Monday, May 25, 2009 Santhi asks

Q: Is Schizophrenia existing with no halucinations, hearing voices etc/

A person of 18 years old is not having any halucinations, hearing of voices etc. But he is frquently loosing short-term memory, unable to concnetrate in studies, unable to make many friends socially, some fear in mind. First medicine for depression was given (Fludac and cipraflo and Normabrain) were given. Within a period of 10 to 14 days, he started smiling, laughing on his own. But no halucinations, no voice hearing etc. Then the medicines were stopped after 2 more weeks. The laugh9ing continued. Then the medicine was stopped and later Arip 20 mg was given. The problem of laughing /smiling stopped. Now Arip 20 mg is given and the patient os Ok and doing well in studies.

Is the exisiting problem SZ or asperger? Because the present symptoms are same as that of Asperger syndrome. Kindly reply with detaisl

Thanks

Santhi

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Answers (2)

Christina Bruni, Health Guide

5/25/09 8:24am

Hello Santhi,

I am able to answer 95 percent of the questions posed in the Ask feature here. I will answer your question, however first I must make a disclaimer:I'm not licensed to diagnose or treat medical conditions, so I would refer you to a psychiatrist for your question about the actual diagnosis. You can always get a second opinion from a different doctor than the one treating the patient.

What I can tell you: it is possible to have a mild form of schizophrenia. Not everyone diagnosed with SZ hears voices or hallucinates, though a lot of us do. I am somone diagnosed with SZ who never heard voices. If the person you mention got treatment right away and the treatment was effective in giving him his life back, that's what matters most. I always urge people not to get hung up over what the diagnosis is, because the diagnosis can change over time as new symptoms present themselves or old symptoms fall away.

From what you said, and what I know of Aspergers, I couldn't tell you that this person has Aspergers. Again only a qualified medical professional can confirm this or rule it out. One thing to know is that initially some people with SZ are first diagnosed with depression because they have symptoms of depression and then the symptoms of SZ appear later on.

So what you need to do is educate yourself about depression, schizophrenia and Aspergers. Click on the green find button on the top of this page and then click on "Schizophrenia Basics." Go to www.mydepressionconnection.com to read about depression. Go on http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/detail_asperger.htm for info on Aspergers.

Also, it is possible to have both SZ and Aspergers at the same time.

Lastly, I'd tell you and the patient to be aware of their symptoms, any changes in symptoms or new symptoms that appear, and tell the psychiatrist right away if this happens so that the treatment can be evaluated or adjusted to keep the patient doing well in his or her recovery.

Regards,

Christina

Craig

5/25/09 2:52pm

Hi Santhi,

My son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and placed on medications at age 21. This was based on obvious manifestations of positive symptoms and delusional thinking. However, at age 16 he had been experiencing non-positive symptoms that gradually worsened. It was thought he had anxiety / depression as no other symptoms were present other than those and some cognitive difficulties you mentioned.

He was in counselling with 3 different Psychologists and it was difficult to see the developing symptoms of schizophrenia, but as we found out later this was in fact what was really going on.

I hope this helps. All the best.

Q: Is Schizophrenia existing with no halucinations, hearing voices etc/

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