Posted by ramsea on June 12, 2004, at 6:00:23
In reply to RE: thanks, posted by nicko on June 12, 2004, at 4:35:03
You make perfect sense. I have had a similar situation. The thing is, I have had to accept that my condition is not the same as my family member's. If Lexapro caused you to have disordered psychosis it would still be a side effect of the medicine--maybe even more a drug-induced manic response rather than schizophrenic.
Your doctors are right of course--most people display schizophrenia before age 30. But there is a thing called psuedo-schizophrnia, or something like that. This describes a person who displayed a kinship with their close partner or family member who suffered a severe, possibly delusional and/or hallucinatory disorder, which led the non-schizophrenic person to act/think in some likeness to their schizophrenic partner. But it is easy to see that it's an anxiety reaction rather than being schizophrenia. The non-schizophrenic person is much more "in touch" in every way. They aren't faking, it's just due to closeness and maybe over-empathy, maybe even guilt. Or some other factors. But it isn't due to actual psychosis.
Have you ever considered working specifically on this belief system that you've acquired from your carework with a person suffering from a severe thought disorder (i.e. severe and chronic schizophrenia)??
I mean this in the nicest way, not trying to be critical, as I am the last person on earth to feel critical of mental health problems. I've been truly helped by cognitive behvioral type therapy, also dialectical therapy. It's very specific to your own thinking patterns and how those patterns are not helping you live as fully and well. DBT is supposedly for so-called "personality disorders", but can help anyone with a health or adjustment problem. It gives practical tools for sorting out one's disturbing and unhelpful thoughts.
I really recommend it. Even a life coach can be a help once you get the medical side of your severe anxiety under control. Maybe you can find ways to put a better barrier up. Not lacking in care and love, but just taking care of your own separate, individual identity.
If you started doing the thinking exercises, along with the medicine if it proves helpful, you might get a new toolbox for working matters through more easily. You've obviously had a lot of stress, and careworkers are documented now as being very suseptible to health problems themselves, including anxiety/depression. You;ve been taking care of someone but it sounds like you deserve and require some TLC yourself. It's just an idea. Wishing you relief.
poster:ramsea
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040608/msgs/355982.html