Negative Symptoms
A look at the negative symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders
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How My Negative Symptoms From Schizoaffective Disorder Affect My Frame of Mind
It’s common for me to say that the first sign that something was seriously wrong was when my long-standing symptoms of depression changed. They felt new and different despite the general similarities to the depression I had always known. I wasn’t sad or hopeless. It was more like being stuck in my head, sitting cross-legged and watching life happen around me. After several experiences with two distinct symptoms of psychosis from the class referred to as negative symptoms, I began to recognize the differences I felt back in the beginning and at times since then. Living with depressive-type schizoaffective disorder, I experience both symptoms of depression and negative symptoms, and…
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Negative Symptoms – A Look Inside
What are negative symptoms? Well, they can be difficult to explain. Two days ago, I sat in the passenger seat of the car, sorting through my thoughts. I was irritated, but consciously forced urges to say mean things out of my head. There was nothing worth fighting over. At a certain point, the mean thoughts slowed and stopped appearing. Instead, they were replaced by ordinary things to say like comments on the songs playing and random thoughts. As they unfolded in my mind, I looked them over. But with each one, I ultimately decided they weren’t worth sharing, though there was no anger behind it. So we drove in silence.…
- Adapting to life with schizoaffective disorder, Cognitive Symptoms, Disorganized symptoms, Hallucinations, Negative Symptoms, Recovery, Schizoaffective Disorder, Schizophrenia
Adapting to life with schizoaffective disorder (part 3) – symptoms
I didn’t know what to expect. Deep down I had suspected that it was schizophrenia, but getting confirmation from my doctor made it real. I was scared. None of the stories I knew about schizophrenia ended with someone being symptom-free. I sat in the car after my doctor’s appointment with my head spinning. Were the hallucinations going to get worse? Was I going to become delusional? Would I largely lose touch with reality? At that moment, I decided that that was not going to happen to me. It was more denial than anything else, but I had my mind set on it. I was not going to lose my life…