Remember that for the future it is vital to assemble around you a supportive circle of friends and family who will be there for you when you are in crisis and it may be that those people close to you who have rejected you now would not be able to play that constructive role in the future and that parting company from them is a necessary, if painful, part of the recovery journey. This is where a good counsellor and support network can come in really useful as they can help you to work through all of the negative thoughts and feelings that go along with this kind of loss. However, even though this sort of loss can be immensely painful it is still important to try to make sense of it.

This is nowhere more difficult than when we have close friends or relations who have rejected us because of our disturbed behaviour. However, some losses cannot be restored and we simply have to learn to live with them. If you are in debt you could put together a plan with your creditors to pay off your debt over time in a way that wouldn’t leave you with a bad credit report and after a while be totally debt free. Some losses can be restored, for instance you may be able to get back into studying, if not by going back to college then through the Open University. People with schizophrenia experience loss in so many areas of their life that it is vital to learn to cope with it. They are in many ways one of the biggest psychological challenges to someone who has experienced an episode of psychosis. They eat away at our sense of our own capabilities and ruin our self esteem. These losses on such a large scale attack our feeling of self worth and make us feel that we cannot succeed in life. You may have come into contact with the criminal justice system and now have a criminal record. There will also be a loss of reputation: you may have lost the trust and respect of many of those close to you who may not understand how schizophrenia affects people and what causes it. You may have accumulated debts, have a poor credit record or been made bankrupt. You may have lost your job or had to give up your studies. Before you see the psychiatrist it is a good idea to keep a diary of how your problems affect your daily life and how your thoughts and feelings have been.Īn episode of schizophrenia inevitably leaves the person with an overwhelming feeling of loss.

If your problems are due to depression rather than negative symptoms then they may respond well to one of the antidepressant medications or to talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy. It is also important to know whether your problems are due to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia or to depression and your GP will probably not be able to assess this. It may be that the doctor can change the antipsychotic that you are on or change the dose in case the side effects of the medication are making things worse. If you are having problems with negative symptoms it is really important that you speak to a psychiatrist about it as they may be able to help. If you are experiencing negative symptoms it is vital that you discuss them in detail with a psychiatrist. Recent Developments in the Treatment of Schizophrenia.Religious and Spiritual Delusions in Schizophrenia.What can be done about depression in schizophrenia.Information for doctors and health workers.Treatments for Paranoia in Schizophrenia.Disclosure – telling other people about your schizophrenia.

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia