hallucinations

Postby canary » Thu Apr 22, 2004 5:10 am

Not sure if this is the right place to post this....

I've been depressed for fourteen years and also have dissociation and OCD...and have always had an identity crisis. A few weeks ago I began having visual and auditory hallucinations. Nothing too bizarre but it is frequent, and distressing mainly because of the implications. I asked a friend who is a retired psychologist about it, and she suggested the possibility that i may have started developing schizoaffective disorder. Reading about schizoaffective on the internet it sounds a lot like me. What are the normal treatments for this? I'm not seeing a therapist currently but will soon because of this. I refuse to take drugs though. Are there any "natural" treatments for this, ie will therapy alone help, are there any herbal supplements that can help, etc? Any advice given would be much appreciated. I am terrified here.

Also, I've read quite a lot of stories on the net that many chronically depressed people and bipolar people shifted over to schizoaffective disorder. A big question I have is, is there then a possibility that schizoaffective disorder will develop into full blown schizophrenia later?
canary
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Postby Claire » Thu Apr 22, 2004 10:30 am

I'm no expert, but I have in the past been diagnosed with severe depression with psychotic features - those "psychotic features" included halluciniations, delusions, paranoia and dissociation from reality (so sounds quite similar to schizophrenic symptoms). I would say that if your illness is this severe, medication is probably required (and sometimes hospitalisation) - therapy is usually only effective if you are well enough to be open and receptive to it. Having said this, lots of people respond really well to therapy alone, so it's worth trying if you really don't want to take drugs. As I say, I'm no expert, just talking from my own experience.
I hope you feel better soon, whatever route you take. I know how horrible it can be.
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