Schizophrenia?

[emess]

How easy is it to diagnose schizophrenia? DH has been on ADs for 4 years as well as having regular counselling. He's no better. He's been saying for a while that he has schizophrenia, and he says he's been prescribed meds for it, although when pressed he will admit that they haven't actually diagnosed him with it.
He is sometimes rude etc to me and when I call him on it he blames his schizophrenia.

My older brother is schizophrenic. He had several psychotic episodes and prolonged stays in psychiatric hospital, including on locked wards, over three years, before he was 'diagnosed'. His (ongoing) medication is pretty heavy duty.

With all due respect, I suspect your dh is full of shit.

My MIL has suffered from paranoid schizophrenia for over 30 years, and like Pictish's brother,she is well and truly psychotic. She's been on a secure ward many many times and has been on one for the last year plus.

When she's having an episode,she doesn't know who her sons are, thinks she's the Queen (literally trying to break into Buck Palace etc), tries to burn her house down because God tells her Satan is in it etc etc. It doesn't sound like your dh is anything like as mad as all that.

It takes a psychiatrist, and usually a second opinion doctor to formally diagnose schizophrenia, after a never of symptoms over a period of at least a year.

The most common positive symptoms are: hallucinations- experiencing stimuli that are not actually present, they are categorised under the acronym VATGO. Visual- seeing things, auditory- hearing things. Tactile- feeling things. Olfactory- smelling things and gustatory- tasting things.

Delusions are: a false, fixed belief that defies rational logic or explanation. A person may be paranoid that others are after them, feel that they are special or gifted.

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia are isolation, a lack of motivation or enthusiasm etc

The way to remember is that positive symptoms are things that add to a person, and that negative symptoms take away- they are harder to treat.

Some meds for depression- venlafaxine for example are also used for schizophrenia, but most anti-psychotics are to reduce the symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations, or the negative symptoms.

Does your DP show any of the above?

Thanks for all the responses.
pictish and mumble, no he's not like your DH & MIL (sympathies to you both - it must be tough).

Eljkieb - no hallucinations that I know of. But delusions by the bucketful, and the negative symptoms you list.

pictish - loved your "full of shit" comment! I saw a counsellor myself a while back. Her take (she never met him) was that he is using the "schizophrenia" label to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. That made sense to me.

Thanks. I was worried for a bit that I was being a heartless cow.

I would also say that the neg symptoms are also applicable in depression, but both illnesses are very different in their presentation. I would doubt him tbh.

Is he under the care of a clinical team?

Elkieb yes he is but he says "they want rid of me". I did contact them once myself (because he asked me to) and the CP was a bit abrupt with me, saying, 'yes this is consistent with him presenting himself as beyond help'. He's also asked me to sit in a couple of times, so that I can see for myself "that they don't want me back".

My view is that they have thrown meds at him and given him counselling but that the rest is up to him, and I don't think he's prepared to make that step - he doesn't want to move on. He wants revenge (it's a work-related thing and he has exhausted all processes to get what he thinks he is entitled to).

I was expecting that the general consensus was that he is not schizophrenic. Thanks to all.

Without knowing your DH I can't say whether its schizophrenia or not, but I do wonder if he has a personality disorder of A or B type - have a look here for further info.