Are Some Schizophrenics Hearing Spirits?

[pjcnet]

This is related to Spiritualism and personal belief.

I suspect that some diagnosed schizophrenics who hear voices in their heads are actually hearing real spirits and actually have a special ability rather than a mental illness, this ability can however be blocked by using psychiatric drugs which can in my opinion be detrimental. I am not saying that this is the case with everyone who is diagnosed with schizophrenia and often there's a lot more to the condition than just hearing voices, but perhaps some are misdiagnosed and if they understood and accepted that what they were hearing is actually real spirits they may be-able to use spiritualist taught techniques to protect themselves from spirits that weren't welcome and control it in a positive way without potentially harmful drugs. The ability to be able to hear spirits can be considered a gift, there are many Spiritualists who claim to be-able to hear spirit, I believe many are fake or grossly exaggerate their abilities, often just to make money, but from the evidence I have personally witnessed and also experienced first hand when attending a Spiritualist Church in the past including when I attended a Spiritualist Medium Course I know that at least some have a genuine ability, but if they reported these voices to a psychiatrist they'd almost certainly be diagnosed with schizophrenia too. Just because current science doesn't recognise something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, I believe there's still a lot more we don't understand about our universe and existence than we do.

My friend was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago and took drugs to control voices he could otherwise hear in his head, but after discussing this theory quite a few years ago he tried reducing his medication. He now accepts what he hears and can control it, he can also visualise spirit when he meditates (I have had some success doing this too, but he is very good at it). He can come out with some amazing things that he couldn't possibly have known, for instance he described my late Nan and Grandad, their old house including the unique layout of their back garden with the pond and apple trees in detail. When I asked for further proof he described in detail a carriage clock above the fire place which they kept for many years with an unusual rotating mechanism at the bottom, I used to stare at and be fascinated by it as a child, it was a unique part of my grandparents house. I then asked if he could come out with the name of my Nan who was allegedly doing all the talking while my Grandad stood in the shadows (which is just like him), firstly he came out with her surname which was also my mother's maiden name so I thought that perhaps he'd heard me say it at some point, even though I doubt it, but then he came out with her first name too which I know with absolute certainty I have never mentioned, he said it's "Betty", but he's not sure, it could be "Bet" and that was absolutely correct on both counts, her name was "Betty", but my Grandad used to call her "Bet" for short. He now considers his ability as a gift, he can fully control it and no longer takes any medication what-so-ever.

Unfortunately if someone has this ability and they're vulnerable to it in a negative way it is in my opinion more likely to attract malevolent spirits and problems, this is more likely to happen if the person doesn't understand the ability and is told that it's a mental illness that should be cured. As I mentioned earlier there are effective protection techniques and if the person is more positive about their ability there's less chance of unwanted issues.

 

[tree]

Eastern and western cultures differ in their
view of things like this. It's more likely to be
perceived as a negative experience in the west,
while the eastern culture considers hallucinatory
voices to be useful.

https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/

How Culture Shapes Our Hallucinations

Schizophrenia across cultures | Progress In Mind

 

[Catana]

"...from the evidence I have personally witnessed and also experienced first hand when attending a Spiritualist Church in the past including when I attended a Spiritualist Medium Course I know that at least some have a genuine ability." Your personal experience is just that -- it isn't proof of anything except your desire to believe. There are no such actual things as spirits; if they are experiencing them, they are experiencing hallucinations.

So, no, schizophrenics aren't actually in touch with them. The human brain is designed so that hallucinations of various types are easily triggered in some people. They can also be triggered under extreme pressure, such as torture. The more you believe in them, the more likely you are to experience them, but that doesn't make them real.

 

[pjcnet]

"...from the evidence I have personally witnessed and also experienced first hand when attending a Spiritualist Church in the past including when I attended a Spiritualist Medium Course I know that at least some have a genuine ability." Your personal experience is just that -- it isn't proof of anything except your desire to believe. There are no such actual things as spirits; if they are experiencing them, they are experiencing hallucinations.

So, no, schizophrenics aren't actually in touch with them. The human brain is designed so that hallucinations of various types are easily triggered in some people. They can also be triggered under extreme pressure, such as torture. The more you believe in them, the more likely you are to experience them, but that doesn't make them real.

That doesn't explain how people can come out with things that only the person they're allegedly talking to in spirit could possibly know and I know about all the fake techniques some use like "cold reading" for instance, there is definitely more to this than just hallucinations for many people, although I agree that this could be the case for some. Regarding spirits existing I know they do from experience, some experiences have been blatant and then there's also strong evidence such as E.V.P. I've caught personally on dictaphone on more than one occasion. I was extremely sceptical about people allowing spirit inside to sometimes even talk through them and this is obviously one of the most common techniques that are faked, especially on TV with so called Spiritualist Mediums such as Derek Acorah (it's NOT like that, I think he went to the dark side of faking it under pressure of TV ratings, but perhaps even he has some underlying abilities), but this was until I actually allowed one into my own body, the feeling was absolutely intense and I had to learn to continue to relax despite this, it wasn't unpleasant, just unnerving, but I lost consciousness and 2 friends with me and the rest of the group witnessed me mumble a few words from an alleged spirit. Even when people take hallucinogens, many people think they're just that and nothing more, but a lot of people believe they allow you to more easily open yourself up to spirit, some tribes and civilisations that date back to ancient times have been taking certain hallucinogens for sometimes thousands of years because they believe it allows them into the spirit world, I don't believe in taking drugs and it can be done without them, but I also believe that being in touch with spirit is something most of us have lost in modern society.

 

[Catana]

Well, you're entitled to believe whatever you want, so I'm not going to drag this out. But maybe you should consider that fakes have some techniques you're not familiar with besides cold readings, including being excellent readers of physical reactions, both body and facial expressions. As for personal experience, it's practically a cliche of psychology that we tend to see what we expect or hope to see, and can interpret even the vaguest of phenomena as something that makes sense to us. In other words, if we need meaning, we create it, even where there isn't any.

 

[Judge]

I've only had a single instance on a paranormal investigation where someone's digital recorder picked up what may have been an EVP. Inside the hallway of the second floor of the Silver Queen Hotel in Virginia City. A well-known location for paranormal activity. All the external windows were closed that evening, and only adults were present on the floor. Yet in the recording on playback we not only heard our own voices, but some brief very high-pitched children's voices. However it wasn't at all what I could classify as even a "class C" EVP. Voices, but no words or phrases.

Something I never detected in real time. Where just moments before an NT psychic who was with us I knew personally had mentioned she was observing two little girls playing with a ball up and down the hallway. That's about the only audible experience in particular I can recall with the paranormal.

Could schizophrenics have heard such a thing in real-time? I have no idea.

I've heard my dead mother's voice calling me name before while come out of a deep sleep, but I chalked that up to a classic hypnopompic hallucination.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I keep hearing voices.

My Doctor says it is :

"Other people"


(One of my really old ones)

 

[pjcnet]

Well, you're entitled to believe whatever you want, so I'm not going to drag this out. But maybe you should consider that fakes have some techniques you're not familiar with besides cold readings, including being excellent readers of physical reactions, both body and facial expressions. As for personal experience, it's practically a cliche of psychology that we tend to see what we expect or hope to see, and can interpret even the vaguest of phenomena as something that makes sense to us. In other words, if we need meaning, we create it, even where there isn't any.

My friend most certainly didn't know my Nan's name or any of the information he gave and there was certainly no clues, plus he didn't go through a list of names looking for a reaction, he got it straight away and it's not even a common name as well as all the other specific information, plus this is just one example of many. On top of this I've experienced spirit close personally so I know there's a lot more to this, it's not just a belief based on faith alone like most religions.

I do understand that unless you have experienced it first hand you won't believe anything I say or that spirit even exists at all, this is because of the way we are programmed as we grow up, we are taught what is supposed to be real and what isn't, but if spirits were a fact and proven they wouldn't be anything unusual or paranormal in nature, one day this will probably be the case, although I suspect many powerful people in higher places already know all about spirits because there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that anyone can obtain with patience including scientific evidence like E.V.P. where it is possible to catch a voice answering your questions specifically. I don't mean using dodgy "ghost boxes" that pickup random radio transmissions or going out with a fake or unprofessional entertainment group on a public "ghost hunt" either. I also know that astral projection is possible (travelling outside you own body), anyone can learn to do it with patience and practice, this shows that our consciousness can be in a different place to our physical body which is most probably similar to how spirits exist, you might want to lookup the astral plane. To astral project you have to become as unaware of your body as possible so you can't feel it by meditation and then you can almost will yourself to for instance sit up and move away, if you feel your body while out at any time it will drag you back straight away which is something a spirit wouldn't have an issue with, it's a very strange phenomenon, but many thousands of people have experienced it.

I've only had a single instance on a paranormal investigation where someone's digital recorder picked up what may have been an EVP. Inside the hallway of the second floor of the Silver Queen Hotel in Virginia City. A well-known location for paranormal activity. All the external windows were closed that evening, and only adults were present on the floor. Yet in the recording on playback we not only heard our own voices, but some brief very high-pitched children's voices. However it wasn't at all what I could classify as even a "class C" EVP. Voices, but no words or phrases.

Something I never detected in real time. Where just moments before an NT psychic who was with us I knew personally had mentioned she was observing two little girls playing with a ball up and down the hallway. That's about the only audible experience in particular I can recall with the paranormal.

Could schizophrenics have heard such a thing in real-time? I have no idea.

I've heard my dead mother's voice calling me name before while come out of a deep sleep, but I chalked that up to a classic hypnopompic hallucination.

If you were attending a public "ghost hunt" (I hate calling it that, but that's how they usually advertise them), then you have to be careful, it may or may not be genuine because some groups have been known to fake evidence. Most people don't usually hear E.V.P. with their normal ears in real time, although on a couple of occasions I've heard knocking like something is fidgeting around me when I catch it, I have heard distant voices when I've caught E.V.P. twice however for a short time and much more was caught on dictaphone, perhaps that is how some people hear them often. On another few occasions I've heard a similar voice and unfortunately I wasn't recording, the voice sounds different to normal when you hear it, it's difficult to explain, it's like it's distant, but also with you, once a few people heard it when we caught some amazingly clear E.V.P. as well as lots of knocking sounds around us.

Paranormal phenomenon doesn't happen all the time like on entertainment TV programmes, you have to be patient even in allegedly haunted locations and on quite a few investigations nothing will happen, but I've witnessed some incredible phenomenon over the years. Also spirits are much more likely to do something around you if you start to recognise them and acknowledge them, especially if you become more perceptive of them which anyone can do over time, it makes sense because there's no point trying to contact someone that is never ever going to notice you. If someone is able to hear them most of the time and acknowledge them they're much more likely to attract spiritual attention to themselves that could be good or bad, that's why they also need to learn protection techniques otherwise they could end up appearing mentally ill when they're adversely affected. That said I think many of us have past on relatives visit us without most of us realising.

It's not impossible that it really was your mother, sometimes we are more open to spirit when we are in a semi conscious state from sleep, but it could also be part of a dream, we dream virtually every night, but unless the brain is trained to remember it by moving it into long term memory it usually discards it as unimportant information, when you first awaken you usually remember dreams for a short time (E.g. a minute) and if you keep a dream diary by quickly jotting notes on awakening and then review it later each day trying to remember as much as possible it trains the brain to start remembering dreams in future.

 

[Bella Pines]

My mother was schizophrenic and had full on conversations with her voices for many years during my childhood. The way I see it is that there are a number of permutations. The voices are:

1. Imagined
2. Ghosts/spirits - either helpful or mischievious
3. Part of the higher self (you, but another fragment or alternative you)

I did spend a lot of time wondering about the origin and nature of the voice (she only heard them one at a time) and am leaning toward 3. I don't think schizophrenics are fully engaged in this physical dimension. It was too detailed to just be imagined and it didn't always reflect what she would have said. Unfortunately, no lottery numbers or prophecies were relayed to me, so if it was a spirit it wasn't a particularly helpful one!

Along with aliens and near death experiences etc, I always hold an open mind and consider every alternative. I approach the topic logically with no preconceptions.

On the schizo voices, my final conclusion was that I will never know for sure in this lifetime, but ultimately it doesn't much matter. What is important is how you react to the voice and what actions you take as a result. Regardless of what the voice is saying or where it originates from, the actions of the schizophrenic are their own and their choice. So spirit, self or imagined, it's the consequent choice that is important. My mother often chose badly.

 

[Kirsty]

I know that at least some have a genuine ability, but if they reported these voices to a psychiatrist they'd almost certainly be diagnosed with schizophrenia too.

True. Psychiatrists are trained not to believe those spiritual sorts of things for job purposes and so will probably diagnose you with schizophrenia.

 

[pjcnet]

My mother was schizophrenic and had full on conversations with her voices for many years during my childhood. The way I see it is that there are a number of permutations. The voices are:

1. Imagined
2. Ghosts/spirits - either helpful or mischievious
3. Part of the higher self (you, but another fragment or alternative you)

I did spend a lot of time wondering about the origin and nature of the voice (she only heard them one at a time) and am leaning toward 3. I don't think schizophrenics are fully engaged in this physical dimension. It was too detailed to just be imagined and it didn't always reflect what she would have said. Unfortunately, no lottery numbers or prophecies were relayed to me, so if it was a spirit it wasn't a particularly helpful one!

Along with aliens and near death experiences etc, I always hold an open mind and consider every alternative. I approach the topic logically with no preconceptions.

On the schizo voices, my final conclusion was that I will never know for sure in this lifetime, but ultimately it doesn't much matter. What is important is how you react to the voice and what actions you take as a result. Regardless of what the voice is saying or where it originates from, the actions of the schizophrenic are their own and their choice. So spirit, self or imagined, it's the consequent choice that is important. My mother often chose badly.

It's good to see you're open minded, but an average spirit at least isn't likely to be-able to tell the future. Spiritualists believe we all have a spirit guide that allegedly would love to speak to us if we would allow them to, there is also allegedly supposed to be higher guides, according to their belief however they're here for good purposes and would not be detrimental in any way so are unlikely to be related to schizophrenia. Our spirit guide is allegedly here to guide us to help ourselves develop spiritually, not to tell us everything to make everything too easy because that wouldn't help up learn and develop. I'm however a little sceptical because despite once being open minded to this for a good while, after repeatedly trying spiritualist techniques in an attempt to meet my guide over a period of a few years, I've only ever experienced and seen evidence that other spirits exist with nothing specific to my spirit guide.

That said I'm incredible poor at visualisation techniques in meditation or otherwise which makes it almost impossible to do many spiritualist techniques including allegedly initially meeting my spirit guide. Even in normal life I really struggle to recognise and remember appearances, I simply can't visualise, especially people and this is most probably a co-morbid condition related to autism, although not every autistic person has this issue. That's most probably partly why I never notice when someone has had a new hair cut, my mother used to ask me if I have noticed anything different and I really didn't know until I started to remember that a new hair cut was often the case when she said this. I've also been in a situation as a witness giving a statement where the police thought I purposely wasn't co-operating and protecting someone because I couldn't describe them at all despite seeing them close up, they then believed I was involved in their crime when I wasn't, they gave me a really hard time and told me that if I didn't start cooperating I would be arrested for "aiding and abetting", they gave me a last chance and I obviously couldn't do anything so they did actually arrest me despite repeatedly trying to explain to them why and I got released on bail later that night, they put me through absolute hell, but luckily they still caught the real people a day later and they confirmed that I had absolutely nothing to do with their crime during their interview and I didn't even know them apart from when I witnessed their crime, but even when the police knew the truth I still didn't get an apology. This was over 25 years ago and I can only hope that the police are a bit better educated these days, although I know there's still lots of issues with autistic people. It's crazy, but I couldn't even visualise my own mother, if I try I might see a quick flash of her face, but it's without detail and it's not enough to describe or remember anything significant, if I keep trying I won't even be-able to do this. Back to spiritualism, many people believe that visualisation can actually create matter in that realm and that you can actually also see this matter created by spirit, one protection technique is to visualise that you are inside a protective bubble of light, this allegedly creates a "real" barrier in that realm that is difficult for spirits to penetrate. Some people even believe that dreams are created in this way and where it happens has even been described as a dream pool, most dreams aren't lucid, but I can sometimes remember dreams and keeping a dream diary can definitely greatly help train anyone to remember, I still can't actually re-visualise what I saw afterwards however apart from perhaps an quick flash if I'm really lucky, but again there's no significant detail.

The higher self is an interesting alternative, it's not impossible that this could be the case with some people, although I've seen evidence of more than this with my friend.

 

[Crossbreed]

@pjcnet ,
Even if it is a spiritual voice, that doesn't guarantee that it is a good spiritual voice...

Have you ever heard of Tokyo Rose?

 

[pjcnet]

@pjcnet ,
Even if it is a spiritual voice, that doesn't guarantee that it is a good spiritual voice...

Have you ever heard of Tokyo Rose?

That is very true, like in the physical world there's both good and bad people, although I believe that a lot of spirits that are conceived as "evil" aren't truly so, they could be very distressed and perhaps even confused. Many people's general negative view of spirits is partly due to so many people now going out for an adrenaline rush by being frightened with numerous commercial groups taking the public out to allegedly haunted locations for this purpose, and also thanks to so many very silly, fake and/or grossly exaggerated TV programmes where you sometimes see people screaming as well as ridiculous horror movies like The Exorcist which honestly couldn't be any less realistic even though it's meant to be loosely based on the truth (for a start it was a young boy). There are also some very religious people, E.g. some particularly devoted Christians, who believe that there is only one spirit that you should recognise and that's The Holy Spirit, I had such a Christian once desperately try to warn me repeatedly that getting involved in anything else was evil and demonic. All this has wrongfully made a lot of people frightened of spirits and many automatically assume that spirits are evil even though in my opinion only a very small minority truly are. It is also apparently natural to be afraid of the unknown, but for some reason paranormal activity and alleged spirits have never in the slightest bit ever frightened me, but physical people often do.

Like in the real world however if pump out negativity into the universe you are much more likely to attract negativity, similarly if you are positive you are more likely to attract similar, although obviously there are exceptions. Schizophrenia is normally seen in a very negative light, as a very serious mental illness that is classically referred to as "madness", it's also featured in numerous horror movies with one of the most famous being Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, but a high proportion of schizophrenics aren't dangerous like this. When someone has schizophrenia and they don't understand the condition it can in my opinion make them particularly vulnerable to less positive spirits because positive spirits are less likely to approach them because they won't want to potentially distress them when they're not ready and open to them. Even if they're tormented by a spirit or spirits they might not necessarily be truly evil however, they could be distressed, desperate and confused themselves, they could be desperate to be heard and perhaps they might want help which many spiritualists can allegedly provide (yes many are in my opinion fake too).

 

[Bella Pines]

Spiritualists believe we all have a spirit guide that allegedly would love to speak to us if we would allow them to, there is also allegedly supposed to be higher guides.

Well yes and that would be nice, however.

There are snippets of truth in all beliefs and religions. There is a belief that "god" (and I use that in inverted commas) created us in his image. So whatever is beyond, we are part of and vice versa. So it's comforting to fall back on an all knowing presence, or spirit guides, or a celestial order where everyone is looked after. But if you look around here, where we are, this is not often the case. We have to define our own order. So if there are gods, then I believe they probably architected the world and moved on, if there are spirit guides then there's probably some heavenly agency that rents them out. I don't think it just happens, it would be our choice to apply for one. I do mentor graduates so maybe I'll apply for the job...

 

[Crossbreed]

@pjcnet , the malevolent ones aren't as rare as you would think. The Bible warns about them in 1 John 4,

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

 

[pjcnet]

@pjcnet , the malevolent ones aren't as rare as you would think. The Bible warns about them in 1 John 4,

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world."

The Bible was written by human beings in a time of extremely high superstition and is mostly based on faith alone, the Bible is another reason why some people see spirits as evil when in my opinion the vast majority aren't in the same way as most people are basically good even though a lot of people have been lead up the wrong path and yes there are a small minority of truly evil people, but you're entitled to your opinion.

 

[kay]

I don't know anything about spirits but I have heard of people diagnosed with schizophrenia being able to learn to coexist with voices and hallucinations. As for someone knowing things they shouldn't be able to know, sure, why not. The universe and the human brain are both so strange and complex and we know so little about how it all works. I personally won't venture a guess but I do think of the so called paranormal that there is a certain percentage that is real, just not sure anyone quite knows how it happens.

 

[Mary Anne]

If living as a spirit is so free and wonderful, than why would we have to interact with people on earth? Why are there multiple worlds? What are spirits waiting for- to come back reincarnated as another human? Once I leave, I doubt I want to come back. Although I understand reincarnation and how it moves us forward, I do not understand this waiting around as a spirit. I think we cannot possibly know what is going on. Has any spirit told us exactly why they are there and what they are doing? Why are there so many spirits, but not everyone who dies hangs around as one?
The whole topic is fascinating.

 

[Mary Anne]

I don't know anything about spirits but I have heard of people diagnosed with schizophrenia being able to learn to coexist with voices and hallucinations. As for someone knowing things they shouldn't be able to know, sure, why not. The universe and the human brain are both so strange and complex and we know so little about how it all works. I personally won't venture a guess but I do think of the so called paranormal that there is a certain percentage that is real, just not sure anyone quite knows how it happens.

I worked with many people diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Even with prescribed medications, there still can be coexisting with voices, just not so loudly invasive. I wish schizophrenics were able to post to this thread. Many, if not all, would tell you just how hard they have worked to shut out or quiet their voices, in order to live happy, and fulfilling normal lives. I have not yet met one one who enjoyed their voices - all were very scared and suicidal because the voices told them to harm themselves, harm others, or just constantly tell them every negative thing about themselves, and be paranoid about everything. These negative voices have caused great harm to many that are locked in prisons, and mental institutions. These voices have caused many people to become homeless, and live extremely sad, unhealthy, and dangerous lives, suicide, and death by other means. Please do NOT encourage this!

People with schizophrenia, who go off their medications, often wind up in the emergency room, or dead. I want to warn anyone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who might be reading this thread to seriously consider the consequences that might happen should they go off their medications. I have seen people stop their medications, and they are unfit to continue living safely on their own, or in the company of others.

I am NOT pro pharmaceutical companies, or pushing drugs on people. But working in mental health in the third largest city in the USA, I have indeed seen lots of things related to schizophrenia. I feel this thread could be dangerous if people all start thinking that all the voices are positive things that should be listened to.

Schizophrenia can appear in a person’s teenage years, when all people then are extremely impressionable to fads and ideas they find on the Internet. I know a lot of younger people read these threads. It is conceivable that some might think to not take their prescribed medications, or to ignore their doctor’s medical advice. I say proceed with caution here. The ideas presented in the opening of this thread are just one person’s non-medical opinion, and it could have life-ending consequences.

 

[kay]

I worked with many people diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Even with prescribed medications, there still can be coexisting with voices, just not so loudly invasive. I wish schizophrenics were able to post to this thread. Many, if not all, would tell you just how hard they have worked to shut out or quiet their voices, in order to live happy, and fulfilling normal lives. I have not yet met one one who enjoyed their voices - all were very scared and suicidal because the voices told them to harm themselves, harm others, or just constantly tell them every negative thing about themselves, and be paranoid about everything. These negative voices have caused great harm to many that are locked in prisons, and mental institutions. These voices have caused many people to become homeless, and live extremely sad, unhealthy, and dangerous lives, suicide, and death by other means. Please do NOT encourage this!

People with schizophrenia, who go off their medications, often wind up in the emergency room, or dead. I want to warn anyone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who might be reading this thread to seriously consider the consequences that might happen should they go off their medications. I have seen people stop their medications, and they are unfit to continue living safely on their own, or in the company of others.

I am NOT pro pharmaceutical companies, or pushing drugs on people. But working in mental health in the third largest city in the USA, I have indeed seen lots of things related to schizophrenia. I feel this thread could be dangerous if people all start thinking that all the voices are positive things that should be listened to.

Schizophrenia can appear in a person’s teenage years, when all people then are extremely impressionable to fads and ideas they find on the Internet. I know a lot of younger people read these threads. It is conceivable that some might think to not take their prescribed medications, or to ignor medical advice. I say proceed with caution here. The ideas presented in the opening of thismthread are just one person’s non- medical opinion, and it could have life-ending consequences.

The people I have heard about being able to cope are very rare and never had been on medications. Perhaps occasionally it doesn't present quite the same, doesn't take over, or some other little twist. Think I read about these people in some book I used to check out that was all about schizophrenias. All the people with schizophrenia I have personally known had to take medication in order to feel ok. Several were quite grateful even for the meds. One guy wasn't grateful but still took the pills because the alternative was worse.