How do you know if your schizophrenic?

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hey there:) i have psychosis not schizophrenia but they are very similar and I need to take medication for it because I hear voices. what are you experiencing as if its hearing voices that no one else hears or seeing things that no one else sees or if you have visions then I'd suggest you see a doctor because if you leave it for as long as I did it becomes a problem very suddenly, I hope this helped but this is what i experience and every schizophrenic/psychotic patient is different, bottom line is that if you are hearing voices its time to see a doctor!

This is quite a interesting question, because even without visual or auditory hallucinations you can still be schizophrenic according to someone in this forum.
Like me, I don't see or hear things that are not there but I do see things differently when I was younger. Possibly just an overactive imagination.
They say schizophrenia gets worst when you start having it at a young age but I'm still not full on crazy right now. So, I cannot say I am schizophrenic.

Interesting question... I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and now I'm sure I didn't have it, so I can tell you how do you know you are NOT schizophrenic:
- You don't see or hear or sense improbable things others don't see or hear (super - sensitive hearing doesn't count if you've had it for all your life);
- You are able to criticise your all assumptions about others and the outside world; you are ready to say "I think it's that way but I might be wrong"
And, maybe, in a more advanced stage
- Antipsychotics don't help you.

That's what reassured me I don't have schizophrenia. My doctor told me that schizophrenics often know their beliefs are delusions but they are unable to resist them.

I'm a retired mental health nurse and the symptoms would usually be: aural hallucinations (forget visual hallucinations - they are very rare except for those tripping on drugs), you would gradually become more unkempt, if in crisis. You would find concentration on anything just about impossible. Mentally, you would feel tortured, alone. A bit like being the Aspie that I am, and being in permanent meltdown. Your mood would be labile and your grip on reality would be tenuous.

If you worry about going insane, there is physically no possible way you could ever go insane. That is one way to tell. In the earlier stages of schizophrenia, you will most likely be experiencing hallucinations, paranoia, and a gradual mental decline. You might see that you are unable to concentrate enough to do anything, even getting dressed in the morning. You might hear noises or voices that are not really there. You may be convinced everyone is out to get you.

I am (hopefully ) not schizophrenic myself, but I have worried about the possibility that I am for a little over a year now. In the early stages of schizophrenia, most people do not notice that there is something wrong because the part of the brain that retains insight has already been destroyed. If you think you are psychotic, you can't possible be psychotic unless you are on medication or have it very mildly and are able to retain insight. I doubt the diagnosis of people that somehow "know they have schizophrenia" without the influence of antipsychotics. Part of the criteria requires that the patient has not retained full insight throughout the entire course of the episode. If you think you have it, you probably don't. If you are worried you have it, you are a hypochondriac (wish I could give that advice to myself!).

Honesty...I'm paranoid, according to the online test I took. But it did not happen overnight. Plus it usually starts when a memory of a traumatic event in my past is triggered.

If you are in therapy ask to take a personality inventory, like the MMPI, that will get you some good answers. You can take it online but it's next to impossible to decipher on your own. If you're not in therapy, some colleges have mental health outreach programs that give you counseling for free. If you can get into one of those programs they can help you figure it out.

I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and ptsd, on the mmpi I am nearly maxed out in both scales. I have been diagnosed as one or the other or both, by different doctors, I am also an aspie and have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. All that combined makes diagnosis tricky at best. However, with the exception of auditory hallucinations I have experienced every symptom that riss01 listed above, some times very severely for months at a time. I would say that if you're not experiencing that to some degree you're probably not schizophrenic.

On the up side I have been doing therapy weekly and taking an ssnri for a little over 8 months and I have been nearly symptom free for over 3 months now. The symptoms that have presented themselves have been manageable with some effort. A year ago if someone told me that, with some concerted effort and the right meds, I could be this good/level mentally and emotionally, I would have told them to take a hike.

I wasn't diagnosed with schizophrenia, but I did have a psychotic episode about two months ago. The diagnosis I received was depression, and the paranoia was "exaggerated guilt" (I thought the government was coming to get me because of lies I told that, in hindsight, aren't that big).

Honestly I'm not sure how correct the diagnosis was. I didn't hallucinate. I was just hella paranoid. I realized how ridiculous it was in periods of lucidity, but at the same time I wasn't able to 100% convince myself I was being delusional. I was waiting for, like, FBI to come and arrest me or something over pretty much nothing. It was pretty bad.

So, can confirm: if you're being delusional you're probably not going to think that critically about it, and even if you have some self-awareness you can't "snap out of it".

Yep.... sounds right.....

Im not diagnosed with it though but am on antipsychotics.

Thanks for the replies !