Being told that you have schizophrenia can bring up all sorts of feelings.

There is no right or wrong way to feel about your diagnosis. The important thing is that you feel able to talk about your feelings – whether that’s with your friends and family, your doctor, your talking therapist or any other healthcare professional.

Communication can be difficult when you have schizophrenia.1 But the more you can talk about what’s going on with you, the better other people will be able to understand you, and the easier you can get the help you need, when you need it. Connecting with other people is also a great way to calm yourself and relieve stress.2,3

You don’t have to deal with this alone.

If your diagnosis makes you feel overwhelmed, you can always ask your doctor or other healthcare professional any questions you might have. Sometimes, understanding what is happening and what is going to happen can make us feel calmer.

Questions you might have could include….

• What medications will I take?
• How quickly will it work?
• What sort of side effects should I look out for?
• Can anyone help me manage how and when to take my medication?
• How often will I take this medication and how will I have it? Will it be an injection? Tablets? Something else?
• If I don’t like this medication or I don’t feel better, can I change it?
• Who should I tell if I notice side effects or that I don’t feel better? When should I speak up?

• What talking therapies are there?
  • What’s the difference between the various types of therapy?
  • If I haven’t liked a particular kind of therapy before, can I try something different? Can I talk about why I didn’t like that kind of therapy?
  • Will I see someone on my own, I bring my family along, or a bit of both?
  • How can I trust the counsellor or recovery worker?

• What lifestyle changes could I make?
  • How can I eat more healthily?
  • How can I get the right amount of exercise?
  • Can I get help with giving up or cutting down on smoking, alcohol or drugs?
  • What sort of activities could I get involved with that are healthy?

• Should I tell people about my diagnosis? Can you support me to do that?
• Is it true that….. ?(here you can ask anything that’s been bothering you)
• What are people going to think of me now? What will people say about me?
• How do I cope with lots of big emotions? How do I cope with conflicting feelings?
• How can I start to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s not?
• What should I tell my school/college/employer?
• Who should I speak to if I feel bad?
  • Can I talk to a counsellor?
  • Should I talk to a friend or family member?
  • Should I call a doctor?
• When will you want to see me again?

When it comes to schizophrenia, people generally don’t know much about it. They might think it means “having a split personality” or that people with schizophrenia are dangerous. These are common misconceptions – things that a lot of people believe that aren’t actually true.

Luckily, things are changing. In general, people are becoming a lot more understanding of mental health issues, and lots of people are now talking publicly about their mental health on social media platforms.

There will always be people in the world who say hurtful or wrong things about schizophrenia. This might stem from them not knowing anything about it. You can’t change other people, but you can choose to focus instead on yourself, and what you know to be true about yourself.

Some people may not understand schizophrenia.

That’s OK.

Focus on yourself, and your family. That’s the most important thing.