so will my problems

[Ami]

I think i will be like this forever, but thats because i am very pessimistic and cant see anything changing.

Also, as long as i am this ugly (or see myself as this ugly), i will be this depressed.