My story of going through schizophrenia - hope this can help others
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Recently inspired by CZcamsr Sunny Lenarduzzi, I am sharing my story here of my experience with schizophrenia.
If you like what I say in the video and you know anybody going through schizophrenia or any other mental illness, please feel free to share this with them. I hope this can help some people and give them hope to keep going.
Warning: I do mention the topic of suicide.
You can check me out at www.MindAid.ca, where I try to help people with mental illness in developing countries.
In the video I mention 4 organizations helping people with mental illness in developing countries. They are:
1) www.basicneedsus.org (many countries)
2) www.afinemind.org (Uganda)
3) www.mindsfoundation.org (India)
4) www.strongminds.org (Africa)
If you feel like becoming a monthly donor to one (or more!) of these organizations on their websites, that would be wonderful!
One-time donations are, of course, great; however, monthly donations help organizations plan their annual budgets better. That is why Netflix, Spotify and many other companies have turned to the subscription model.
Also, monthly donations help you out as they can be smaller amounts than a one-time donation and are easier on your wallet.
You can find out more about donating at www.MindAid.ca in the "Donate" section!
I hope you like my story! Thanks so much for watching it!
- Matthew Dickson
Founder of MindAid.ca
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Hi! Welcome! I am Matthew Dickson of: www.MindAid.ca
I help people with mental illness in developing countries get access to basic mental health care!
I am also the first person with schizophrenia to bicycle across Canada!
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What can you do?
1) Sign up for my emails in the "Contact" section at: www.MindAid.ca
2) Have me speak to your audience: www.espeakers.com/marketplace...
3) Donate to my Patreon page at:
/ mindaid
4) Also, please check out my list of best mental health tips for you at: www.mindaid.ca/mental-health-...
About these tips: it took me over 20 years to accumulate these resources as I strived to learn how to improve my own mental health.
I highly encourage you to check them out. They are mostly books and articles, as well as a brain health music program, and more.
I have saved you two decades of digging and give them to you here. I hope they can help you and others struggling with mental illness.
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Social media and other links:
/ @mindaid
/ mattmindaid
/ mindaid1
/ matthew.dickson.754703
/ mindaid
/ matthewjdickson
/ mattmindaid
/ matthewjdickson
rumble.com/c/c-5253880
www.pinterest.ca/mattmindaid
discord.com/users/MatthewDick...
t.me/mindaid
/ matthewjdickson
www.clubhouse.com/@matthewdic...
matthewdickson.substack.com
/ matthewdi
www.flickr.com/photos/mindaid
www.paypal.com/paypalme/MindAid1
/ mindaid
linktr.ee/matthewdickson
premium.chat/MatthewDickson
www.bonfire.com/mind-aid-1
Matt, I am so happy that I can finally put a name with a face.. You are inspiring to so many who suffer in silence.. We are not alone no longer as you are the WARRIOR who makes us all stand TOGETHER..
Thanks so much for your kind words, Jannette! Nice to meet you too!
This is the best video I have seen on the subject, thank you.
My grandson is turning 17 and started having mental problems at 15, he knows something is wrong but is very confusing to him and us.
This gives me a better understanding of what he is going through.
Thank you so much for the kind compliment, Cathy! Sorry to hear about your grandson. Please remember there is hope.
The early part of diagnosis can be scary, and he and your family may feel helpless.
The unknown can be terrifying, but after he gets some treatment, things can become more stable, even though maybe not ideal right away.
Please keep being on his side and looking out for him. Not everyone does that, so pat yourself on the back!
Please check out my best mental health tips here: www.mindaid.ca/mental-health-tips
There are some schizophrenia tips/resources there that may help you. I'll put them below here for you:
Students With Psychosis - student nonprofit - sws.ngo
“Living Well With Schizophrenia” - CZcams channel with Lauren Kennedy czcams.com/users/livingwellwithschizophrenia
Avatar therapy in Canada - avatar-intervention.ca/avatar-therapy
Anosognosia and getting people to take medication - czcams.com/video/NXxytf6kfPM/video.html,
leapinstitute.org
Thank you for sharing your experience. My son was like you, all A’s in college. He had schizoaffective disorder. He was 33 when he took his own life. My only child. I wish he’d been able to talk with you.
I'm so sorry to hear. I'm sure he loved you and never wanted to leave you. The disease took him; he didn't leave of his own accord. Our thoughts can seem like they're someone else's thoughts, not our own. So someone else took him, not himself. I'm sure you did the best you could to help him.
I would have loved to talk with him.
If you ever think of helping other people with schizophrenia or their parents, the world could use you. So many parents are struggling right now with their child with schizophrenia and could use some guidance from you.
That may not be something you want to do, but I just thought I'd mention it here. People need hope, and even though your son was taken from you way too early in life, I'm sure you could offer valuable and lifesaving advice to other parents. Food for thought.
Bless u...prayers for you, too
😢 I am truly sorry. My son has Schizoaffective. How are you surviving this? 🙏
I have that also. I have been ill since I was a very young child before kindergarten. I am so sorry you lost your son. Prayers 🙏❤️
Congratulations! Excellent work and perseverance! I’d give you medal if I had one to give! Thanks for your time, this is very encouraging.
I am schizophrenic, it's been basically a year since I had my last psychosis, my latest medication has done wonders there, the ones before were straight up worse than non-working. I am so happy the place where I get my psychiatric care changed psychiatrist. I must say though for me schizophrenia most of the time wasn't so bad, it actually felt good, though I can relate with the pain since I have felt the strongest bouts of pain I have ever felt to this disease. In a weird way the psychosis was both the cause of the issues and the coping mechanism, to the point that to this day I partly miss it. My life is empty, utterly devoid of all that most people would call living, it was holding on by a thread before psychosis blindsided me and it completely spiraled into a void as I lost any ability to study, had to drop out and lost my best friend. The loss of that friend characterized my whole waking life and even my dreams for years, it felt like having someone tear my heart from my chest whenever I allowed myself to think. Eventually my shit memory came to the rescue and drowned out my past leaving an empty shell in its wake. Psychosis after causing all the problems was all I had left to fill my days. I never had much in terms of voices, just hearing different words here and there while music was playing but that was my idea of fun for a while, going out walking in nature while listening to music as my brain rehashed all my thoughts in the two weeks prior subtly changing a couple words here and there in a song to express the gist of a prior idea. Then the new medication came about and things stabilized, the changed words became rarer and rarer and more and more repetitive. While on one side it's good to see people more serene and easygoing around me, on the other hand it feels lonely with an empty life and anhedonia. The disease had become a constant distraction from the barren wasteland it turned my life into and without that distraction and anhedonia I started turning my life into an empty chase of a better mirror reflection, I was almost obese(thanks to my earlier medications that didn't even work) and now I am no longer overweight. I have a pec tear and my hip is fucked as well, nobody tells you how fucking dangerous training is even if you do things correctly if your genetics make you prone to injuries. But hey, at least now I look better. Look, I am not complaining, I got off easy on schizophrenia, I still feel slightly mentally impaired compared to before but I think that's par for the course. I wish I didn't have to rely on delusions to feel like my life has meaning or that it could improve but that's pretty much the case. I live under no delusion that I'll find a partner in this life, the dating market is atrocious for men and last I checked jobless schizophrenic doesn't place high in women's wishlists anyways. I am only getting older and my country, Italy, is headed for an economic collapse as a cherry on top. I don't know why I went on this rant, I guess what I'm trying to convey is that things do have a good chance of getting better and that if your medication isn't working you should definetely change it and if your psychiatrist doesn't change it you should change them until somebody does. My interactions with people are 100% normal nowadays so there is hope to get there at least. I wish I had more good news to carry about how my life improved after overcoming schizophrenia but unfortunately exiting fantasy land comes with the burden of reality. Despite how I may sound I am not depressed at all in case someone was worried, my life is empty for the better too, no worries, no cares. It's all just very empty, a zen like flow that gets me from one day to the next, sometimes I stop to smell the roses, sometimes I stop to stare at the abyss, most of the time I just wait for the slightest scrap of interest to give me a purpose beyond eating every four hours because I gotta get those proteins in or the mirror might get angry because vanity is somehow the only feeling I still experience regularly and you've gotta take all the wins you can get.
Deep. Thanks ❤
Interesting story. You're a good writer. I was wondering whether what you describe is a sense of apathy as that could possibly be a side effect of the medication?
@@joceelee I don't think so, anhedonia can be quite irritating.
Milý Federiko,veľa šťastia Tí prajem❤️❤️
Milý Frederiko ,tento rok som bola v Kalabrii, milujem Taliansko,bola som s dcérami jedna z nich má schizofréniu ,boli sme šťastné užili sme si krásne Taliansko,viem Nieje to ľahké je potrebné brať lieky to sa snažím pri mojej dcére,našla si priateľa a je šťastná!! Skús robiť výlety po krásnom Taliansku, možno nejaké videá?? veľa šťastia milí Frederiko, srdečne Ťa pozdravujem ❤️❤️
This is so brave and helpful thank you so much
You're welcome, Alexa! Kind words, thank you...
Just one reaction? This deserves way more
Thanks so much! Much appreciated!
God will show you your medals in the next life! God bless you✝️
Thank you so much!
Of course it does help many families. Thanks for sharing
Congratulations on your success. A truly amazing story.
Thanks so much for your kind comment! Also check out Lauren Kennedy's schizophrenia CZcams channel: www.youtube.com/@LivingWellwithSchizophrenia
It's full of great information!
Thank you for sharing your experiences you have had a positive effect on fellow sufferers
Thank you for sharing your story you’ve helped me to see that I must persist and move past my struggles ! All the best to you !
You're very welcome! I'm glad it could help you out!
I have more mental health tips here: www.mindaid.ca/mental-health-tips
It is a list of my favourite resources for mental health and schizophrenia I've compiled over 20 years. Please check it out...there are books, etc. there that helped me so much!
Thank you for sharing this!
You're very welcome!
Thanks for sharing. Inspirational.
I didn’t know if I would get better but I figured out that just by ignoring and not believing in the hallucinations and delusions they lost their power over me.
i LOVE that janis joplin song!! 'it's like a ball, & chain . . . '
Thank you for supporting
Thank you for this
Thanks for sharing!
I don't have the same mental health issues you have but I do suffer very much with severe panic attacks agoraphobia ptsd ocd then on 9.11.17 developed depression after finding my young, healthy mom passed in my home. I am mostly out of depression but im 42 and since a child i was experienced the horrible side effects of my mental health undiagnosed but so many medications now im on the same combo of meds since 2005 and then I was injured physically so now 1day at a time sadly I lost 5yrs of life in a dark room never left home in 2yrs.. Thank you for sharing your journey to I used to hide mine as much as possible I thought ppl would think funny about me now I'm not worry what others think because I know I can't help my mental health but we sire can share so others don't feel alone also we learn from each other.
Sorry to hear about your mental illnesses. Sounds like you've had things rough, but you keep persevering, so kudos to you for all the hard work you've done! You're a trooper!
Glad you're able to share about it now. That's such a big thing! Congratulations!
Please check out my best mental health tips here: www.mindaid.ca/mental-health-tips
In the list, I mention a book about posttraumatic growth. you might want to check that one out. There are other books in the list too that helped me a lot.
Please feel free to share the list. It took me over 20 years to compile everything on it, and I keep adding to it. It is the quickest way into my head on all the things that helped me get better.
@Mind Aid thank you so very much for this information I really appreciate it alot.. also thank you for sharing all you have been through and your resources as there's not really a easy way to find things that help especially alot at one time.
@@tcmomcoffey4028 You're welcome! Glad you find it helpful!
OCD and Schizophrenia have a lot of overlap symptoms so maybe that’s why you relate
❤
As soon as it happened to me at 22 I tried to get off meds and recover that way they even gave me an injection because I don’t like taking pills and I recovered in 6 7 months and I think that helped me recover faster but the medications helped me in the start
I've heard injectables can really help people, because they last so long and people don't have to remember to take their meds. I'm glad they helped you! That's good to hear!
Negative symptoms ??
I feel like people can speak to each other while going through it via head images
i explained to my mom about golden gate bridge experiment she was all in agreeance still killed herself last week somtimes even knowing their going to regret it brain chemistry misfires can send even the most saine into madness and drive to do things that are out of charicter. god bless you tho for sharing your story
So sorry to hear. I'm glad you were able to tell your mum about it, even though it wasn't able to save her. I hope you're doing okay during this painful time for you. Please try to take care of yourself during your grief. I'm sure you did the best you could for your mum.
Life works in mysterious ways, and things can happen to us that seem totally wrong and cruel and unfair. We don't always have the answers for when people are taken from us. We just have to keep going one day at a time. I feel your pain.
😢 I am so sorry. How are you doing?
@@mindaid actually I'm in like one of the best spots I've been in my life rn helped me push thrue allot that I needed to get thrue saving money working for car just taking the good with bad I lostosty friends to fet found sister dead from and my girl best friend to accident and my other buddy a week ago showed up at my work left and died today was funeral. we might not have to much control here but I'd rather spend my time fighting for the best possible outcome in my life and has been showing me time is short but also even so gotta enjoy what time we got to spread some positives in this world
@jakelynch3450 Sorry to hear about your losses...sounds like you're trying to make the best of things though, so that's good! Keep on looking for positive stuff! It's a great habit!
Gracias
You're welcome!
My conviction is that each persons body is, ultimately, theirs & only theirs. Not gods. Not societies. Not their families. So the realities/traumas/joys that each person has experienced is sifted throughout their lives. If leaving the planet is their ultimate awareness, it should be respected, supported. IOW's, if you actually care for someone else, shut up & listen.
I am going to make a short film about schizophrenia to show awarness but I am struggling get some ideas
That's awesome you want to do that! I try to show people how difficult schizophrenia is and not sugarcoat it, but I also want to show that it is possible to get through it and people are capable of so much more than they think. If you'd like to discuss some ideas, please let me know!
@@mindaid I want to make a good short film
How many times have you been hospitalized?? I’m sorry but I’m just curious..
The prodrome was getting progressively worse, right? And then the first psychosis came? Right before it came out, how did you feel?
Have you ever been on those nasty medications? Thank you for sharing
My brother has a schizophrenia with an abundance of symptoms. The list of what he deals with is endless - voices, disorganized thinking, ocd, and much more. I’m wondering what your symptoms were. Maybe I’ll check your website. It sort of sounds like you had/have depression and anxiety.
I don't know what was wrong with me but it felt like I was being held against a wall by a football to my solar plexus. I still get that sometimes but it was severe I ended up on my knees at one point looking up like I was about to die
What medication you on
Keto diet with intermittent fasting for 20hours will help with schizophrenia
the only thing that keeps me from offing myself is the thought of potential reincarnation into a badly deformed body. otherwise ive been ready for a dirt nap for decades
I pray things will be better for you
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
You don't mention the symptomps in detail, but the one you mention seems to be that of an anxiety disorder rather than schizophrenia. The thing with schizophrenia is that the sufferers are not aware they are sick. Many sufferers will never identify as schizophrenic. When someone feels their are losing their mind, and they are so concious something is wrong with them, and this is their main 'theme' and concern and they don't have any other fixations and symptoms, it's more likely they have an anxiety disorder. Maybe you could talk to your doctor, because for anxiety there are other options of treatement.
Thanks so much for this! Check out this talk on anosognosia (which is not thinking you have an illness): czcams.com/video/NXxytf6kfPM/video.html
it's very likely that he has *both,* and i'm guessing he has talked to a doctor before this video, is diagnosed.
Have you actually taken the time to watch any of his vids ! I'm sure the man knows what diagnosis he has and the difference between anxiety and schizophrenia which might I add most people with mental illness also have anxiety
Also there are plenlty of people out there with schizophrenia that are aware of their illness and medicate. Mums dads professional people ect. During an episode of illness especially at the beginning not medicated no of course not but it you search you will find plenlty well functional people well aware they an illness
That’s only partially true. People who have schizophrenia or developing schizophrenia have varying levels of insight about their illness. It’s definitely not as simple as the myth that “people with schizophrenia don’t know they have schizophrenia.” Many people are fully aware of their psychotic illness, with about 50% suffer from anosognosia (stats vary depending on how anosognosia is measured since it is a spectrum).
I was diagnosed with a psychotic disorder even though I had anxiety and awareness about being psychotic, as well as a fear of “going crazy.” I didn’t get help for *3 years* because I believed this myth! 3 years of hallucinations, delusions, difficulty speaking, much in part because I knew I had a problem and thought if I was really psychotic I wouldn’t know it. 🤦♀️
@@gigahorse1475 so true I have bipolar and have awareness of it did take time but I do and this man is later in life so hes medicated and had lots of time help ect.
I saw a vid on CZcams. From a channel I cant remember what it's called but he interviews people with many different conditions and he had a mum on with schizophrenia and she was aware of her hallucinations.
Galatians 3:13-14..
It's crazy at least there's somebody out there telling the world what we go through as a schizophrenic it is one of the scariest experiences to go through and imagine going through it every single day and nobody around you understands just imagine seeing things that aren't there and hearing voices that you can't tell a real or not or going into a psychosis and having delusional thoughts that everybody and everything is out to get you or even worse what you're not going to get into only people with schizophrenia would understand what I mean and it's very hard to live with it's like walking in a nightmare but you're awake and it goes on every single day and it does not stop and it does not lighten up people say as you get father into being schizophrenic the symptoms ease up a little bit they do but you still have your daily episodes and imagine just being in town and you get stressed out about just everyday life things and you're seeing things that are scary and having voices tell you this person wants to kill you and why they want to kill you and your imagining that the government's after you when people are plotting against you or whatever your brain comes up with that that time and your mind convinces you that it's real and there's no way of convincing yourself out of it the brain is a powerful thing and it when it wants to make you believe something that's it and I have constantly have people at my job calling me a retard cuz I get caught having conversations with voices in my head or I'll be walking down the the warehouse in my job and I'll see really scary things that aren't there but it's real to me and I constantly think people are talking about me or saying mean things about me or giving me nasty faces are mean faces or some guy was like making it really scary smile like something a psycho murderer would do but they're not actually doing that it's my brain hallucinating that they're doing that but you don't know the difference and it's very scary and it ruins relationships and you don't know who's actually your friend and who's not when your schizophrenic you become scared of everybody and everything and it's very hard to make friends unless there's somebody that also has schizophrenia and they understand what you're going through how do you learn to trust people and make friends when your brain is constantly telling you that they want to kill you and you're hallucinating that they're laughing at you and saying things about you when they aren't actually doing that that's why I have no friends because everybody I come in contact with I'm paranoid and scared of so just if anybody actually reads this just know that we are good people we're just living in a nightmare and don't judge somebody for being schizophrenic cuz remember it's not their fault for most of us it was genetic it runs in my family on fortunately and it passed on to me
Galatians 2:20..
Jesus Christ of Nazareth...
Irrelevant informercials epidemic today
It can lead people to perform idiot actions
You will be off medication