Plain-language, educational articles on schizophrenia, psychosis, antipsychotic medications, and lived experience — by ColdAI.
Invega Trinza is a paliperidone injection given every three months — just four times a year — for patients already stable on the monthly form. It's one of the longest-interval LAIs available.
MedicationWeight gain is the most predictable and most disliked side effect of olanzapine. Understanding why it happens — and what actually works to limit it — makes a real difference.
ProfileA respected German judge wrote one of the most detailed first-person accounts of psychotic illness ever published. Generations of psychiatrists, philosophers, and psychoanalysts have studied it — sometimes more carefully than others.
ProfileIvor Gurney was an English composer and First World War poet of unusual gifts who spent his final fifteen years in psychiatric hospitals. Modern reassessments still debate whether he had schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
ProfileJack Kerouac received a Navy discharge in 1943 with a diagnosis of 'dementia praecox' — an older term for schizophrenia. Whether that label, assigned in eight days of observation, accurately describes him is one of the most contested questions in literary biography.
SymptomsThe DSM-5 removed the paranoid subtype of schizophrenia in 2013. The clinical pattern it described still occurs in many people — and understanding it helps treatment.
PsychosisPostpartum psychosis is rare but severe — and unlike postpartum depression, it usually requires immediate hospitalisation. Early recognition saves lives.
PreventionEarly intervention services for psychosis began in Australia in the 1990s and now exist worldwide. Here is what the leading international models look like.
DiagnosisSchizophrenia is one of the highest-stakes diagnoses in medicine — and not always the right one. Here is when a second opinion is reasonable and how to actually get one.
OverviewSchizophrenia exists everywhere humans live, but its long-term course is not identical across cultures. The WHO international studies gave us some of psychiatry's most important — and contested — cross-cultural findings.
StoryTwo years ago I felt myself sliding toward an episode. Instead of driving to the ER, I called a peer respite house. Five days later I went home stable. Here is why I would do it the same way again.
StoryI have been on dating apps, on and off, for six years with schizophrenia. I have made every disclosure mistake there is. Here is the practice I have settled into.
Caregiver scenariosStep-parents occupy an unusual caregiver position — present in the household, often paying for care, and yet without the legal or emotional authority of a biological parent.
StoryClozapine had been on the table for me for nine years. I refused it for nine years. The conversation that finally moved me was not the one I had been expecting.
Side EffectLightheadedness or fainting on standing is a common — and underrecognised — side effect of several antipsychotics. The good news: it usually responds to simple measures.
LAISwitching from a daily oral antipsychotic to a long-acting injectable involves dose conversion, oral overlap, and timing. Here's a practical guide to what to expect.
MedicationRisperidone is one of the workhorses of antipsychotic treatment — effective for schizophrenia, often well-tolerated at low to moderate doses, and available in long-acting injectable form.
TechnologyAVATAR therapy gives a face to the voice and lets the patient confront it directly. Two large UK trials suggest the effect is real, especially for distress.
Practical lifeOpening a bank account on disability benefits has rules other accounts do not. Get them right and the account makes life easier. Get them wrong and you can lose your benefits.
Crisis & safetyWhen police are responding to a mental health crisis, asking for a CIT-trained officer changes what is in the room. Here is what CIT actually means.
DifferentialThree diagnoses, one diagnostic question: how do mood symptoms and psychotic symptoms relate to each other over time? The answer points to schizoaffective, schizophrenia, or bipolar.
Special populationsSchizophrenia occurs more often in adults with intellectual or developmental disability than in the general population — and is often missed because of diagnostic overshadowing.
Medication managementRamadan and other extended fasts intersect with antipsychotic dosing in ways that deserve a real conversation, not a flat 'do not fast.' Here is what tends to work.
Drug interactionsSt John's wort is sold as a 'natural' antidepressant supplement, but pharmacologically it is one of the most potent enzyme inducers people swallow — and it can lower antipsychotic levels meaningfully.
MindfulnessLoving-kindness meditation deliberately cultivates warmth toward self and others. The research base in schizophrenia is small but promising, especially for negative symptoms and isolation.
Expressive therapiesEquine-assisted therapy is not riding lessons. It is structured psychological work with horses, on the ground, designed to support emotional regulation, social engagement, and recovery.
Women's healthA meaningful subset of women with schizophrenia report worse symptoms in the premenstrual or menstrual phase. Tracking the pattern is the first step to addressing it.
SleepMelatonin is one of the most-asked-about supplements in schizophrenia. Here is what the evidence shows about safety, dose, timing, and the conditions where it is most useful.
Culture and faithChinese-immigrant families face specific challenges and strengths in schizophrenia care — a guide to language access, stigma, traditional medicine, and where to find culturally informed help.
Negative symptomsWorking memory — the ability to hold and manipulate information for a few seconds — is one of the most consistently affected cognitive functions in schizophrenia.