Medications necessary for all?

Hello Awseome_toad,

Not many.

Though, in the case of Substance-Induced Psychotic Disorder, where someone who abused drugs or alcohol, who developed schizophrenia symptoms, it is sometimes possible for him not to need meds once he is clean or sober.  This is not a hard-and-fast rule for every recovering addict, though.  Some people used drugs or alcohol to self-mediciate their schizophrenia symptoms, so may need antipsychotics indefinitely.

Everyone I know personally and everyone I know from reading memoirs on schizophrenia, who has gone off his or her meds, has relapsed and needed to be hospitalized again.

The bottom line: if you wanted to go off your meds, that would be your choice.

The odds are virtually a shoo-in that someone who does not take his meds won't recover fully.

All the "success stories" I know are of people who chose to take their meds.

Regards,

Christina