do i have schizoaffective disorder, please help!! !! !! !

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I've been diagnosed with autism, now wondering if I have schizo affective disorder as well. I've had lifelong depression, bizarre beliefs/behavior, very poor decision making ability. I also feel out of touch with reality - like I'm outside myself. I'm also obsessed with disasters - but I WANT the world to end.
I also have 2 children. My son most likely has autism, and has periods of mania. I don't experience mania, but I'm very remote from everything and everyone, except my children and boyfriend.
I have mellowed (I'm 40), but still make horrendously bad decisions. I don't trust myself, and it scares me.

The treatments for schizo anything surely point against there being any gain in wanting to register as having them. Stick with the autism, it's a better thing to have

Wanting the physical world, with all its pain, to end is just common sense, as long as you believe there's something else. That thought might take some of the pressure off not trusting yourself. The question is would you trust doctors and their pharmaceuticals better than yourself?

It doesn't matter if it's a better thing to have ot not. Either you have something or not. Of course there is a certain matter of interpretation, but psychiatry doesn't fully work that way and especially in the schizo-spectrum treatment is very important.

To register the "strange thinking" showes that it's not a full blown psychosis, but if you have slight prepsychotic symptoms (or if they are caused through meds) patients very often notice those symptoms. It could be also schizotypal PD or borderline PD where you can also develope magic thinking, especially in more severe forms.

Last edited by Raziel on 06 Jan 2014, 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

That was my impression to when I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, "Nope that sucks too much I don't have that." I must have autism. I was later diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder, which is way better than Paranoid Schizophrenia. What sucks about Schizoaffective though is that it feels like I'm doing it to myself, like I am making my self crazy because I enjoy it or something. I feel in control. Like I can choose to think about kittens, or cows, or clouds and rainbows. Or I can think about kittens cutting themselves, mushroom clouds, or a power drill in the eyeball.

The only way to know for sure is to go psychotic. I don't think it can be faked to easily you have to be a really good actor to pull that off.

That is actually common to all schizophrenia spectrum psychoses. This sense of its being voluntary can be found here, for example, from Elyn Saks (emphasis removed and added):



http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjour ... bt087.long

Last edited by beneficii on 06 Jan 2014, 11:30 am, edited 2 times in total.

I think this all the time about my schizo-symptoms that I just fake them.
... also that I do it on purpose.

It's an addiction to thought, somehow I have taught myself how to entertain myself by thinking, and I keep trying to outdo myself by thinking about progressively more provocative and or disturbing things.

I wonder if madness can be taught to someone.

[quote="tern"]The treatments for schizo anything surely point against there being any gain in wanting to register as having them. Stick with the autism, it's a better thing to have

[quote]

I don't believe that any pyschiatric meds would be of benefit to me, and I'm not sure any doctor would think I need them. I don't tolerate medicine very well, so I'm not likely to try any..
It's very important for me to know what exactly is wrong with me.
I believe my symptoms/problems go way beyond "just" autism. I am quite paranoid, and have a strong belief that I have some sort of connection to my favorite musician (who has been dead for many years). Also, my level of remoteness and coldness toward the rest of society seems to be extreme. I'm fixated on disasters and watch/read whatever I can on them, but recently I've realized that I have no feeling or sympathy at all for the people affected by them. Usually I find a reason to blame them ("Who asked you to build a house in Tornado Alley, anyway?") I have a lot of special interests, but they change constantly (within hours, sometimes). I also believe my son has it, too. I want to know for certain, so I can be a support to him.
One of my concerns is that as I age and approach menopause, my behavior/paranoia/delusions/depression will become more extreme and out of my control. Right now I have some control over things - I stick close to home so I won't end up surrounded by too many people AND to avoid spending too much money (a huge problem for me). But what if I can't control it in the future?

I've been diagnosed with schizoaffective and I seem to be one of the few people who have had a lot of success with medication.
I have mostly no side effects and have recovered about 90%. It took a while to get the right meds and stay on them but it was worth it. While the symptoms are mostly gone they will probably come back if I quit my meds because I've tried several times before with bad results. I have taken my meds almost every day for almost 3 years now.

Meds are crucial.

What makes you think you have it? Have you talked to a mental health professional about it? They are the only ones who can diagnose you (other than yourself). Anyway, we can't diagnose you. We are not qualified.

Yeah I agree and also we just know you over the internet and not in person. So we can just tell you what we know and if it seems likely or not, but noone can dx you here, not even the ppl who are Schizoaffective here, because we don't know you in person and have just very few information.