- Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Living Well with
Schizophrenia channel. In today's video, I'm going to be going over 10 signs that I'm
slipping into psychosis. (peaceful music) My name is Lauren and I make videos about
what it's like living with schizoaffective
disorder or schizophrenia. Please make sure to
subscribe to the channel so as not to miss any
new content we put out, and also if you would like to help support the creation of future
videos like this one, please make sure to check out
the link to our Patreon page, which is in the description below. We so appreciate any support you can give. It really helps us to
keep making new videos and new content for you all. I also want to point out that
we have already done a video called "What is Psychosis?"
which gives you kind of an overview about what I'm talking about when I refer to psychosis
and what exactly that means. Also we're going to have timestamps, so if you want to skip ahead
to a part of this video where I talk about a specific sign that I'm slipping into psychosis, you can check that out
in the description below. They'll all be listed
and you can jump ahead to that specific point in the video. Okay, so there's a lot
of different scenarios where psychosis can come
about for an individual living with schizophrenia
or schizoaffective disorder. But I think most often for me anyway, and I know for a lot of other people too, when it happens most is when I'm under a period of a lot of stress. Now this can look a lot of different ways. This can look, you know, just
a lot of stressors in my life. Like a lot of work
demands or school demands or life demands, or, you
know, relationship demands or whatever is piling up
to be really stressful. Or it can take the shape of med changes or something like that, which is putting literal
stress on your body. Another thing that really affects me in terms of slipping into
psychosis is season changes. And I know that this is true
for a lot of other people too, where there are certain season changes that really affect individuals. For me personally, it's
primarily fall time. So right around now is when
I need to be really mindful of you know, my symptoms and my, I need to be really
intensive about my self-care and all that kind of stuff so as to prevent slipping into psychosis. And I know for a lot of people,
springtime is really hard. But it's different for each individual, and it's really important to
just be aware of, you know, if seasons affect you and to be aware of when you need to be a
little bit more diligent about your self-care and
about taking care of yourself. All right, so diving right into the signs that I'm slipping into psychosis. The first one that I want to
talk about is disturbed sleep. So this typically looks like for me when I'm not getting enough sleep. I need to be really
mindful about making sure that I am trying to get to
bed at the same time roughly every night and trying to wake
up around the same time too so as to get however many
hours I need each night and to hopefully keep up
somewhat of a routine around that to make that easier. But when I'm slipping into psychosis or when I'm starting to
struggle a little bit more, this tends to be harder to do and I have more, more disrupted sleep and I'm awake more throughout the night. I wake up earlier, I go to bed later, and I just get less sleep. And that is generally
an early warning sign that things are kind of slipping
into possibly psychosis. Another kind of warning sign the other way is that if I'm sleeping too much, that can also be a warning sign for me where, you know, perhaps
I'm falling into a bit of a depressive state or you know, maybe the negative symptoms
are just taking over and I'm just withdrawing to bed
more often than I should be, and just sleeping the whole day or for large chunks of the day. And that's also a sign
that things are going awry and that I might be
slipping into psychosis. So the second possible
sign that I'm slipping into psychosis is when I don't
want to take my medications. Now this is a pretty
strong sign for me anyway, that, you know, things are
slipping towards psychosis because this is one of my
early warning signs where, you know, I either think
that I just don't need the medication anymore, which
is a sign that I'm slipping into a period of kind of anosognosia. Or it's when I think that
the medications are poison or that doctors are using the medications for mind control or some
kind of thing like that. Where, you know, I'm slipping
into delusional thought around the medication and
paranoia about the medication. And both of these instances are signs that things are kind of slipping towards a little bit of a dangerous place. Now taking this one a little bit further, a really, really big warning
sign that I'm slipping into psychosis is when I
actually follow through on these desires to stop
taking my medication and I actually stop taking my medication. This is when things deteriorate
fairly quickly for me and I end up in the hospital or, you know, in a bad situation
relatively quickly after. And so this kind of, this kind of path of not wanting to take my medication leading to stopping taking my medication is a pretty clear sign for me that I'm slipping into psychosis. Number three is hallucinations. So this is kind of a hard one to gauge because you know, I'm not
typically worried if I, you know, I'm obviously
not worried if I don't hear or see anything or experience
any hallucinations, but I'm also not worried if
it's kind of the occasional noise or chatter or commentary. And especially if it's
not a harmful comment. If it's just kind of,
you know, mundane chatter about my life, that's
pretty typical for me, and I'm not too concerned
if that's what's happening. I do start to get more worried however, when it's more personal directed comments or command hallucinations. I also start to get more worried when other senses become involved. Now I get olfactory or smell
hallucinations quite often. So again, I'm not too worried about that, but I am worried when I start
to get visual hallucinations or touch hallucinations
because those are things that I personally don't
experience very often. And so I know that
things are getting worse and I'm heading in the
direction of psychosis if those things start to arise. Now I know that this is
going to be very different for each individual
because each individual experiences hallucinations differently. But I think what I want
to convey is being aware of what your baseline is and
what is acceptable for you and what is a sign that things are heading in a bad direction. I also get more worried when it's harder to ignore hallucinations and when I'm really distracted by them and I'm engaging with them
more than I typically do, because usually I'm fairly
okay at ignoring them and just kind of still engaging in life, like real life, in a decent way while putting the hallucinations aside. So when I start to get more entangled with the hallucinations,
that's also a warning sign. So number four is paranoia. And this is kind of along the
same lines as hallucinations, where it's a positive
symptom of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. And when it starts to amp up
is when I start to get worried about slipping into psychosis. So when I start to get worried about there being like cameras everywhere, like when I'm checking mirrors for cameras or when I'm, you know, just
sitting in my living room and trying to figure out where
the cameras are and whatnot, that's kind of a sign that
I'm slipping into psychosis because that's not something that I normally preoccupy
myself heavily with. Also, I get really fearful and paranoid of police coming to get me. And, you know, anytime I hear
a siren or see a police car, I get really agitated and anxious, and I'm worried that they're coming to get me for whatever reason. I also get really paranoid of doctors and just kind of the
medical system in general. And I feel that they are observing me and trying to control me in some way, or I feel that they
are trying to poison me or I just get really paranoid
about those kinds of things. I also get really paranoid
about people not liking me or feeling like I'm doing
something wrong all the time. Now this is kind of tricky
because that's pretty normal. I think a lot of people worry
about people not liking them, you know, and that can be normal, but it gets taken to a not normal place when I'm slipping into psychosis. And it gets taken to a really obsessive and really detrimental place for me, where I'm just wracked
with fear or paranoia that people don't like me,
or that I did something wrong all the time and it gets debilitating. Number five is delusions, and
again, this is going along with the positive symptoms
of schizophrenia being worse and delusions are
oftentimes false narratives based on the paranoia
that I just explained. So I get delusions about, you know, delusional thought about
doctors trying to poison me or trying to control me. And I construct these
narratives inside my head that I'm fighting against the
system and that, you know, I need to collect information or, you know it just becomes this
delusional narrative in my head about basically centered around
all this paranoid thought. So I see helicopters
and I become delusional that they are coming to get me
or yeah, delusional thought, basically false beliefs based
on the paranoid thoughts or based on things that aren't
really grounded in reality. Number six is when I get
really really excited about a lot of different things or a lot of different projects,
but I'm not really actually finishing or completing any of them. So this is kind of another
one of those more subtle nuanced signs that I'm
slipping into psychosis because it can appear
like a really good thing where I'm being, you know,
really excited about projects and really excited about, you know, life and it can come across
as a positive thing, both to myself and to people around me. But if I'm not finishing these projects or if they're taking
over too much of my life, it can be a sign that I'm
slipping into psychosis. Because, you know, because I
have schizoaffective disorder, I also have the bipolar component to it. So I think that this is
kind of a sign of mania where I'm getting really, really excited about, you know, different
projects that I want to do and that I, you know, want to complete but I'm not actually
able to complete them. And so this is a sign that things are going in a bad direction and that I'm slipping
into psychosis or mania. Number seven is when
self-care is slipping. So this is particularly
around personal hygiene. So if I'm not showering
as much as I should be, that's a sign that, you know,
I'm slipping into psychosis or that I'm slipping into a harder period in my mental health. I usually take time to make
sure that I'm presentable. And so if I find that I'm not really taking that time anymore or
that I'm not really caring about how I'm dressed or how my hair looks or, you know, presenting myself in a way that I typically do, that's kind of a sign
that things are slipping. And, you know, when I stop
doing other self-care things like going for runs or being active, or when I stop caring
about proper nutrition, those kinds of things are signs that I'm slipping into a dangerous place. Number eight is if people around me start asking if I'm okay. So this is typically
because they're noticing some sort of change in my
behavior or my demeanor. So this can be anything ranging from me being way chattier than
normal and, you know, just being full of energy
or anxious or, you know, just more elevated than I typically am. But this can also go the other
way where I am withdrawn, have flat affect, am feeling
down or presenting as down. And that's typically I think
the way it goes for me, where I withdraw when
things are kind of slipping. But I know that for a lot of people, it can go the other way. And so you know, when
people notice a change in your behavior either way. Typically people around you will notice or will comment on this,
this behavior change, before you really accept it
or notice it even yourself, but really before you accept it. Another kind of sign
along this same wavelength is when I begin to think that I need to withhold information
from those around me. And I think that that's kind of something that people around me pick
up on, especially my partner, who you know, will ask,
"Hey, are you doing okay? "Like you seem kinda off or whatever." And if I'm slipping into psychosis, my gut reaction to that question will be, "Don't tell him anything, like don't, "don't share with him,
just keep him out of it," which is not healthy,
and it is not typically how I would react to that. If I am well and not
slipping into psychosis, hopefully I would be more receptive to communicating with
him and to, you know, talking things out. But when I'm slipping into psychosis, it's a very clear sign when I just want to withhold information
and completely withdraw. Number nine is feeling more
removed from the things that I like to do and the
people that I care about. So when I am having a difficult time enjoying the things
that I used to do enjoy or when I'm having a difficult time connecting with the people
who I love who are around me, that's definitely a sign
that things are heading in a not so great direction and possibly that I'm
slipping into psychosis. Because those are things
that are really big parts of my life that, you know,
indicate that I'm doing well, and that I'm engaging healthily with life. But when I'm slipping into psychosis, it's kind of like this wall goes up and I begin to have a
really hard time connecting with the things that I enjoy and connecting with the
people who I care about. And that can be really difficult and is definitely an early warning sign that I'm slipping into psychosis. And number 10 is just kind
of generally falling behind and keeping up with life. So this can look a lot of different ways. Either I am missing paying bills or I am missing medical appointments or different kinds of appointments. I'm not showing up to my
psychiatrist appointment or my therapist appointment. Things like that are
kind of pretty big signs that I might be slipping into
something in the direction of psychosis, because, you
know, when you're heading in the direction of psychosis,
it can be really, really hard to keep up with life and to keep up with taking care of yourself
through appointments and that kind of thing. And so when you see your ability to manage your life slipping, that can be a sign of
slipping into psychosis. Especially for me, because,
you know, at the best of times, I'm not great at that kind of stuff, I'm gonna be honest with you. And I think a lot of
people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
will probably relate to that a little bit where, you know, it's hard to keep up with
life at the best of times. But if you notice that you're having an even harder time than normal, I think that that's cause to
be a little bit more aware of where you're at and to, you know, be a little bit more aware of whether or not you're
slipping into psychosis. So that is the end of my list of signs that I'm slipping into psychosis. I think something that's really important to point out is that this
is my own personal list. And this is signs that I find for me that indicate that I'm
slipping into psychosis and these may look very
different for each individual. They may look different for you, but I think what I want
to encourage you to do is to take account of
what your own signs are and to maybe write them
down and share them with a close friend or
family member or whatnot to kind of help you watch for different, for signs that things might be going awry or that you might be
slipping into psychosis. And I think that being really aware of your own personal signs
can be really really helpful in terms of early
intervention of psychosis. So I also just want to go over
some strategies that I employ when I feel that I am
slipping towards psychosis. And I feel that these signs are, you know, changing and giving you warning signs about slipping into psychosis. So I just want to give some
examples of things that I do in order to try to stop that
progression into psychosis and try to get to a better
place mentally again. So I really try to amp
up self-care strategies. So this can take the form
of being more active. You know, I understand
that when you're slipping and you're in a hard place, it can be really hard to do this. And so I just try to
get out for, you know, small walks or just small bits of activity and try to, you know, keep
bringing it up from there. Also things like having a shower. I totally understand that this
can be really, really hard when you're feeling off. I haven't mastered how to make myself do these kinds of self-care things, but, you know, having people
around me who encourage me to do this is really helpful. So, you know, my partner Rob will be like gently reminding me like, "Hey, you should go try taking a shower," if he thinks that I'm feeling off, or if I'm having a hard
time, you know, with life. And oftentimes it does help. It helps to just kind of refresh yourself and to show yourself a
small act of compassion in terms of a small act of
self-care in terms of showering. Another strategy that I use is trying to bolster
more social connections. So this usually takes the form
of reaching out to friends to try to get together with them or even just to talk
with them through text or on the phone or whatnot, just to kind of strengthen
those social ties. And this can be super helpful in terms of just boosting your mood in terms of talking to someone who you care about. But it's also important
to share how you're doing with this person so
that they can hopefully be a part of your support
network in order to help you kind of shift the trajectory
away from psychosis and hopefully help you to get to a better place mentally as well. They can be a part of that support network that's helping you to be well. Another thing that I try
to do when I'm noticing that I'm slipping into
psychosis or that these signs are coming into play is I
really really make an effort to try harder to communicate
better with my partner, because my partner is, I
live with him and, you know, they're there and they can
see most of what's going on. And, you know, it's
really nice to have them to lean on and to be a part of, you know, tackling, shifting this trajectory. And so, you know, it hasn't
been always been the case because like I said, as one of the signs that I'm slipping into psychosis
is when I feel the need to withdraw and withhold information, particularly from my partner. You know, it can be really hard but really making a conscious
effort to try my best to communicate with him and to be as open and open to collaboration as possible in terms of navigating my mental health. Another person I want
to work really hard with to navigate through this hard phase is my doctor and my therapist. You know, more contact when I'm noticing that I'm slipping with both my
psychiatrist and my therapist is really critical in terms of, you know, just kind of letting them
know where things are at, and maybe there needs to be a med change or maybe there needs to be
a life change of some sort that they can help me navigate
and they can help me work on. Another important strategy
that I try to implement is giving myself space to
rest without overdoing it. Now, this is a really hard one for me, because I'm not in a place where I'm completely
compassionate with myself when I'm slipping into a harder period. And I can be kind of hard on myself in terms of still expecting myself to hold the same functionality standards as when I'm well. And so making sure that I'm really trying and making an effort to give myself room to just be not okay sometimes. You know, it's okay not
to be okay sometimes. And making sure that
I'm giving myself space to rest when I need rest and
to be more gentle on myself when I need to be more gentle with myself. And kind of the last strategy
that I want to talk about is anticipating stressful situations and being kind of preemptive in terms of reducing commitments that I may have or reducing
stressors in my life. And this is another one
that I'm not super good at, because again I still
hold that same expectation of myself as when I'm well. And so I feel the need to
uphold all of my commitments and whatnot, but I'm really
trying to move in the direction of understanding my capacities at different points in my illness. And when things are
slipping towards psychosis, I know that I need to, you
know, eliminate as much or reduce as much stress as possible. And so if that means
canceling a commitment here or a commitment there,
or even all commitments, sometimes that is what I need to do. So again, these are just some of the signs that I'm slipping into psychosis that I've identified in my own life. But if you have other signs
that you've experienced that are maybe different from
the ones that I've listed, I would really love to hear about them in the comments below. So thank you so much for watching. Again, I just want to direct
you to our other video, "What is Psychosis?" where we
go over more about, you know, what psychosis is. I also want to direct you
to another video that we did about positive and negative
symptoms of schizophrenia, which again, includes some of the things that I talked about today. Also, if you want to
help support the creation of future videos like this one, please make sure to check
out our Patreon page. The link is in the description
below, or also right here. We really appreciate any
support you can give. It really helps us to keep
making content like this. Also, if you want to see
more videos like this, make sure to subscribe to our channel so as not to miss anything. Thank you so much again for
watching, and as always, wishing you and your
loved ones good health. See in the next video, bye.
