Brief Summary
This video is a personal account of a young woman's experience with mental health issues, specifically schizophrenia. She describes the onset of her symptoms, including visual and auditory hallucinations, and the impact these had on her life. She discusses her initial reluctance to seek help and the challenges she faced with medication. Ultimately, she emphasizes her preference for managing her condition without medication, choosing to embrace her authentic self despite the struggles.
- The video details the progression of the woman's schizophrenia, starting with subtle symptoms like anxiety and paranoia, and escalating to vivid hallucinations and auditory commands.
- The woman highlights the impact of her condition on her social life and her creative pursuits, as well as the challenges she faced with medication.
The video begins with the woman recounting her initial experience with mental health issues, which started around the age of 16. She describes feeling anxious and paranoid, but initially dismissed these feelings as normal. Over time, her symptoms became more pronounced, including visual distortions, such as melting objects and furniture, and the sensation of insects crawling on her skin. She also experienced auditory hallucinations, starting with a dominant male voice that commanded her to do things, which later evolved into a voice that put her down and undermined her confidence. These experiences led to feelings of fear and isolation, causing her to withdraw from social interactions and seek solace in her creative pursuits.
The woman's girlfriend encouraged her to seek professional help when her symptoms became more severe and vivid. She was prescribed antidepressants, which later transitioned to antipsychotics. While these medications helped to reduce the intensity of her hallucinations and voices, she found them to have a significant impact on her personality and overall well-being. She felt that the medication slowed her down, made her drowsy, and ultimately made her feel like she wasn't truly herself.
The woman concludes by expressing her preference for managing her condition without medication. She believes that while medication may offer temporary relief, it comes at the cost of her authentic self. She chooses to embrace her struggles and live a life that is true to herself, even if it means facing challenges head-on.
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Transcript
Full transcript of “What's it like to live with #schizophrenia?”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 [Music] when our family sat in front of the doctor and they said you know this is get Sabrina my reaction was half and half it was relief because I knew what I was dealing with but also I feel that label was a heavy one to bear so III don't feel like it was one I could share even where everything began with my mental health problems our issues I think was around 16 I just finished high school there was a lot of stress going on there and had a new relationship exams coming up so there was a lot to balance already and I'd said things started very subtly and very slowly
0:46 feelings of being anxious and being paranoid but I don't think at the time that was anything different or kind of strange it just kind of I felt that that was that was no I love certain thoughts I can reflect on know well that behavior isn't normal to kind of avoid mirrors or block up gaps in doors and things but but but at the time my friends didn't pick up on things I would say only after a few years did people start to realize that something wasn't right and comment on it I would say things did start with visuals but it was it was very subtle it was moving ground it was distortions the melting of objects and furniture insect crawling on
1:32 my skin it would almost feel like spiders or things beneath your skin are like you can't get rid of the red of an itch and I think this would gradually move on to the voices and this dominant male vitamin Hank commanded me to do things but this voice would kind of grow into someone who put me down and not my confidence in a big way you just end up this emotional wreck of crying or kind of irritated and I was afraid from life so I just wanted to kind of be more to myself and I would say that's where I've jumped into my creative world even I think drawing and designing little characters and stories became so much to me that that kind of developed that side
2:19 and escaped into that rather than with my friends I was with my girlfriend at the time and she was the one who first prompted me to go and see a doctor seek help things got more severe I think things got more vivid I saw some fish on the floor in the car and I kind of got more distressed as I thought you know this fisherman about is filling up with water and her reaction to that that this wasn't happening made me realize this isn't normal not everyone experiences this and I need to get some help the GP at the time did prescribed me some antidepressants which over time would grow 20 psychotics and although
3:06 they would help in some way they would take where the race ended take away I'd said the volume of the voices and they would take away the visions they take away part of me as well and I think that's something I'd always struggled to communicate it slows me down it makes me fall asleep it doesn't make me feel like Richard basically it made me feel like I was waiting through more than my head and I didn't want to feel that way and I so I that's not the pathway I've I've chosen today I would rather struggle and be me then be doorstopper medication and not be recognizable [Music]
3:55 you
