I just want to thank you and your husband both. I have schizophrenia but through watching your videos I have learned that schizophrenia does not have me. I go off on some severely delusional tangents from time to time but its ok.

I have a question. I always believed my ex husband was going to put me in a nursing home when I got old. Is this an imaginary belief? I divorced him because of this.

Very interesting thank you for sharing. I thought I was chosen and still think ppl are being used by evil forces to ruin my life. I hope the best for us

Omg I get persecutory grandiose. Hospital is terrifying for that reason.

@@libbyhyett6625 i have auditory hallucinations but i just ignoring it its telling me that i am the chosen one to save humanity but i keep ignoring and i am ok and i don't experience mental break.

That is so similar to what I’ve experienced

I thought I was being stalked and watched through ac vents. During the first two days, a homeless guy found me crawling on the ground in the woods in nearby park. Probably the one who alerted law enforcement and saved my life

Same here, I also have OCD and was feeling a lot of similarities.

You're awesome and with what you've experienced - you have normal conversation between your friends. Thank you for sharing!

Me too! Especially the perceived correlation between thoughts and outside occurrences. I know it's not true but still can't shake it sometimes.

@@olikane thank you for sharing.

I am wondering if I'm just obsessive with my dissociation with reality

I know what you did in the woods two years ago. Stop hiding. You will be arrested.

@@user-rz7pk6hi5p ur boring

I’ve felt this before So annoying

It’s sad that people with delusions don’t realize their delusions like come on your not special or getting arrested

There was a meth dealer on my road and investigators would park along my lawn to monitor them so they couldn't see them. I thought they were monitoring me until police cars filled up the entire block and arrested the guy.

Amen!!! OCD can be so horrific and undescribable. Like you said it’s not schizophrenia it’s not bipolar etc. but yes it is so good to see a lot of people with OCD on here. Mental illness. I have to come a lot more. It’s coming a little bit better, but not enough. Which hard is OCD could mimic bipolar and I also have ADHD and I could member bipolar. They could all over life like you said. But I’ve had to clear OCD since I was probably five. I did respond well to medicine that I started when I was 23, but then I got used to that medicine and had to try another. it does. I haven’t known only recently, it does have its flareups, and then remission or calm down. It’s almost impossible to even try to explain it to people. And I understand. They were OK now, but it did flare up horrendously when my mother was very sick and passed away this past July. He was just out of control. SSRIs stopped helping, but I’ve learned other methods that are helping my I never believed that nothing but medicine would help, but I do have techniques that have been helping. Mental illness is just like having cancer or diabetes or high blood pressure etc. but you just can’t see it you can’t put a Band-Aid on somebody’s brain. The worst about it as far as my OCD is the anxieties that I get and then it’s so bad that until I get that answer to probably the stupidest questions I can’t eat. I can’t do anything. I can’t stop crying. It’s just a disaster. I have mainly the reassurance of OCD now and intrusive thoughts which is still kind of the reassurance. I know now they say the thing to do is to not let people give you the reassurance that they are enabling you. But I can’t imagine going that long with the horrific anxiety. Before I was put on medicine when I was one he’s really went to months straight with that nervous stomach, but anxiety went down to 92 pounds. So I will say for anybody new with OCD again medicine helps. Sometimes you have to try a couple and you do have to give it at least a month. You could have headaches you could be nauseous, etc. but it does usually go away within a month. And then there’s the CBT therapy I didn’t go to it but I’m looking at it online and trying some things online from that. What hurts the most is? I have two beautiful kids. They are 25 and 26 and this is the first time they were we got to see how bad it could be. I never wanted it to spill over onto them but it got so bad with my whole family When my mother died and all this other stuff.. When they were little and the whole time of me raising them, it was very mild. They really didn’t even notice because I was so happy being a stay at home mom with my kids. I’m trying my best not to drive that much with the stupid questions. Do you love me? Are you mad at me? I’m sorry if you think low of me now. So I don’t know if that’s the shit I say and I just got to stop. Since I was a kid, my goal in life is always. I wanted kids and I wanted to be the best mother in the world and now I feel like failed. But I couldn’t begin to tell you the amount of love that show me and if I keep it up then I’m gonna fail so I have to stop. Now I am in a depression and I hate that they see that, but what am I going to do thats life.

I was looking for a comment about OCD, glad I'm not the only one!

@@herminecobainjulesvernedas5177 You certainly were not. Lol I would love to give lectures about it in schools. I guarantee it stop some of these young kids committing suicide.

I have severe OCD, BPD and ptsd. Can confirm there are overlapping symptoms. Especially the paranoia and mood swings

I have OCD and I was just thinking, "Wow, a lot of this resonates with me." I remember being in elementary school and having this paranoia that any time I went to the bathroom, I was actually asleep and in reality was wetting the bed. My compulsion was that I would have to "prove" to myself that I was awake by pinching or causing some sort of pain before I could pee. I didn't realize for another 15 years that I was having OCD symptoms even that early.

I have OCD as well. My psychiatrist explained that severe OCD and schizophrenia can have similar symptoms. That’s why antipsychotics can be very helpful in treatment! A low dose of antipsychotics is extremely helpful in managing my paranoia and delusional symptoms.

My OCD became delusional & I was hospitalised! There's definitely an overlap when insight begins to disappear.

Yes it's very similar with symptoms like intrusive thoughts, psychosomatic symptoms, paranoia and delusions - usually associated with the obsession. From my personal therapy experience, my psychologist described my OCD symptoms as being very specific, with repetitive, controlled behaviours and thoughts. However, the psychosis I experience is more randomised and almost creative with what hallucinations/delusions my brain gives me. They're much deeper in thought and often span scenarios larger than myself and my controlled world.

Anyone know of any antipsychotic that is good for an insulin dependent diabetic? I have had OCD since I was a child (runs in my family) and it’s gotten really bad since the pandemic started. The intrusive thoughts are really bad right now. Starting therapy soon. I also have panic disorder, depression and who knows what else. I’m 48 and peri menopausal. I’ve always heard that anti psychotics would make my diabetic control worse.

@@OctoberRust1973 medication reacts differently in everyone's system so you would have to speak to your doctor about medications that don't impact insulin or weight gain

may be ask your psychiatrist if clozapine will help you

🥺💔

I've had that last year during a very traumatic time in my life, I truly believed this, I even changed my phone number and erased my phone memory (I regret that now) I was going around town and talking nonsense, I thought my mom was against me, then I thought my friends were against me, it only lasted about 20 hours, it was scary and I've never had this again, but I'm in therapy and taking meds, I was diagnosed with ADHD with depression and anxiety, this all happened when I started taking meds and didn't sleep for days because I was hyper focused on space (I don't even know why) and was on a binge on studying space, then I thought the universe was sending me signals, and I was trying to convince my family that my current dog was actually my first dog that died when I was a kid, it was a wild time.

Yes this is the worst. Horrific!

Yeah you want to feel that move to Scotland and listen to both sides of politics the side I'm on says the current leader is a Nazi while the other side says we're the Nazis trying to discredit the leader because she's a woman

Yeah I’m sorry it sounds crazy but I really believe my delusion is true.

I don't have such mental illness. I have depression, a little bit of OCD, social fobia and some more i guess indiagnosed. So right now i think and believe my relatives(which we were with today) are speaking about me in the worst way. And sometimes i even have proof of that or i don't know, i am sure they are talking about the things i said to them today and noone can tell me otherwise. Is this a delusion or not?

I don’t believe people in the United States can get Dolmatil 😕

@@hopeful188 Greetings Suzanne, I'm sorry to hear that. Dolmatil is made by Sanofi a company here in Europe. Let me Google for more info about Sanofi just now and get back to you. Love, Peter.

@@hopeful188 Greetings Suzanne, I just Googled to learn that Sanofi is a French company headquartered in Paris. The wiki I was just skimming through is very detailed indeed. However you can go I guess to the Sanofi website and I urge you to send them an email to see if they might send Dolmatil to the States by post if you wanted to try it. I have no idea how it might work. I'm assuming you might have a doctor of your own and if you spoke to him he might be able to help. For me Dolmatil is a life saver and had I steadfastly continued to take it from June 1987 I would never have had those 2nd and 3rd psychotic episodes in 1988 and 2007. With the name Donovan you must have connections with Ireland. Have you ever heard of the singer songwriter Donovan? Love, Peter.

I had that problem as well. I just figured eventually that it was crap especially when it had visual hallucination components. But it took a very long time not to have audio hallucinations from the radio. Those were huge for me. Using Vitamins etc has helped with all hallucinations. I don't take meds. Also reason works. And turning down all stress.

@@jacquelineleitch7050 Hello Jacqueline, Our two cases are different in the way that when I had psychosis I didn't even know I was psychotic and if I'm not mistaken by having watched another of Lauren's videos this is called anosognosia. You are blessed that you can use reason to cope. I'm a case where I am either fully psychotic or fully well with no symptoms whatsoever which is how for example I've been for over the last 14 years. So long as I continue to take Sanofi's Dolmatil(sulpiride) I should stay well. I'm 68 now anyway. It's so nice to hear from you and learning that we had that same delusion that connectedness to the TV and feeling special playing a key role in world affairs. However we are all simultaneously at the focus of God but let's not say too much more about that. Any world leader can be at the centre of world affairs for example in real life like the POTUS for example. Love, Peter.

Holy crap I thought I was the only one

Hahaha i experienced the exact same thing and it caused me so much anxiety! it was too embarrassing to try and explain it to other people! I feel so seen with your comment!

This is something that I've experienced quite a lot! Glad I'm not alone in this😅

Or characters talking back to you from videos and all. Sense meds nothing talks back thankfully

I have this one and it's so annoying. I can't watch anything without thinking it's taking to me. When people walk by, it breaks me out of it. So im expecting to get better eventually

Why would they be mutually exclusive, though? 🤔

Right. Some of these things aren’t as irreal as we’re made to believe. We can will things into reality, our thoughts are connected to what’s happening without. The question worth exploring here is, to which extent? She seems to me like a highly sensitive and gifted individual, not to disregard her condition though.

Psychic ability is absolutely real tho just bc the world tell u it isn’t real doesn’t mean it’s true

Better than having crabs.

that erotic experience freezes you up and became your subliminal identity. been experiencing the same. mine happened when i was still young, a toddler. but luckily, was partnered with a guy my age that time or else if it happened with an adult, remembering it now at age 33 would make me go ballistic. it would have been so disgusting and putrid. but since i was so young and has no sense of right and wrong, im just trying to laugh it off now. strange how young i was because if i didnt experience a mental breakdown, i wouldnt remember any of it now. i was a toddler when i explore eroticism. 7yrs up puberty, i adopted a tomboy persona. now at 33 the knowledge of my personal development all came back vividly. i feel the characters

I was going to comment that exact same thing! ILike, I'm not convinced it's true, I'm just worried it might be. And of course it's just the most annoying / dark / anxiety-inducing thing you can possibly imagine at that precise moment lol. I feel you, I promise you're not alone and your thoughts don't define you or dictate who you are as a person ❤ Hope you're doing ok!

This happens to me with my generalized and social anxiety lol it's helpful to see so many others who can relate and understand!! Like I know it's irrational but I can't help it

I was going to post a similar comment but don’t need to now - I agree 100%

great integration 👏🏻

Mine is usually only at night, I feel like I'm going to wake up and find out I actually wet the bed.

When I was a kid, I would pinch myself in the bathroom just to make sure I wasn't actually asleep and soiling the bed. Had no idea this happened to other people.

Wow, v that must've been horrific. So sorry you went through that, but I'm glad you made it out alive. Hope ur doing well now❤ as far as simulations, it's a pretty widely believed theory and there's really no way to prove that we *aren't* in a simulation, so I feel like that part isn't as relevant as the other delusions she mentioned

Stop causing covid, that's not cool.

Hey. Hey hey, why did you cause covid? Not cool. Just kidding! I have the "I've died and this is an alternate reality" thing. It's constant. I didn't even realize it was a delusion until I read this comment. :X

From what I've heard from people with delusions is that these thoughts and beliefs are sort of like flights of fancy, or imagination gone awry. I wonder if you could "parent" yourself, meaning say to yourself what a parent would say if you told them about the delusion. Refuse to indulge in it, refuse to allow ruminating on the delusion. I have a relative who has paranoid thinking that falls into delusions. When he tells me about his current delusion, I dispel it. I tell him it isn't true, nobody is coming "after him" and he needs to relax and put this out of his mind. I do it in a parental way (I'm not his parent), and make sure to put the delusion down as extremely unlikely and not real. This seems to be very helpful in the moment, but he will often continue thinking the delusional thought after we talk. I wonder why he can't be his own parental figure...say to himself, "no this is silly. Nobody is coming after me." He just can't seem to take control of his mind like that and it just runs wild. I know it's scary for him and I wish I could make it go away for him, but I can't.

@@mygirldarby I understand where your coming from, its neurological and/or some chemical imbalance on the physical level. On a mental/psychological level it can be caused by certain stimulations like colors, patterns, geometry, number sequences, words or phrases, emotions, pretty much anything based around 5 senses including vibrations, energy or frequencies. Also, the psyches "shadow" can play a huge part. From a spiritual perspective ALOT of these symptoms are collaborated around opening the 3rd eye which is also like saying stimulation of the pineal gland which secretes DMT, a very powerful hallucinogen. In some parts of the world people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective symptoms is regarded as being gifted or closer (touched) by other dimensions or supernatural.

I've died and am in an alternate reality.

I was recently diagnosed with Schizoaffective and I really struggled/struggle with this one. Your comment really just helped me.

@@derrickjr1705 just ignore your delusions and you will be fine that's what i am doing when my delusions is attacking me

Ut VCR

Yeah because both disorders have heavy cognitive symptoms and ocd is more based in anxiety while schizophrenia spectrum disorders are more based in paranoia sometimes at least

I think I may be a bit ocd undiagnosed

yes!! makes me feel so seen!! I often just feel like something is "wrong" with me, especially because OCD is widely misunderstood. it's nice to see so many other people sharing these experiences

@@madison7439 Agreeeeeeed! So misunderstood, sadly like most other mental health issues.

As a kid, I used to think natural disasters were my fault, like God was punishing everyone over something I did. I was quick to realize how absurd that was, thankfully. I still sometimes suspect that tragic things were somehow caused or could've been prevented by me (compelling some hard core fasting or other painful "sacrifices").

literally same

Thought broadcasting and persecutory delusions are common in schizophrenia.

How did you get an conversation with people and did you only have it after drugs

No actually it happens with schizophrenia too. I also had the feeling I could here others thoughts. I think it was someone just fucking with me.

I experience the same

I don't hear much about people in their 40's and 50's with this illness. I am in my 50's and I truly wonder what will become of me as I get even older. Do you find that anything has improved as you get older? Have you run into any medical consequences of taking meds for your adult life (assuming that you do...)?

@@catherinemccarty2307 because it tends to be even more stigmatised in older generations which is why I haven't told any of my grandparents about my illness because I don't want them looking at me differently

@Catherine McCarty I will be 47 in March and I do wonder about the future. Some say that meds might cause early dementia (there is little research done though). Also I have a slightly raised prolactin level (due to meds) which can weaken your bones so have to make sure I keep my bones strong by walking and having plenty of calcium as advised by my doctor. At the age of 40 I changed from a first generation antipsychotic to 2nd generation since it has less side effects. As I approach menopause I wonder how that might affect me. Also I read somewhere once that as we get older our bodies become more solid so may have to take a lower dose for the same effect which is good I guess. I had been really tired recently and it was because my vitamin D levels were low (Apparently quite common with this illness) I now take the recommended dose for me of vitamin D following blood tests and after a few months I am feeling better with that. In terms of if anything has gotten better; I have changed my lifestyle to accommodate my own needs instead of doing what everyone else (neurotypical) might do. For example; I limit stress, have plenty of sleep, avoid emotional triggers where possible and just recently I have been fortunate enough to work just part-time, 20 hours a week. Before I was doing 35 and on top of taking care of my elderly mother, house chores and everything else it was too much and I was burnt-out. Also I try and always have a positive outlook. I discovered faith and became a Christian in 2018 which has radically changed me. I now know God is always with me and my fate is in his hands. I also have a peace and a joy which was missing before I experienced God for myself. I would be very interested in hearing any of your experiences with the illness or medication if you are happy to share. Like you say I don’t know anyone else my age so it’s good to hear from someone who is similar in age to myself.

Maybe I'm hallucinating that most agree with my perception...

@@alaididnalid7660 :))

yo.. im so hyped. ive been replying to lots of comments here. ive got a lot of theories, being confirmed in my physical actual experience which somehow proving my hypothesis. this makes me crazier . for instance being able to know beforehand in a span of seconds, whats the other person is going to say. though the key is to empty my mind with thoights and focus my attention to a specific person or getting the vibe of a group

Ty might read that

100%

I like this analysis. This might turn out to be the most useful thing I've seen as far as some of the delusions I deal with.

you are all delusional. discard that information. reality as an ilusion has always been a slogan than can be concieved as truth to some ungrounded people. at least these kinds of information has been my mental food during internet period of my life. its alluring concept because its connotes magic, mysticism and whatnot but boy, did it make me insane.. lol to come back down to earth, think of yourself as animal in nature. thats your suppose basic function, not some airhead psycho

I don’t know if you really lost it but come on bro really your going to be the best rat there is you must not be aware of life anymore

Hey, I have OCD too and I was thinking the same! There are definitely similarities.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Actually, this year is my 3rd year of experiencing symptoms of hallucinations/hearing voices/thought broadcasting/delusions/etc. I'm actually not sure what's exactly my mental illness but I have the same experiences of you guys. I'm always carried away and distracted by the voices I am hearing and also of the thoughts that comes my mind, so I kinda upset often and sometimes I'm trying to annoy the voices inside my brain. Since I got this symptoms, I can't work properly just like before and i can no longer works for years, the longest time was 6months and my latest previous job was about a month I guess. I always have the delusions that anybody will slander me because of some intrusive thoughts that comes inside my mind. For the previous 2years, I always worrying, anxious and overthinking if what if people are planning to do something bad against me, and worst, to my family. I have so many delusions that I am isolating myself and trying to not to talk about my thoughts to anyone in my family, and choosing my friends to share kinda bit of what I am experiencing with my hallucinations. I have tried asking for help from the expert, but its not really helping, coz it's not really easy to open up and tell your thoughts to anyone, kinda have a weird thoughts. And hearing voices and thinking of thought broadcasting, kinda worsen anxiety and depression. I kinda felt relief knowing I am not alone having this kind of mental health battle. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences here, and I am hoping for us that someday, we will get the normal life again specially on mental state.

You might wanna talk to a professional. That's not normal

Every once in a whole is NOT the same as often. You can be anxious evert so often without actually having anxiety, etc. Big difference

In my opinion, literally all of what she’s talking about just sounds like OCD. Because if you’re aware that your delusions aren’t real, then they’re not delusions. They’re just fears. Unless the only reason she’s able to talk like this here is because of her medications.

@@kconrad5893 she said they range from her being able to know they are delusions to not. Im guessing medications play a role

Would like to say to anyone reading: please do not recommend to people who have schizophrenia to watch 'Inception': my sister watched it while she was experiencing psychosis and it made her symptoms WORSE.

@@red_velvetcake1759 I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that. To be fair watching any movie or show or even listening to music whilst in a psychosis can and often will make things significantly worse. From what I understand Psychosis needs intervention it doesn’t get better i it’s own. Speaking from my own experience aswell Hope your sister is doing better

Can also be possible to an extent also

I have seen some people talk about this being something that people on the autism spectrum experience. I’m not giving any diagnoses of course, but that specific one could be unrelated to psychosis (especially if it’s your only one) I think it can also be associated with hyper-empathy but I have nothing to back that up besides personal experience lol

@@SybilNix I've been actually looking for comments like this because some of the delusions sound really familiar to me but I always chalked that up to me being a little weird🙈 and now I'm wondering if people without any mental illnesses can be a bit delusional at times as well as I don't have OCD, Schizophrenia or autism (as far as I know)? Then again I might be just projecting🤔

Yes

When I was younger I thought that too not so much anymore but now it's more government bad stuff which is especially difficult for me since my country's government is pretty authoritarian so I honestly can't tell if what I'm thinking is true or if it's just me thinking it is I have a fear of most government institutions in case the government uses it to spy on me or arrest me since there's a precedent in my country you can be arrested and imprisoned for the thoughts in your head

@@infiniterage1180 I think it is healthy to be skeptical of the g0v't bc all g0v't is corrupt to some degree. BUT if it starts to interfere with your daily life and cause anxiety, that's when it becomes a problem so definitely seek help.

@@dianeaishamonday9125 when I say government institutions I mean healthcare too since we have universal healthcare in the UK paid for through national insurance contributions so I don't like going to the doctor even when I'm sick I had covid Christmas of 2020 and I literally would've preferred to just hope it passes on its own than get tested because I also have a paranoid belief that the government are tracking us to know exactly where we are at all times and the funny thing is I got the vaccine willingly so I don't understand that and yeah be suspicious of the government for me I'm transgender and bisexual so I'm constantly paranoid that I'm going to be exterminated

It's culturally acceptable

I have a lot of these thoughts and paranoias too but I think it’s only an issue if it interferes with your daily life. Like if you dreamt about you mom and she didn’t answer your phone call, so you called in from work to go drive across the state to check on her. Or something like that. Or if these thoughts are becoming obsessions or changing how you interact with the world

I don't think that's abnormal at all, I think you're just more open and sensitive to energy from the people in your life. In my mystic world you are completely normal and would fit right in. I wish I had precognitive dreams and feel that I'M abnormal because I don't!