Plain-language, educational articles on schizophrenia, psychosis, antipsychotic medications, and lived experience — by ColdAI.
Vaping looks safer than smoking on most measures but is not without its own risks. For people with schizophrenia, the answer depends on whether vaping is replacing cigarettes or adding to them.
Legal & FinancialMedicaid is the single largest funder of schizophrenia care in the United States — but every state runs its own program with different rules. Here's how to navigate yours.
Side effectsSome antipsychotics produce vivid dreams or nightmares — sometimes intense enough to disrupt sleep. Here is the mechanism and what helps.
BehaviorsImpulsivity in schizophrenia has many sources — symptoms, medication side effects, sleep loss, substances. Knowing which one is driving today's behaviour changes the response.
InternationalAustralia pioneered early intervention in psychosis through EPPIC, built the world's largest youth mental health network in headspace, and funds psychology through Medicare. Here's how the system fits together.
InteractionsCombining SSRIs with antipsychotics is one of the most common decisions in modern schizophrenia care. The decision is rarely binary — it's about which SSRI, at what dose, with what monitoring.
HallucinationsTactile hallucinations are touch sensations with no external source — from feather-light brushes to the unforgettable sensation of insects crawling under the skin.
DelusionsReligious delusions sit on the most sensitive boundary in psychiatry — the line between sincere faith and a belief that has become symptomatic. Both deserve respect.
CopingWhen you are distressed, you cannot remember everything you know. Coping cards put your best advice to yourself in your pocket — short, clear, and ready when you need them.
StoryI spent fourteen months sleeping outside in Phoenix during an untreated psychotic episode. This is what got me back inside, and what it took to stay.
StoryI am 38 and I spent ten years refusing to apply for disability. This is the story of why I finally did, what the process actually looked like, and how it changed my life.
StoryI spent three years at my company before telling anyone. When I finally did — partly out of necessity, partly out of exhaustion — almost nothing about my job changed. Here is what the conversation actually looked like.
StoryIt took three psychiatrists and seven years for someone to use the right word for what was happening to me. This is a composite story of life with schizoaffective disorder.
CaregiverCalling 911 during a psychiatric crisis can save a life — and can also lead to outcomes that make things worse. Here is how to think clearly about which option to use.
Special populationsPeople with schizophrenia are dramatically over-represented among the homeless. The path out is not mysterious — but it requires committed housing, not just shelters.
Co-occurringDepression in schizophrenia is common, often distinct from negative symptoms, and worth treating directly. Post-psychotic depression in particular deserves attention.
LifestyleJournaling can be a quietly powerful tool in schizophrenia recovery — for tracking warning signs, processing experience, and giving your care team better information. Here is how to do it usefully.
CrisisFor people who can't talk on the phone — because they are at work, in a quiet house, or simply paralysed at the thought of speaking — texting a crisis counsellor changes what help is available.
HospitalThe transition home from a psychiatric unit is the most fragile moment in the entire treatment cycle. The right discharge plan can prevent the next admission.
TreatmentCBD is the non-intoxicating component of cannabis. Small trials suggest possible antipsychotic activity, but the evidence is far from conclusive and it is not a replacement for established treatment.
MedicationFluphenazine is a high-potency typical antipsychotic with both oral tablets and a long-acting injection — a combination that made it a workhorse of community psychiatry for decades.
MedicationLurasidone is among the most metabolically friendly atypicals — particularly useful in bipolar depression — but absorption depends on a meal of at least 350 calories.
SymptomsAnhedonia in schizophrenia isn't quite the same as the anhedonia of depression. Recent research distinguishes the loss of anticipatory pleasure from the loss of in-the-moment pleasure.
PsychosisBrief psychotic disorder involves sudden psychotic symptoms that resolve within a month. Most people recover fully — but the episode still deserves serious attention.
OverviewSchizophrenia can begin after 40 — and even after 60. These late-onset presentations are different from textbook young-adult cases and are easily missed. A practical overview.
EngineeringAn engineering and product story about how Frida — a calm, evidence-informed schizophrenia stability app — is being built at ColdAI LLC.
Practical lifeSupermarkets are designed to maximize what shoppers see, hear, and consider. For a schizophrenia-affected nervous system, that design is exhausting. Here is how to shop without getting wrecked.
Side effectsSome antipsychotics lengthen the QT interval on ECG enough to raise the risk of dangerous arrhythmias. Here is which agents matter, and what monitoring looks like.
Medication managementStewardship is borrowed from antibiotics — but the idea applies to antipsychotics too. Right drug, right dose, right duration, right monitoring, with regular reconsideration.
FAQThere is no single best antipsychotic for everyone. Clozapine is the most effective overall but is reserved for treatment-resistant cases due to monitoring requirements. The right medication depends on individual response and side-effect tolerability.