First signs of schizophrenia in teen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not as a parent, but as a girlfriend: he began to hear voices, would read into things in a very paranoid way, would accuse me and our friends of plotting against him. Thought random people he would encounter in public were conspiring against him. He also was smoking weed and that obviously did not help.

I just posted, but these sound more like red flags than the previous post. I am sure that must have been incredibly stressful to experience as the girlfriend.

[Anonymous]

Following this thread as my FIL was also a paranoid schizophrenic.

DS 12 hears things - ie will say did you call me when i didnt or ask if someone knocked on the door when no one did.

Really worried and grateful for any advice on what to look for in the prodormal stage. We have put him on omega 3 supplements and eat fish etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not as a parent, but as a girlfriend: he began to hear voices, would read into things in a very paranoid way, would accuse me and our friends of plotting against him. Thought random people he would encounter in public were conspiring against him. He also was smoking weed and that obviously did not help.

I just posted, but these sound more like red flags than the previous post. I am sure that must have been incredibly stressful to experience as the girlfriend.

Thank you. He was such a sweet guy and I really loved him, but slowly began to realize that it was possible that he would end up killing me. It’s been a couple of decades now but I still worry about him from afar

[Anonymous]

One of my roommates became schizophrenic while we lived together. Some of the first symptoms were just seeming very off — she was t making eye contact properly (almost like an autistic kid but as a new thing), would laugh inappropriately and then say things like “I have an odd sense of humor.” She was also talking a lot about this guy that she thought might like her and was flirting a lot with her, which didn’t seem that odd (maybe a little obsessive but that’s not unusual for girls/women at that age with a crush), but then we found out from the guy’s friend that he barely knew her and had been weirded out by her staring at him.
She’s actually in a really good place now I think but there were a couple rough years with her getting fired from jobs pretty quickly after getting them—at least one of those involved her stalking a married superior that she thought was into her. Campus health was not too much help as they would t tell us anything and apparently couldn’t force her to get treatment—we were just sort of graduation. It was also tough because her parents did not speak English and were potentially abusive (she had told a lot of stories about her father beating her mom and being really weird to her—we suspected even potential sexual abuse but it was hard to say if some of that was delusional.). She had a sister we were trying to reach out to but she lived far away and ultimately was not willing to do too much.

[Anonymous]

[url]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not as a parent, but as a girlfriend: he began to hear voices, would read into things in a very paranoid way, would accuse me and our friends of plotting against him. Thought random people he would encounter in public were conspiring against him. He also was smoking weed and that obviously did not help.

I just posted, but these sound more like red flags than the previous post. I am sure that must have been incredibly stressful to experience as the girlfriend.

Thank you. He was such a sweet guy and I really loved him, but slowly began to realize that it was possible that he would end up killing me. It’s been a couple of decades now but I still worry about him from afar

My ex high school and college BF had a mom with schizophrenia and also developed it later. He started disappearing, dropping out of things, missing work, was paranoid and fixated. He drank very heavily. He died in his early 40s. It was very very sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following this thread as my FIL was also a paranoid schizophrenic.

DS 12 hears things - ie will say did you call me when i didnt or ask if someone knocked on the door when no one did.

Really worried and grateful for any advice on what to look for in the prodormal stage. We have put him on omega 3 supplements and eat fish etc.

This happens weekly in my house with my son, my husband, my daughter or with me and we have no concerns and no family history. Our walls are thin and it's easy to mistake sounds. When I was in my 20s with roomates we frequently thought one was calling another. Can you give more examples of hearing things because what you describe so far is normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Following this thread as my FIL was also a paranoid schizophrenic.

DS 12 hears things - ie will say did you call me when i didnt or ask if someone knocked on the door when no one did.

Really worried and grateful for any advice on what to look for in the prodormal stage. We have put him on omega 3 supplements and eat fish etc.

This happens weekly in my house with my son, my husband, my daughter or with me and we have no concerns and no family history. Our walls are thin and it's easy to mistake sounds. When I was in my 20s with roomates we frequently thought one was calling another. Can you give more examples of hearing things because what you describe so far is normal.

PP here. Thank you for this. Im so frightened that I dont know whats "normal" and whats not. Right now thats what he hears.

[Anonymous]

My uncle has schizophrenia. My Mom told me he experienced PTSD as a child when he fell into a bathtub of scalding water when he was a child, and had to be hospitalized for a significant period of time. Back in those days, about the 1940s, they had to boil water to fill the bathtub. The family felt this had something to do with him developing schizophrenia later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following this thread as my FIL was also a paranoid schizophrenic.

DS 12 hears things - ie will say did you call me when i didnt or ask if someone knocked on the door when no one did.

Really worried and grateful for any advice on what to look for in the prodormal stage. We have put him on omega 3 supplements and eat fish etc.

Ds has autism and will do this. We don't suspect schizophrenia so much as just not filtering sensory input correctly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sibling grew increasingly “private” in weird ways. For example: when they would run an errand (like go to Target) and someone asked “oh where did you go?”, they would say “out” and act evasive. They always thought we were talking about them in the other room, they thought we were hiding their mail, etc. Extreme secrecy, depression and pulling away from people were the first signs.

These don't sound like red flags on their own. Context is important. For example in an enmeshed/overbearing/high anxiety family where people are all into eachother's business a teen or early adult may try to push back with distancing and less direct answering. They might give less information in general. My guess is this was very extreme and there were other signs too.

+1. The PP’s description fit me as a teen and still does, to some extent. As far as I know, I do not have any mental illnesses. I do, however, have a mother who, when she gets a tiniest piece of information, runs with it like you wouldn’t believe.

[Anonymous]

My sister developed schizophrenia in college. Paranoia was one of the first signs. She said there was a radio in her ear and taped paper over the mirrors in her room. People were following her on the bus and whispering about her. She would also wash her hands and wipe her mouth often, so more germaphobic.

[Anonymous]

My best friend in high school was attacked by a stranger, at 18, when she was on the way to her car. She was dragged behind a dumpster and raped. She couldn't tell her traditional immigrant parents but she was able to get counseling in college. A few years later she was in medical school and was struggling academically. She became fixated on a guy and thought he was flirting with her and sending her secret signals to show he was in love with her even though he had a girlfriend. She thought the girlfriend was trying to sabotage her and believed she broke into her house and messed with her belongings. She started to think she was being followed to her internship and plotted against. I think the boyfriend and girlfriend had to file a restraining order against her and she ended up bring kicked out of school. She started posting conspiracy theories online that made no sense like the radio was being taken over and sending people subliminal messages. We tried to get her help as best we could. I had to cut off contact with her when she turned on me and threatened to sue me and left threatening messages on my phone.

[Anonymous]

Pp here...I loved her so much and it was so painful to watch her go through what she did and feel helpless about how to help her. I think she's been in and out of group homes and is living with her parents possibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[url]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not as a parent, but as a girlfriend: he began to hear voices, would read into things in a very paranoid way, would accuse me and our friends of plotting against him. Thought random people he would encounter in public were conspiring against him. He also was smoking weed and that obviously did not help.

I just posted, but these sound more like red flags than the previous post. I am sure that must have been incredibly stressful to experience as the girlfriend.

Thank you. He was such a sweet guy and I really loved him, but slowly began to realize that it was possible that he would end up killing me. It’s been a couple of decades now but I still worry about him from afar

My ex high school and college BF had a mom with schizophrenia and also developed it later. He started disappearing, dropping out of things, missing work, was paranoid and fixated. He drank very heavily. He died in his early 40s. It was very very sad.

Were there any signs while you were dating prior to the acute onset? Did he seem completely normal” in HS and college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[url]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not as a parent, but as a girlfriend: he began to hear voices, would read into things in a very paranoid way, would accuse me and our friends of plotting against him. Thought random people he would encounter in public were conspiring against him. He also was smoking weed and that obviously did not help.

I just posted, but these sound more like red flags than the previous post. I am sure that must have been incredibly stressful to experience as the girlfriend.

Thank you. He was such a sweet guy and I really loved him, but slowly began to realize that it was possible that he would end up killing me. It’s been a couple of decades now but I still worry about him from afar

My ex high school and college BF had a mom with schizophrenia and also developed it later. He started disappearing, dropping out of things, missing work, was paranoid and fixated. He drank very heavily. He died in his early 40s. It was very very sad.

Were there any signs while you were dating prior to the acute onset? Did he seem completely normal” in HS and college?

No, in retrospect. He frequently broke up with me and would go silent. He would ostracize himself from his family. He would live in his car for periods of time in college when we weren’t dating. He was brilliant and fun and I was really naive.