toolassistedspeedrun:

(edited 22 oct 2015 to make the post easier to read)

i did my best to pretty this post up and cover everything but feel free to add or edit shit if you think i missed something

the szphrenia spectrum includes

1. schizophrenia
   where you have some positive symptoms (shit like hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking) and some negative symptoms (memory loss, lack of expression, lack of emotion, loss of motivation/pleasure and lots others) or catatonia. some szphrenics might have more psychotic symptoms, others more thought disorder symptoms, and still more can be mostly catatonic, but it can be a mix too

   just a quick tangent, catatonia is a kind of behaviour / motor abnormality and it can involve immobility, unresponsiveness, mutism, staying in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time, echolalia or echopraxia (copying movements), repetitive movements, and a lot more

2. schizophreniform disorder
   pretty much the same except the symptoms onset way faster and havent lasted for more than a month. some people recover and others develop szphrenia from it anyway
3. schizoaffective disorder
   when you meet criterion a for schizophrenia in the dsm-v, which is to say you have hallucinations or delusions plus negative symptoms, disorganized behaviour or catatonia, and also have mood episodes 
4. cluster a personality disorders
   -schizoid
   disinclined to socializing and connecting with people. emotions are directed inward but arent really driven to share them intimately with anyone but an exceptional few for some. may have blunted affect or be apathetic

   -schizotypal
   unusual thought and speech, or odd experiences with / perceptions of reality. can have blunted affect. might prefer solitude and be suspicious of people. avoids having close friends and has social anxiety or paranoia. usually assign some greater meaning to coincidences or feel they are magic or psychic in a way (but not caused by “delusions” or a religion)

   -paranoid
   suspicious of other peoples motives. is hypervigilant, holds grudges, or is quick to react to perceived betrayal. usually are doubtful of whether people are really loyal to them and they read hidden meanings into things

some mythbusting and misc shit to know

1. sch*zo is not a casual adjective, dont use it if youre not szphrenic
2. be critical of stuff that uses psychosis- and szphrenic-coded tropes for laughs or an evil effect
   (a really common gimmick is someone talking out loud at voices in their head)
3. we are not obligated to call our experiences hallucinations or delusions, whether or not were “delusional” isnt a reliable hallmark of our mental health
4. a lot of us have mixed up speech and it can be really hard for us to talk. as long as you can understand us dont point it out and dont make fun of it
5. (medication cw and doctors cw)
   dont tell us we should be on meds or seeing a doctor. antipsychotics are a fucking huge gray area with whether they actually help or hurt more and most doctors have a very stereotyped understanding of the szphrenia spectrum
   (end cw)
6. dont force us out of our reality (“you dont actually have magic powers” “youre just anxious”)
7. some of us get violent impulses and thats ok
8. some of us are just straight up not into socializing dont try to “get us out of the house”
9. sometimes we laugh or cry out of nowhere or are really blunt. sometimes we talk out loud to voices or say shit that doesnt make sense or mutter to ourselves or sit in weird positions. sometimes we do stereotypical things and its not weird or creepy

resources and other cool goodies

• diagnosis checklists (psychosis, schizoid, schizotypal, paranoid) theyre also making ones for szphrenia and schizoaffective and catatonia
• the dsm 5 on google docs

if you need me to clear anything up or are curious about something re: szphrenia spectrum my inbox is always open

tyvm for reading and please reblog to spread info about a spectrum of mental illnesses that are way too often just dust in the wind