Life as a schizophrenic

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I often find myself wondering what life is like for people who are not psychotic. Many people wonder what life is like for someone who is psychotic. This is my little biography, of sorts. One where I solely focus on how being psychotic has affected my life. I will break this up into different chapters, and in each chapter I will focus on a different part of my life. My main goal is to talk against the bad reputation schizophrenics have. Another goal is to inform others on my life, as being psychotic is different for everybody, and my story is not the same as everyone. Thank you for taking the time out of your day and reading this. I hope you learn something, or can find solace in this. I will start now.

CH 1 - WHAT CAUSES PSYCHOSIS

The beginning of this may sound a little essay-y. You can skip ahead if you want. But this is important to me, so I’m going to go over it anyway.

Both me and my brother are psychotic, but for different reasons. We are both mentally ill, but different illnesses. I am a schizophrenic. My brother is bipolar. Both of us experience psychosis, but differently. Bipolar is a mood disorder, it makes your mood go up and down, and you experience intense mood swings. That’s what most people know it for. What some people may not know about it is that it causes hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.
Psychosis symptoms that come from bipolar come from intense mood swings. These episodes are quicker, and in more rapid succession. Psychosis symptoms from schizophrenia are constant, and are not affected entirely by mood. People without bipolar or schizophrenia can hallucinate. This could be from extreme distress, drugs, or lack of sleep.
I am NOT an expert in this, this is entirely what I learned from noticing things about myself and my brother, what my psychiatrist told me, and researching into our illness.

CH 2 - THE START