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The Secret to My Success with Schizoaffective Disorder
I’m often asked how I’ve done so well with schizoaffective disorder. I’ve graduated from a high level university, held down jobs, have never stopped taking my pills, and have never been hospitalized in the 12 years that I’ve been living with schizoaffective disorder. So how did I do it? What’s the secret to my success? Well, it’s a handful of different things, but not all of them were healthy. The day of my diagnosis, I told my mom that I would not let schizoaffective disorder define me. While I did, and still do, firmly believe that I am more than just my illness, this thought process contained a layer of…
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Tangled Emotions
Mental illness is cruel. It can take your ability to reason right out of your grasp. It can reach into your head and twist your thoughts until they’re so tangled up you don’t know what’s happening. Mental illness can steal your hope, push every button you have, and fill your head with so many different emotions that you don’t know what you’re feeling. I thought I was keeping up with my thoughts and feelings, but mental illness fed me anxiety, fear, and paranoia until I didn’t know what I was feeling anymore. It started with my ex moving into my building and my post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) soaring to new…