Can a person hide the fact that they are schizophrenic?

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Hi--For the past couple of years I have posted about my teen son, who has an AS diagnosis, and his anxiety and OCD. But what has been a bigger problem in the past year, especially since my son got some help and is doing better, is his dad. For the entire time that I have been married to his dad, I have know that he has emotional problems, mostly depression and anxiety. But ever since our son has been doing better, I've been noticing a lot of behavior that I would call paranoid. The bottom line is, I'm wondering if he suffers from schizophrenia, and has been trying to hide it somehow. He has always had sleep problems and a flat affect, as long as I have known him (almost 20 years), and he has talked about having "racing thoughts" in the past. He is very secretive as well. Now he sits in a room by himself a lot with a book open, but periodically gets up and walks back and forth past me, or my daughter, to listen in on our conversations. I have caught him on the staircase, eavesdropping on my converstions with my son. He has also accused me of making fun of him with my daughter, and he has tried to log onto my Facebook page and checks my personal e-mail.

Other weird behavior includes my seeing him walking aroung in a neighborhood a few blocks from our house, unable to recognize my car as I drove by him, when he was supposed to be at work 5 miles away; getting really angry when I complained that he was a hoarder (he collects plastic bottles like a homeless person in paper bags, to "save money" instead of putting them out for the recycle truck. He holds down a high pressure job and is an accomplished writer but there is this dangerous sense I get around him, that he is trying to "hold in" an emotional outburst. I think he hates me and thinks I am out to get him. Does this sound like schizophrenia?

It could be schizophrenia, but there are a lot of other things it could also be. Whatever it is, it sure sounds scary - for you and him both.

Schizophrenia is extremely difficult to hide effectively because in order to hide something, a person has to have a realistic sense of what others can see, and that's very difficult for people with psychotic disorders. A person could secretly see a psychiatrist and begin taking medications, which would help hide the psychosis, but those medications have very difficult side effects. In any case, it doesn't sound like he's on antipsychotic meds at the time, or at least not an effective dose.

A few things other than schizophrenia that could be happening with him:
There might be something happening in his life that he doesn't want you to know about (he might not want to worry you, or maybe he's afraid of your response if you find out, lotsa reasons), and he's trying to sort it out on his own. He might have lost his job, for example, which would account for you seeing him a few blocks from your home during work hours. He might have one of many anxiety disorders. He might suddenly have become aware, now that your son is thankfully doing better, that you have more time and attention for him, and he might think that his problems stand out now. He might be afraid of being seen as "the one with a problem" in your family.

My imagination isn't big enough to guess how many possibilities there are, and some of them would certainly be pretty difficult to face. But you know, you surely know, that the only thing I or anyone else here can offer are guesses.

Only he can tell you, and maybe not even he can. I hope you can find help from someone you trust. I'm only on WP sporadically, and I'm afraid I'm not familiar with your son's story or yours, but having raised an aspie, I know you've been through trying times already. You may be in for more, but I sure hope not. I wish you well, and I hope you do everything you need to take care of yourself. You deserve some peace, and if it's possible, so does your husband, but you have to take care of yourself first. Best of luck to you!

Talk to your husband about this. Give him a hug and tell him in a nice way, that you've noticed that lately he seems unhappy and disturbed about something. Ask him if there is anything you can help him with. That might help open him up, at least a little. If he doesn't want to talk about it, or gets angry, you should let it drop at least for now, as he seems to be under a lot of stress, and you don't want to add to it by appearing to nag him over this. And whether he opens up on what's bothering him or not, I suggest giving him more spontaneous hugs, making his favorite meals, etc. It can't hurt, and may help ease some of his stress.

Difficult to say. I see no obvious evidence within your post that your husband is schizophrenic although he is obviously suffering from something, perhaps paranoia and depression.

Some traits of schizophrenia can be hidden but others like thought disorder and disorganized behavior cannot be so easily hidden. You would have to speak to a professional about this to be sure.

It doesn't sound like schizophrenia to me, but I'm no professional. It could be stress, or another mental disorder, or even something organic like a brain tumor or something else that effects the brain.

I'd strongly suggest talking to a professional about it and getting your husband to talk to one as well. If he is holding in a violent outburst, it could be dangerous or even downright fatal for you and your family when and if it happens.

Don't take this lightly. Talk to someone about it yourself and insist that he be seen about it. If he refuses to be seen about it, I would take the kids and leave until he does. This sounds like something that could have tragic results for someone. If it is a physical problem causing it, it could only get worse.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
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Ask him what's up... Be open and honest..
I told my mother I hear voices, confused emotions, have somatic ESP and visual hallucinations,,,, get paranoid. I am aware of this though therefore I might not be schizophrenic or be sz-vulnerable.
A lot of people diagnosed with Asperger's are sz vulnerable.
Autism symtpoms tend to mimick schizophrenia symptoms beause of odd/eccentric behavior.

All in all. This is an odd behavior problem not a sz spcific problem. Autism and schizophrenia are catch-all labels for conditions we don't honestly understand.

In any case, a psych might not be the best way to go... Being around friends and communiating with family openly is what alleviates my symptoms.

I hide it very well - I'm not having any perception disorders, I go out, I teach myself things... All in all, I doubt 'Schizophrenia' isn't just something diagnosers use to excuse a bias against people whose problems are in affect quite simple and solvable.

Good luck and do not lose hope. Don't despair. Treatments are available and if you can treat the symptoms early you prevent it getting worse. There's a lot of similarity in people's behaviors in general, but people with mental disorders often have the symptoms of over-active thinking and imagination, basically it's mania.

Mania is when your overprocessing or obsessing over an issue that you want to solve, but can't seem to. I would simply ask him what he's thinking...and try to understand. Maybe if he can stop himself, or slow down enough, to relate to you the problem he's worried about, it'll start to unfold. But sometimes you simply can't stop, the high is too high, the low is too low.

Maybe if you talk to him you can work it out. If not, and he is totally unable to communicate, then it's a sign of a problem that needs to be addressed. Not necessarily through mainstream treatments, because they can be harmful and I'm not lying. When you are manic you over think things, and some minor sedatives can be great. But long-term effects are annoying. Weight gain and dependency upon others to name some...

Then again, the truth is that despite how much pain I endured as a teenager. I am doing a lot better now in retrospect. I was diagnosed when I was sixteen. Early on I had racing thoughts, mania, inability to slow myself down...it was hard, and eventually I became a runaway train.

I’m going to lean toward staying out of threads like this… There’s some good community support here, with some good advice!

Just looking at this thread again. Schizophrenia is a possibility but not the only one.

Is he depressed? Sometimes severe depression can cause paranoia, jealousy, anger, and sudden unexpected outbursts. I know I have experienced this in the past. Psychotic depression often resembles schizophrenia. Bipolar is the other possibility. The final possiblity is borderline personality disorder. All 4 of these disorders can cause some pretty bizarre and frightening behavior.

I have a psychotic disorder (not sure exactly what it is yet, because I'm being told later today) and I find it difficult to hide, but I believe the world isn't real and therefore I don't care about most people, they're not real and I'm not. Anyway...because of this, I do find it hard to hide...it normally is hard to, but it depends on the form of it.

I think you should see a doctor in any case, it could be anything.

It sounds like a goddamned witch hunt to me.

Huh... you should check the dates. For a moment I thought OMG Bloom is back and she posted here! then I saw this necro for what it really was

There was a 4 year necro not too long ago though.

First time I hear the word 'necro' in this context... nice.

Is that "necro," as in necrophiliac?