Quote from: TicTac on April 17, 2018, 01:26:52 AM
I think I might be schizophrenic and I am really upset about it. Why can't I just be fricking normal? I have had minor auditory hallucinations throughout my life, but I did not think much of it. I had a mental breakdown a month ago, or at least I think it was because I started seeing weird things such as wires moving, and other things which caused me to cry uncontrollably during the episode. Ever since then there has been very minor hallucinations but they do not happen often which is good.
I talked about these events to my therapist today and she looked very concerned. I guess it does not help that I have also been suicidal these past few weeks. She asked me if I knew what a psych ward was, which freaked me out because I feel like she was hinting at something. Unfortunately it seems I have the beginning signs of schizophrenia, at least according to google.
I really hope that this is not the case, because I already suffer from social anxiety and plus the stress of being transgender does not help.
Some good things came out of that therapy session though so that is good.
First things first: No one is truly "normal". I am the child of a psychiatrist and work with my father and step mother's company (which oversees and provides psychiatric nurse practitioners for the state and large hospitals) providing IT. As such, while I am just on the periphery of the mental health industry, even then have seen that point driven home time and time again. No matter how put together or "normal" everyone else seems, there is no telling what is really going on behind the scenes. And if you do have schizophrenia (which I am not saying you do), so do countless other people, and you should never feel ashamed of it. "Mental breakdowns" are extraordinarily common as well, and I've had my share as well.
I hope I am not overstepping my bounds by saying the following, but on the off chance it is of any help... If, and I stress *if*, things do continue to get worse, don't be afraid of or put off by people throwing out references to psych wards, or anything else for that matter. Therapists, doctors, and so forth will throw out a lot of ideas and possibilities, but just because they mention it doesn't mean they are saying that is what is right for you or that they are going to "have you committed" or something to that effect. It is their job to give you the options and explain them properly (not that they all do). There are tons of possible approaches to dealing with those sorts of things, and any decent healthcare provider will shape their approach to you and not just what they think you need, but what *you* *want*. Remember the all important detail far too many people forget: At the end of the day, the healthcare industry is a service industry.
They work for you, and except for in extreme cases they absolutely cannot tell you what to do or force you to do it. (Also, just in general: Forget the cliches and stereotypes you may have of what a psych ward is from movies, that's really, really not what they are at all.)
(And I'd say we should start a special club for those of us dealing with both severe social anxiety and being transgender, but I'm pretty sure that would pretty much be the entire forum pretty much anyway. The venn diagram between those two things is pretty much just one circle.

<3)