New here - Anxiety and obsession over Psychosis and Schizophrenia

[Rossi46]

Hi All,

Feels strange doing this as i am not usually one to participate in an online forum however I feel it may be time to start communicating with fellow sufferers and like-minded individuals! 🙂

I'm a 27-year-old male that has been anxious (diagnosed GAD) since adolescence. My generalised anxiety eventually evolved into crippling panic attacks (multiple trips to ER) many of which I can attribute to abuse of drugs and alcohol. I have definitely settled down on the abuse of said substances over the last few years, however, i can't seem to shake or overcome what I can classify as severe health anxiety. My health anxiety includes both fears of physical health issues such as MS etc and the fear of severe mental health issues, specifically Schizophrenia and psychosis, with my main concern being the latter.

I can confidently say that my fear of falling into a psychotic episode stems from what I have come to understand as my "pure O" OCD. Unwanted and intrusive thoughts become 'sticky' and repeat over and over til I have convinced myself that I am going mad. The last few weeks have been particularly difficult for me and I have decided to seek professional help. It's very comforting to see on forums like these that there are so many people experiencing the exact same thing. I'm looking forward to overcoming this and hopefully being in a position to help others that are struggling with this debilitating problem.

With all of that being said, I have had one quite concerning symptom/obsession over the last few days. When I am out in public I am continually doing a double take when I see strangers, thinking that they look familiar! It is driving me insane. Obsessing over this is only making it worse. I read somewhere that this is a symptom of schizophrenia.. silly me... as now my mind is playing tricks on me convincing me that I am hallucinating. I wonder if anyone here has experienced this or something similar? It is almost as if my mind is finding things to convince me that there is something seriously wrong.

In true hypochondriac fashion, I have taken my concerns of being schizophrenic to a psychiatrist (and a psychologist) before only to be reassured that I am not. That was a couple of years ago now, so could things have changed/progressed? There's my self doubt again.

If you've gotten this far down the post, I apologise for the essay, and thank you for reading.

cheers

M

[white knight]

Hi Rossi, welcome.

I'm not experienced nor qualified at all in your condition, however in between psych visits you have lots of time to fill reading and learning. Knowledge is wisdom and wisdom is great.

So, meditation could help. Controlling your mind also would assist you in the slightest way.

The following are a handful of threads that might help. Use google and read away.

Topic: an over active mind- beyondblue

Topic: the balance of your life- beyondblue

Topic: your secret for mind control- beyondblue

Topic: inner peace, the glory of being YOU- beyondblue

Topic: accepting yourself, the frog and the scorpion- beyondblue

Topic: the positives of fear- beyondblue

I hope they help. Hope to hear from you soon

Tony WK

[blondguy]

Hi Rossi46

TonyWK has great topics listed above that are a huge help to many

Im not qualified either Rossi. Its only my opinion but your doctors seem to be accurate from what you have posted about you not having schizophrenia. They are spot on with their diagnosis. If you did have it your psychiatrist and psychologist would have had red flags out all over the place. My big brother had schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is serious bad news and you wouldnt have had the clarity and strength to post here if you did. I do understand about being a hypochondriac though....my GP has called me that many times..

great to have you on the forums Rossi 🙂

my kind thoughts

Paul

[Rossi46]

Thanks for taking the time to reply mate much appreciated. Doing my best to stay strong and stick it out. Sorry to hear about your brother.

cheers

[Rossi46]

Thanks for the reply tony, appreciated. I'll read the threads that you've mentioned. Plenty of helpful content it seems 🙂

[blondguy]

Hey Rossi, no worries at all

Thankyou for taking the time to post back

we are happy to be here for you 🙂

my best

Paul

[geoff]

hi Rossi, and great replies from Tony and Paul.
Well you have summed it up by saying 'OCD and unwanted intrusive thoughts', that's exactly what this illness can make you do, the only reason I say this is because I've had OCD for 57 years, and you make a further comment that you have 'concerning/obsessions', and often mention the word obsession which is making you feel as though you have something that you don't.
With OCD we have this continious urge to do things several times before we can feel at ease, and it doesn't matter what it is, whether it's feeling as though you are sick which does drive you crazy, or whether it's checking the door locks, washing our hands non stop and we do this because of anxiety, that's the base for having OCD, the list could go on and on.
Having this constant thought of being Schizophrenia as well as being psychotic is only an urge and general thought which OCD is giving you, these are your intrusive thoughts, and it may seem as though you are hallucinating but you're far from it, because I don't know if you have accepted that you have OCD, and please don't panic about this, because there has been so much that I've been through and experienced so what I would like you to do is read up on OCD. Geoff.

[Rossi46]

Thanks geoff. I am starting to understand this illness more through reading and studying as you mentioned. On the upside, the sun is shining a little brighter today and Im feeling a lot better ! Cheers