What Does Schizophrenia Look and Feel Like?

Experiencing schizophrenia yourself is very different to what people around you see. And every individual has their own unique experience of schizophrenia. 1,2 But there are a number of symptoms that are frequently reported by people with schizophrenia, and you may have a combination of some of these. 1,2

Inside schizophrenia: what it may feel like

Hallucinations

Hearing voices that other people don’t. Some people with schizophrenia hear friendly voices, some hear critical or hostile voices. These voices may be loud and clear, or mumbling. They may talk about you, or talk to you directly, telling you to do certain things. Some people hear just one voice, some hear several 1,3

Seeing things that other people don’t, or seeing things that are distorted or don’t behave like they should (moving/changing in some way) 4,5

Experiencing sensations without a cause that anyone else can see. This might be a feeling of being touched, unusual tastes or smells, or the feeling that bugs are crawling on you 4

Delusions

Thinking that… 1,4-8

…you are being monitored in some way, such as video cameras, computer hacking, mind-reading or some unknown advanced technology

…you are in danger from people in a position of authority (e.g. the police or the medical profession) a higher power, secret organisation, the government or alien intelligence. You may worry that they are plotting against you, and mean you harm, or want you to harm yourself

…people are out to get you, such as family, friends, colleagues or medical professionals. You may believe they are conspiring against you but are keeping it a secret from you. You may believe people close to you are actually trying to poison, destablise or control you

…you are very important and special. You may believe that the TV, films, books and other media are trying to send coded messages especially to you, or that you have a relationship with a famous person you don’t know. You may believe you are receiving messages from a god, alien intelligence or supernatural being

…you have worked out what’s “really” going on. Hallucinations and delusions that make no sense to you are frightening, and some people create a narrative that makes sense of these feelings, without any solid evidence. These narratives might be something like believing your doctors are conspiring to control you, or that aliens have taken over your thoughts

…you have special powers or are on a special mission and can/should perform certain acts to accomplish this mission or demonstrate your powers

…you can do no wrong and all your ideas are great, despite what people around you might say. This might lead you to take great risks with your safety or money, believing that nothing can go wrong

Disorganised thoughts

Racing thoughts is when you seem to think too fast, with ideas racing through your head one after the other 5

Flight of ideas is when your mind jumps from one thought to another, and you may see patterns and meaning in things that other people don’t see 5

Misunderstanding what people are saying or expressing non-verbally (such as through facial expressions or body language 9,10

Getting confused with instructions, or remembering how/what order to do things like get dressed or wash your hair10

REFERENCES:

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https://www.mind.org.uk/media/9201/schizophrenia-2020-pdf-version-updated-mid-cycle.pdf. Last accessed: July 2022.
Living With Schizophrenia. Voices. Available at:
https://livingwithschizophreniauk.org/information-sheets/understanding-voice-hearing/. Last accessed: March 2022.
WebMD. Schizophrenia symptoms. Available at:
https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-symptoms Last accessed: March 2022.
Mind. Psychosis booklet. Available at:
https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/4293/psychosis-2020-pdf-download.pdf Last accessed: March 2022.
Living With Schizophrenia. Understanding psychosis. Available at:
https://livingwithschizophreniauk.org/information-sheets/understanding-paranoia/. Last accessed: July 2022.
Quora search. https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-have-schizophrenia-1
NHS. Schizophrenia symptoms. Available at:
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms/. Last accessed: March 2022.
De Sousa P, et al. Disorganisation, throught disorder and scoio-cognitive functining in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. B J Psych. 2019;214:103-112.
Very Well Mind. Disorganized schizophrenia. Available at:
https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-disorganized-schizophrenia-4581314 Last accessed: July 2022.