I'm unsure if I even have a mental illness

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Are mood swings normal? I get them a lot. Some days I go from being sad to being very happy. I go from crying to laughing in minutes sometimes.

I laugh at weird things too. I'm on abilify. It helps. But I feel like I dont need it. I have autism and schizophrenia but sometimes I dont think so. I dont think I have delusions and hallucinations. Apparently I show negative symptoms though. I looked up the symptoms and I dont seem to have them.

I guess it's kinda hard to say - I've had those rapid mood swings for a long time which are often made worse by my being stressed.

How often would you say you are having those 'extreme' mood swings? i.e. from very sad to super happy.

Changing moods are normal, it's the extent (how severe) and whether or not they impair function that determines if they're abnormal.

Overall though, if you don't believe how you've been diagnosed is an accurate picture of the issues you face that's definitely something to raise with your doctor.

mood swings can be a result of many factors .

my main trigger was alcohol (hangover) .. and mostly during times of feeling hangry .. lol . since taking various vitamins and minerals .. i have also been able to balance mood.

suppressing your emotions or expressing yourself might also be a cause in some people

I have schizophrenic illness and autism. Been on olanzapine for about 10 years. Had abilify for a few months due to perceived side effects from olanzapine but had to change back when abilify's antipsychotic effect wasn't deemed sufficient.

If you follow the link you can read about anosognosia in detail. It is also referred to, in lay terms, as "lack of insight", i.e. you don't realize that you're ill. Rather than acknowledging that the syptoms are signs of mental illness, the patient find other, less plausible explanations, or downright deny any problems.

My mood swings were much more common during the active phase. I started getting ill at the end of 2008, and by spring 2011 I had hallucinations and delusions. I began to "stabilise" in terms of mood around 2018. That's around the time I realized I was, in fact, ill. Nowadays I'm struggling mostly with asociality, lack of motivation, i.e. negative symptoms in general.

If ability makes you feel more stable but you still feel like something's not right, it might be good to simply be patient. If you keep taking your medicine as advised, your long-term prognosis will be better. There's also the possibility of trying a different medicine. It's quite individual as to what works for a certain person.

Anyway, I'm not a doctor and this is just my personal opinion (I can't give medical advice).

"Delusions and hallucinations"?

Two years ago, my primary doctor wrote "depression, without psychotic features" on my medical record

later, the psychologist had the nerve to write "depression, with psychotic features" on my medical record.

After I read that, at the next appointment, I asked the psychologist, which psychotic features did I allegedly demonstrate, and when did the psychotic features start

The psychologist was like, "is your thinking always accurate to reality?"

So I was like "no , my thinking not always accurate to reality".

Psychologist was like "what is an example of a time your thinking was not accurate to reality?"

I was like "nobody's thinking is always accurate to reality"

For example, I thought it was going to rain, and then umbrella. And then it did not rain that day

I had to spot the logical fallacy, in real time, in order to not get a wrong diagnosis on my medical record

The psychologist did not get a punishment for writing the wrong diagnosis on my medical record






Psychologist was like "that is correct. Nobodys thinking is always accurate to reality"

On the next report the psychologist wrote "depression, without psychotic features"

But the previous report, still says "depression with psychotic features"

(And the prescription matches the diagnosis)

In this situation, the diagnosis was not correct, and nobody prescribed drugs based on the description, (but they could have)

Moral:. It is a good idea to read your medical record and challenge anything you find unjustified. If you can afford it, bring lawyer to the psychologist appointment.

^ That's a real phenomenon, autistic literal and percise language can get badly misinterpreted in the context of psychiatric interviews. The flag example is:
D: Do you hear things others don't hear?
A: Yes (very sensitive hearing)
D: (writes down: auditory hallucinations)