The Schizo Lifestyle

My husband was diagnosed with Schizoaffective 2 years ago and at first we were wondering what could be done for him. They put him on every medication they could and nothing helped. Finally, they put him on Xanax that was for “Emergency use only” and basically if he would have a manic fit in public or at home, he would take a Xanax to relieve the symptoms temporarily. That worked for a long time but now, he’s not taking the medication anymore because it’s not helping him and he doesn’t want to go any higher on the dose because he’s afraid he’ll be taking too much and on top of that more than one pill makes him sleepy.

I have noticed that over the past year my husband has been declining in his mental health. He sleeps a lot and gets sidetracked all of the time. He spends a lot more time doing useless things like spending too much time on Facebook, Twitter and Sports websites. He doesn’t spend much time with us anymore and he’s become very animated where he sings random songs when no music is playing and he talks randomly on and on about nothing. He definitely doesn’t help much around the house and when he does it’s because I’ve literally bitched at him until he does it. He’s become a lot more argumentative about everything and does not handle constructive criticism at all. Anytime that I bring to his attention that he’s acting out, he says that I’m making it up, basically lying about it. Afterall, he doesn’t see things for what they really are.

He has a lot of OCD’s including being afraid of ants and seeing germs that they “leave behind”, washing his hands a lot and compulsively checking Facebook. For a long time he would become extremely upset if our son got dirty or made any messes because he expected him to know that messes are “dirty” and “Germey” lucky for us, he has since lightened up on that part and he’s no longer bothered by it.

There’s so much more I could write but, I would be here all night. All I can say is that living with a Schizo is one of the hardest things you’ll have to endure. It’s so difficult to see what they see and live in their world even for a minute. I’m hoping that at some point, things will turn around and he’ll be able to function again normally.

If any of you have similar circumstances or know more about this condition, please comment below. Thanks!