Scared of getting schizophrenia

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Can you give an example?

I get the "shadow men" visual hallucinations. Seeing a shadowy figure standing before you that isn't there.

I've also had auditory ones (but I won't go into detail), which has always been a gruff and monstrous voice, as if a monster is standing over my shoulder talking to me.

No way can sensory problems from an ASD equate to those things. Sensory problems in ASDs are under or overstimulation of your senses (for the most part). Noises or certain noises are too loud, for example. Lights or certain lights are too bright, for example again.

I'm more scared of getting Bipolar. I have symptoms that are similar to Bipolar, but not enough to be diagnosable, but if I was getting Bipolar I probably won't really notice until it actually comes properly, because at first everybody (including me) would just think I'm having one of my usual mood swings or ''depression weeks'', or feeling exceptionally anxious about something in particular. Then I'm scared the Bipolar might suddenly flare up like out in public, where I go all manic and then end up in a mental hospital.

Oh man I have the same and it started over 10 years ago and I'm not the first person who notice that.
I think I'm even pritty sure in the Bipolar II range. But much more depressions than hypomania and because I'm nore introverted it's not that easy to detect.
But my old psychiatrist also wundert once when my depressions I had for months stoped very suddenly while being there in therapy.

Getting schizophrenia is also my biggest fear(well, that and homelessness).

My grandmother on my father's side has it, and my sister has shown signs for years, so it's certainly in my family.

Not sure what to say other than if you are worried about going crazy, you probably aren't crazy. It's when you're 100% sure you're fine that you really need to worry.

The good thing is that many people on the autistic spectrum are on medication and a common medication prescribed is seroquel.

I'm on seroquel and I've did a lot of research on it when I was thinking of overdosing which made me realize it can also be used as an anti-psychotic.

If you're already taking seroquel for something related to ASD and you develop schizophrenia you already have medication to help you.

That eases my fear a bit. I had an isolated psychotic episode when I was eight but nothing else ever happened and I still have not developed schizophrenia by the age of 19. The fact that something happened once makes me scared that it could happen again. I retained no memory of the episode and it still provokes a bit of worry having heard about it from my mother.

Sorry if this question is a bit insensitive, but could any of you who experienced any psychotic symptoms elaborate a bit on it? Like - what you see/hear, how it feels, how it makes you feel (scared/depressed/however)...

I retained no memory of my single isolated episode so I can only go with what my mother told me I was like. My answer will be a bit limited for that reason.

I was experiencing auditory hallucinations. I heard threatening voices coming from a group of trees nearby. I was hiking with my social worker Ms. Manning and she wanted me to continue hiking but that meant going near the trees that I thought were threatening. I refused. I was scared to death by those trees that I thought could harm me. No matter how hard she tried she could not convince me to go near them.

This was a bit different from the typical psychotic episode and I'm not sure if I can still call it that because my speach wasn't disorganized. Even though I genuinely believed that I was being threatened by trees and I was delusional I was able to communicate what I was experiencing while it was happening. That's how I eventually found out about it.

We couldn't finish our hike so Ms. Manning had to take me home early. The episode was also shorter than most psychotic episodes. It ended on the same day it started. I don't know how long it was because of my lack of memory.

I refer to it as a psychotic episode because that's the closest thing I can come up with even though there are differences. My perception of reality was altered. I genuinely believed I was being threatened by trees. Once I was away from the treees however, I couldn't hear them and I didn't experience any further hallucinations. I was still traumatized and my day was ruined though. I was going to have a fun time with Ms. Manning and instead she had to take me home.

My ability to communicate what I was experiencing is also something that doesn't fit with the definition of a psychotic episode. It also doesn't fit that even though I perceived something that wasn't there everything else was normal. I still heard Ms. Manning talking to me normally even though I was also hearing threatening voices coming from the trees.

It may be a little inconsistent with the definition of a psychotic episode but it was close enough that I still call it that for lack of a better word. Anyway, that was my experience. I heard threatening voices coming from trees and I was terrified of them. Auditory hallucinations and fear. That was it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX8LL9IO3pQ&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

I am not so sure about that, I mean sure is someone told me they were 100% fine mentally all the time, I'd question whether they are being truthful....But unless they were actually struggling to function I probably would not see it as a sign they should worry. It someone wanted to do something totally stupid and crazy that would likely injure them or other people and claimed to be 100% fine than I might be deeply concerned. But I don't know I guess I have just never thought that generalization would be 100% accurate for everyone since I think it is quite possible to be well aware of more or less 'going insane' depending on how one defines it.

Alright, here are my usual hallucinations / distortions. You decide which falls into which category. As was said, my psych assures me I'm not schizophrenic, but I was worried about it.

Ceilings often appear to be breathing or to be moving, like a giant snake is undulating on top of it, pushing it down in places.

Walls will sometimes move or appear to move. This makes balancing tricky. A wall that suddenly bows outward can pull you over with it.

Parallel lines will clash and vibrate and stab at the eyes.

I see auras around people and light trails behind my own limbs.

I'm a bit synaesthetic, I can see sudden loud noises like shouts, and a few other things.

Shadowy animal figures that dart across the floor, scaring the crap out of me, then vanishing.

Phantom people who approach me in a threatening manner then vanish.

Machinery will sometimes sound like it's playing woodwind music, in addition to the usual sounds of fans, gears, motors, etc.

Unbidden violent impulses and images, which I've never acted on but are often disturbing.


That's a summary of my weirder distortions and hallucinations. Some, like the ceiling motions and machine music, can be soothing and relaxing. Others, like the phantom people, animals, and violent images, can be disturbing or frightening. And some are just pretty, like the auras and starbursts around any bright light.

That's what this aspie sees and experiences anyway.

I have all those up until your list gets to seeing noises.........I've never had that, I've only ever 'tasted' music when I was on acid one time that is the closest experience I have had to perceiving things with the wrong sense. I also get random bits of color in my vision. Like pink dots or dark spots or just random glittery looking tiny speckles. Oh and it hasn't happened in a while but sometimes I feel like someone else is around when I'm alone that can be kinda weird, its the same feeling as if someone is there but with no one there. I don't know that most people aspies or not can 'feel' if there are people around.

So yeah I don't know maybe AS can have things like that.

The difference is that you know they are hallucinations even when they are happening. You have insight. There may be something different about your brain because these hallucinations seem chronic but I agree with your psychiatrist that it's not schizophrenia.

Still sounds creepy to me though.. I never want to see any phantom people close to me.. might be because I'm totally easy to scare

Just remembered something.. when I was about 12 or 13 I was prettysick for about 2 weeks (flu, I think), and one time when I stepped into the shower I shortly became unconscious. My mother was there and catched me, fortunately, but in that very moment I saw a lot of bodyless hands trying to hit me or strike me down. I had fever, so would that qualify as a fever hallucination?

Yes.

You start to get insight when you take medication for it.

For example, I was 100% sure everyone was out to harm me (for many years). After taking medication at the behest of my psychiatrist for schizophrenia (if it worked, he knew what was "wrong" then in regards to some of my symptoms), I still feel/felt like they "might", but it's most likely that they don't want to, and I know that.

Before medication, I avoided people and became hyper-vigilant; watching everyone like a hawk. I lived an anxious life for a long time.

I have the social deficits and repetitive behaviors of autism (so I still avoid people. Ha), in addition to the onset since birth, so there's no mistaking one for the other in me, it's just that I was one of lucky ones who have both.

As for some symptoms and how I responded:

Thought broadcasting was annoying as hell; imagine that you think with 100% certainty that individuals can hear what you think. I used to sing tunes in my head repetitively during that one sucky year. It went after a year of having it constantly (just vanished)

Shadow People: just like seeing 3D shadows of large humanoids all over the place that move and teleport. I didn't know what to think. I still see them too, even after medication. I can never get close to them

Auditory Hallucinations in the form of a monstrous voice telling you to do bad things: the absolute worst symptom to me, and one I'm glad I only experienced several times

Had word salad in a hospital for a night; no idea what I was saying as I can't remember it. My mother said it didn't make sense.

That's all of mine (including the paranoia in my previous post), and it was enough to get a label.

I have all of those other little ones, like feeling you're always being watched and stuff like that, but eh, they're nothing.