#schizospec things

[rachymarie]

normalize rambling

normalize the messy thinkers + talkers

for one thing let's get our collective attention spans back

for another, let's be more inclusive of + compassionate towards folks whose disabilities cause "rambling" and disorganized speech/thought

[gray-gray-gray-gray]

Let's Talk About The Overlap Between Autism, ADHD, and Schizophrenia

I've been wanting to make a graph like this for awhile, about the overlap between these three disorders. Tagging @auschizm because it's highly related to that blog :D

Text transcribed below the cut because it's long!

Title: Can We Talk About The Overlap Between... AUTISM, ADHD, AND SCHIZOPHRENIA?

Description: You always hear people talking about AuDHD, but schizophrenia has the same if not more overlap with these disorders, and it's not talked about!

Let's start boosting schizophrenic people's voices. There's more to the disorder than just psychosis!

Graph based on my personal experience with schizophrenia, my experiences with autistic and ADHD communities, and the words of people with AuDHD themselves.

Made by @gray-gray-gray-gray on tumblr.

Schizophrenia Only

Typical age of onset between 15 and 54 years old

Before the onset/ first psychotic break, there is a "prodrome" where you have a drop in functioning

Reoccuring episodes of psychosis (Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, etc)

Likely had less noticeable or covert symptoms pre-onset

Often daydreaming, 'in their own world', hyper-self-reflective, 'space cadet'

Autism Only

Need for familiarty & routine

Sudden disruptions to routine are highly distressing

ADHD Only

Craves new experiences & novelty

Autism & ADHD (AuDHD)

Interest-based nervous system (meaning attention & focus is activated based on personal interest, not how important something is)

Onset in very early childhood -- before age 12

Autism & Schizophrenia (Auschizm)

Self-soothing via repetitive behavior

Higher rates of catatonic symptoms

Social withdrawal or exclusion

Difficulties filtering speech

Flat affect

Alogia

Concrete and/or literal thinking

Higher rates of personality disorders, dissociative disorders, and trauma

Internally oriented behavior

Difficulties wording what they

want to say correctly & disorganized speech

Difficulties with insight into what is part of the disorder and what is neurotypial

ADHD & Schizophrenia (SchizoDHD)

Impulsivity & hard to sit still

Difficulties regulating attention & focus, also causing social cue difficulties

Difficulty keeping a daily routine

Jumping around or out of sequence speech

Forgetfulness

Failing to reach a clear end goal or point in speech

Less coherent progression from start to finish in stories

General difficulties with thinking clearly

Drawing blanks / losing train of thought often

Difficulties finding motivation to do things

Lots of energy some days, no energy other days

Troubles multitasking

Planning poorly or not at all

All Three

Stimming

Echolalia, echopraxia

Executive dysfunction

Sensory issues & overload

Emotional dysregulation

Interconnected/webbed thought

ND communication (infodumping, connecting ideas, shared interest bonding)

Increased risk of victimization

Hyperfixations

Higher rates of depression, anxiety, OCD, BFRBS, bipolar, suicidality, sleep issues, eating disorders, and substance abuse

Eye contact differences

Difficulties switching tasks

Masking

Hyperfocusing

Restlessness

Prone to boredom

Memory issues

Social situation difficulties

Time blindness

Difficulties with school, learning, and following tasks

Chronic disorder

RSD

Anhedonia

Alexithymia

Interoceptive difficulties

[avpdpossum]

can we talk more about avpd being a (proposed) schizospec disorder? because i almost never see that theory talked about but i wish it was. like…

avpd makes me censor my thoughts because i think someone might hear what i’m thinking and see what a horrible person i am on the inside or judge me for thinking embarrassing things.

avpd makes me so afraid of someone walking in on me doing something i Shouldn’t Be Doing that my brain twists background noise into the sounds of whispers and footsteps behind me.

avpd makes me so worried about people staring at me that in my peripheral vision, anyone near me looks like they’re already staring at me, and it’s only when i look at them directly that i realize they’ve been looking in a totally different direction the whole time.

avpd makes me so convinced of how much everyone must secretly hate me that i often start thinking everyone secretly wants to hurt me too, to the point where i’ve had panic attacks from a person walking too close behind me because i feel like they’re getting ready to attack me (when i haven’t had any kind of trauma that would create that fear), and the paranoia just serves to reinforce my need to avoid people.

avpd makes me lose my ability to speak or reduces it to nothing more than one word answers only when spoken to, turning the thoughts i wanted to express into a jumble that’s impossible to turn into words or just throwing them away completely and making my mind go blank, so i end up just staring at people silently or even acting like i don’t see them standing there at all (not on purpose but because my brain won’t let me engage with them).

avpd makes me look damn near emotionless around everyone but my safe person (and sometimes even around my safe person) because showing my emotions would be far too vulnerable for its liking, so it completely takes away my ability to express them.

and i could keep going! there are so many things i experience because of avpd that i’ve seen really closely reflected in the experiences of schizospec people. i don’t know how common these kinds of things are in avpd overall, but they’re a really prominent part of my experience with it, so when i found out that some research suggested it could be considered a schizospec disorder itself, that made so much sense to me! and i’d be so curious to see how many other avoidants have dealt with this stuff but haven’t talked about it because it’s never mentioned as being part of avpd.

[aftonsreprise]

Most of the people who call themselves a “weird freak” online are just losers who use microlabels nobody gives a shit about, and they wouldn’t last a day around… actual people who are considered freaks and met with disgust and the true hate, going far beyond simple disrespect, that they use as their “edgy” little aesthetic.

[antlerkitty]

Guide to coping with paranoia/intense fears as a schizospec person

Disclaimer: This is made for people with similar experiences to me. I have recurring brief reactive psychosis (diagnosed I think) and in daily life am along the lines of schizotypal, though that label isn't fully accurate. This may not help if you have more chronic, daily psychosis, or more severe psychotic symptoms than me.

Paranoia of things "beyond this world" (probably biggest category since have lots and lots of experience with this):

Most widely applicable/recommended/healthy:

Humming/singing cheerful tunes or songs. Learned this from Totoro actually! And it really can help with keeping a bit of your brain in reality.

Decorating your space in color and fun and whimsy can make it seem more inviting of positive energy.

Having comfort objects and keeping things the same can help a lot. Alternately, changing things up a bit every once in a while can help with being less paranoid if something gets lost or moved a bit if someone else lives with you or visits you.

Playlist of upbeat, non-creepy songs for when the paranoia and distortions are bugging you a lot (currently using this strategy actually). Funny videos can help too!

Getting up and moving. Engaging with familiar people in person. Dancing, getting outside, etc., or doing whatever moving works for you in your situation!

Stimming.

Bringing pets/people with you when you go to struggle areas. I always bring my cats around the house with me when I am going to places that worsen paranoia and distortions.

Do DBT calming skills if that usually helps you.

Less recommended/works for specific people only/may worsen issues:

Basic witchcraft like protection and cleansing spells.

Keeping creepy-but-endearing things around. I personally find comfort in disturbing and creepy things, I feel like the bridge the gap between my reality and the real world. But I make sure I find them friendly and non-threatening.

Paranoia of others:

Stay in areas with people that you find non-threatening or don't have paranoid fears about. I always make sure I'm near larger groups of people, especially with kids. (May not work for others, may worsen fears)

Carry comfort objects with you.

For relationship-related paranoia (in healthy relationships), try doing something positive and non-threatening with the person/people you're in a relationship very regularly. Ideally every day, even multiple times a day. Regularly talk positively to the other person/people about them, and ask them to do the same for you.

If you find yourself yourself paranoia spiraling, take a break from interactions. Find a trusted person if you have one. Try to not make any impulsive decisions, and alert trusted people if possible.

[schizospec-culture-is]

schizospec culture is having disorganized thinking without a [consistent] speech component (according to others around you), but because your thinking is disorganized you can never actually tell if your speech is making sense. you always get nervous making long essays and posts talking about things because you always feel like it's incomprehensible, but then people reblog it saying it was the most easy to understand thing they'd seen on the topic, and you're so so surprised. but then when you do experience disorganized speech, everyone is put off and concerned by how you're talking, which is annoying because the disorganization isn't new, it's just that it's showing outwardly for once. constantly feeling like you're not making sense because your thinking doesn't make sense, being surprised when people say your speech makes sense to them, and being annoyed when people say it's not making sense or it's stilted or confusing as though it's new because it Isn't, it's just easier for you to see for once.

-

[spiralhigh]

this is like a year old and super out of character bc i only drew it to blow off steam but i still like how it came out so

[villain-disorder]

Having no empathy and limited sympathy is so thankless. You can sit here doing equations in your brain trying to figure out how to not upset people and they still get mad if you make an "obvious" social mistake. But they don't see the amount of thought that goes into every damn interaction to make sure you're not unintentionally being hurtful, so if you make too many "obvious" mistakes, you're evil and a bad person.

You have disorganised thinking and can't see every outcome for a social interaction? Evil. You have no/low empathy and struggle to see how others feel and can be seen as cold even if you try to seem kind and be compassionate? Evil. Cut us some slack, it's not innate to us to function "perfectly". When I'm in a psychotic episode I can hardly think at all. Chill out.

[lifenconcepts]

hiiiiiii friendly reminder to not go knocking on strangers doors and running away :)) or just doing that at all :) some of us have sheer paranoia that can render us stressed for time long after the action is done :) because you don’t experience consequences doesn’t mean you’re free to go around doing this like a fucking asshole. :). I know most people who’d listen to this don’t go around doing it but I hope that at least one person reconsiders doing this just to look cool in front of their friends. You don’t seem awesome, you just make it clear your an uncaring asshole and nobody will come to you. I hope karma does its thing. :)

[rachymarie]

Targeted ads, contact syncing, etc are the worst as a schizospec

[autopsyfreak]

born to rot alone in my room.

forced to go outside and communicate with others.

[meowticta]

just so you know,

i love you people who are in remission of their psychotic disorder/symptoms.

i love you people who don't have a diagnosis yet

i love you people who are psychotic and loud, and have no filter while talking and ranting.

i love you people who dont suffer from any shame when they're psychotic and say ''weird'' shit that only them understand

those who do not care if people think they're weird, annoying, ''dangerous''

those who are violent, who get restrained, those who are in psych wards, the so called ''crazy and insane''

those who have more delusions than hallucinations, or the other way around.

those who, will never recover, those who dont take meds nor therapy

the schizoaffectives, the schizophrenics, the schizophreniform, the brief psychotic disorder ones, those delusionals, to anyone who had or has a psychotic episode because of drugs or other reasons

i love you, you're not a bad person, you have 0 control of what your mind thinks or does, your condition is stigmatized, but i love you, you can take up space, you can talk about your experiences, and that will be valid, and cherished, i know people are afraid of you, of what the mind can do, of what they don't experience, but never believe that you are a bad person because of your psychosis,

be loud, be scary, be dirty, be ''embarrasing'' be ''gross'' be everything, or nothing at all, be proudly mad.

let people know about you, you have a voice, you have stories to tell, and your stories? will always be accepted by the right people, you won't be judged by the right people

this one is for the schizos, for the psychotics, the delusionals.

shoutout to you

[avpdpossum]

psych assessment: do you ever feel like your thoughts aren’t actually your own?

me: no, never, absolutely not

also me: *regularly saying “shut up” out loud to my own thoughts because sometimes when i think bad things about myself i don’t actually mean to think them and they catch me off guard and it feels like someone else using my mind’s voice and i don’t like it so i have to tell the angry brain gremlin that now’s not the time*

[headshotters]

realizing that other people experience emotions differently is so interesting, i noticed this recently while talking to a friend of mine and it was genuinely kind of shocking? i figured everyone felt things the exact same way as me and just majorly overexaggerated everything, but learning that people will use the same words to describe very different experiences is actually pretty cool

[schizospec-culture-is]

Schizospec culture is sitting and watching the ceiling flow for what ends up being hours

-

[21cnz]

Everybody loves schizos until they deem our realities as weird and uncomfprtable to talk about. They dont want to be 'enabling' us but theres nothing to enable because this is real. Do you think i enable ypur ridiculous beliefs in a god by celebrating christmas with you ? No because you think god is normal. My shit is real too. Dont be a dick and believe me.