Sure
I can only tell you from my schizoaffective point of view but its quite similar to schizophrenia. Schizoaffective has a strong bipolar element with the schizophrenia combined.
Maybe its clearer if I tell you my positive and negative symptoms so you understand from the person with the MI.
There's plenty of stuff on the web that can give you a clinical definition but its not that informative really in a practical sense.
My main positive symptoms are delusions and hallucinations.
For example sometimes I think that people I pass in the street are talking about me to each other and are having a conversation discussing both my good and bad points-even when they could not possibly know one another. I talk this through with my psych and mental health team and I can follow that they can demonstrate this could not possibly happen and I argue with them that it does. This is my paranoia creeping in.
Medicated this is suppressed but I still have instances where things such as that come into my head and I cant be convinced otherwise.
I went through a period over some long time where I thought I could make myself invisable with some consequential disasters. This occasionally resurrects itself.
It seems quite humorous to talk about it but I got myself into a lot of sticky situations because of that.
With the hallucinations I have auditory running commentary usually two people discussing me, my faults and attributes. This is very disconcerting if it comes onto you when you are socialising. Sometimes the conversation can be very angry and spiteful and sometimes quite pleasant.
Visually I sometimes see things not there, like my house filling up with bats or a rug turning into a wolf as a morphed entity etc. and all of the jazz which goes hallucinations.
Occasionally I lose my cognitive ability and start talking all over the place making no sense. During these times I cant read-count or speak in a logical fashion. I also do some strange things like take of into the bush, but I always come back.
The negative symptoms are just what they say, negative and generally really horrible. I have been through periods where I cant move or react to anything much-you sort of cant feel happy or sad and worst of all you don't feel love-you don't recognise it and worst of all you dont give it.
A big lack of emotion.
So that's pretty well it in a nutshell.
For me though I am rarely manically depressed but more likely in a state of mania where I don't sleep and don't eat and do everything in a frenzy. Its at these times i go into that multiple dimensional world hyped up on seratonin.
I hope it gives you a bit of an overview of the diverse world of the schizophrenic and maybe you can understand the syptoms a bit.
Kenny
