Post by abeautifulmind on Jul 10, 2012 16:52:51 GMT
My psychiatrist claims schizo-affective has a better prognosis than typical schizophrenia. That the mood disorder componant means I'm better than plain old schizophrenia, or paranoid schizophrenia. I'm really confused. Recently, my therapist suggested that they were changing it to Bipolar disorder, and the DSM was doing away with schizoaffective, the next week my psychiatrist said she hadn't been informed of this. I haven't had symptoms since I was seventeen, I'm twenty-three now.
What's bugging me is that I don't think I have a mood disorder, but they're telling me this is a better diagnosis than schizophrenia. I've never really had highs to the extreme or lows of depression. I feel on the defensive about this, but I don't know how to approach my psychiatrist and therapist. Do I even sound schizophrenic? I don't seem that way to my friends. I can't seem to figure out what's wrong with me. I guess they are having the same problem. I'm not sure though. I'm sick of being told labels dont matter, because they do to me.
I want them to be accurate. If I have schizophrenia then I have schizophrenia, if it's wrong than why am I being treated and what's been going on for the past seven years?
Obviously something went wrong in my behavior and thinking. I was treated beginning age fifteen and diagnosed at sixteen or seventeen years old with schizophrenia then schizoaffective, because I wanted anti-depressants to combat the effect of anti-psychotics. I'm feeling really frustrated. I hate the word schizophrenia, it never seemed to fit me. But I hate the idea of a mood disorder as if it would justify anything. I really don't know what's wrong with me.
I was in college for 2 years, had a high GPA freshman year of a 3.57 and was on the dean's list. I take medication, just one and it's an anti-psychotic. Is schizoaffective better or worse than schizophrenia? Is schizoaffective better or worse than bipolar disorder? Should they change my diagnosis to bipolar? Or is it ok to call it schizophrenia? What really is the major difference and why am I so confused?
Basically, are they wrong about this label? How do I get the right label when these are good doctors...but I'm not conveying things right to them. I just went along with the therapist about the mania recently, which she assumes I am treating???
What's bugging me is that I don't think I have a mood disorder, but they're telling me this is a better diagnosis than schizophrenia. I've never really had highs to the extreme or lows of depression. I feel on the defensive about this, but I don't know how to approach my psychiatrist and therapist. Do I even sound schizophrenic? I don't seem that way to my friends. I can't seem to figure out what's wrong with me. I guess they are having the same problem. I'm not sure though. I'm sick of being told labels dont matter, because they do to me.
I want them to be accurate. If I have schizophrenia then I have schizophrenia, if it's wrong than why am I being treated and what's been going on for the past seven years?
Obviously something went wrong in my behavior and thinking. I was treated beginning age fifteen and diagnosed at sixteen or seventeen years old with schizophrenia then schizoaffective, because I wanted anti-depressants to combat the effect of anti-psychotics. I'm feeling really frustrated. I hate the word schizophrenia, it never seemed to fit me. But I hate the idea of a mood disorder as if it would justify anything. I really don't know what's wrong with me.
I was in college for 2 years, had a high GPA freshman year of a 3.57 and was on the dean's list. I take medication, just one and it's an anti-psychotic. Is schizoaffective better or worse than schizophrenia? Is schizoaffective better or worse than bipolar disorder? Should they change my diagnosis to bipolar? Or is it ok to call it schizophrenia? What really is the major difference and why am I so confused?
Basically, are they wrong about this label? How do I get the right label when these are good doctors...but I'm not conveying things right to them. I just went along with the therapist about the mania recently, which she assumes I am treating???