Plain-language, educational articles on schizophrenia, psychosis, antipsychotic medications, and lived experience — by ColdAI.
For seven years my mother told me my schizophrenia was 'just stress' and I should try harder. The day she sat in the family group at NAMI, something shifted. We are still rebuilding, slowly.
StoryEight years after my first hospitalisation, I sat for the certified peer specialist exam in Pennsylvania. Here is what that path actually looked like.
StoryMy first episode came with vivid religious content. For two years afterwards I could not set foot in a church. This is the story of slowly finding my way back.
StoryI have had three serious relationships since being diagnosed with schizophrenia. The disclosure conversation has gone differently each time. Here is what I have learned about timing, framing, and being chosen.
How-toSSI is a needs-based federal program for people with very limited income and resources. For someone with schizophrenia and no work history, it's often the foundation of financial stability.
NutritionCholine shows up in two distinct places in schizophrenia science: prenatal supplementation trials with intriguing results, and adult diets where most people fall short of intake recommendations.
SleepTrazodone, melatonin, hydroxyzine, mirtazapine, and others all have a role in treating insomnia in schizophrenia. Here is a clear, honest guide to the options.
Special populationsAmerican jails now hold more people with schizophrenia than American hospitals. Understanding how that happened — and what works — matters.
Co-occurringObsessive-compulsive symptoms occur in around a quarter of people with schizophrenia — sometimes worsened by antipsychotics. The treatment overlaps with standard OCD care but needs adaptation.
CrisisCIT training has become the most common mental-health response training for US police. Here is what it actually covers, when to ask for a CIT officer, and what the training does not change.
HospitalPartial hospitalization sits between inpatient care and weekly outpatient therapy — a structured day program that can prevent admissions or shorten them.
TreatmentRoughly 40–70% of people on clozapine are partial responders — better than before, but still symptomatic. Here's what the evidence supports as augmentation, and what to skip.
MedicationThe difference between first- and second-generation antipsychotics is real, but smaller than 1990s marketing suggested. The CATIE and CUtLASS trials reshaped how psychiatrists think about both classes.
MedicationPerphenazine, an older mid-potency typical, surprised the field in the 2005 CATIE trial by matching newer atypicals on most outcomes. It remains a quietly useful option.
SymptomsAlogia is the negative symptom that quietly affects conversation — fewer words, less elaboration, longer pauses. It is rarely about not having anything to say.
OverviewSchizophrenia before age 13 is rare — fewer than 1 in 30,000 children — but profoundly serious. It overlaps with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions and demands specialist care.
OverviewPositive symptoms add things to a person's experience (voices, beliefs). Negative symptoms take things away (motivation, emotion, speech). Both deserve attention.
Crisis & safetyOnce an inpatient bed opens, the move from the ED to the unit is its own ordeal. Knowing what happens next makes a hard transition less destabilising.
Special populationsSchizophrenia and epilepsy share more than people often realise — genes, brain regions, and treatment trade-offs. Understanding the overlap matters for patients with either or both.
FAQOnline schizophrenia self-tests cannot diagnose you. They can flag whether your concerns are worth bringing to a clinician, but actual diagnosis requires a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation.
Rating scalesThe CGI takes thirty seconds and asks the clinician one question: how sick is this person, and how much have they changed? Its simplicity is exactly its strength.
HallucinationsOlfactory hallucinations — phantom smells with no source — are an uncommon but real symptom in schizophrenia, and they have a long differential diagnosis worth taking seriously.
StoryI lost custody of my son during my second hospitalization. I have shared custody now, four years later. Here is the long, careful road that made it possible.
MindfulnessYoga asanas — postures — have a real evidence base in schizophrenia, particularly the protocol developed at NIMHANS in India. Here are the specific postures and how to adapt them for medication side effects.
Caregiver scenariosRespite is not a reward for caregivers — it is a clinical tool that keeps caregiving sustainable. Here is how to actually plan, pay for, and use a real break.
VocationalSelf-employment is appealing for many people with schizophrenia — flexible hours, no boss, no disclosure dilemmas. It is also financially riskier and demands more executive function. Here is the honest trade-off.
StoryI lived in Brooklyn for fourteen years. At 40, I moved back to a suburb in New Jersey to be twenty minutes from my parents. The decision was not the failure I had feared.
TransitionsChanging prescribers is one of the most common reasons people fall out of treatment. With a small amount of planning, the switch can happen without losing the months or years of work that came before.
MedicationFlupentixol is a thioxanthene antipsychotic widely used outside the US, with both oral and depot forms — and a low-dose indication for depression that does not exist for most other antipsychotics.
StoryFor seven years I told myself that if I had been stronger, smarter, or less weak, I wouldn't have gotten sick. It took a long time to put that story down.