Can you become mentally sick if you spend too much time alone?

Question

I was told that if you spend too much time by yourself you could eventually develop schizophrenic type symptoms. For example, talking to yourself, having conversations in your head, obsessing over things, becoming addicted to certain behaviors, ruminating, losing motivation, experience diminished concentration ability, begin lacking hygienic care (such as not showering etc.), and all of these things are symptoms of schizophrenia. Meanwhile, I thought that schizophrenia was a detachment from reality, which included delusions and sometimes hallucinations. So what exactly IS schizophrenia? Can someone please explain? Someone with a bit of knowledge please. Thanks

Answer 1

If you think your crazy

your not

I am not exactly sure but I can see how that would happen but then again it depends on the person and their personality and lifestyle because there are plenty of people who spend a lot of time alone and are fine. They just prefer to be by themselves.

Answer 2

Depending. I am this way, but Its because I really dont have anything to do. Its different for some people like If someone dies, lost their job, divorce ,financial problems..etc. This is the direct step Into a depression next stop

schizophrenia  

Answer 3

I once started my own business. Often I worked late, and spent a lot of hours alone. I fired myself 32 times for performance reasons, but I always won the appeals process and saved my job.  

Answer 4

Yes it's true. Humans are sociable people and need a companion, we are talking months without people though. Schizophrenia is a multiple personality order. Although the things you listed would happen if you weren't very sociable but some are not part of Schizophrenia.  

Positive and negative symptoms

Schizophrenia is often described in terms of positive (or productive) and negative (or deficit) symptoms.[13] Positive symptoms include delusions, auditory hallucinations, and thought disorder, and are typically regarded as manifestations of psychosis. Negative symptoms are so-named because they are considered to be the loss or absence of normal traits or abilities, and include features such as flat or blunted affect and emotion, poverty of speech (alogia), inability to experience pleasure (anhedonia), and lack of motivation (avolition). Despite the appearance of blunted affect, recent studies indicate that there is often a normal or even heightened level of emotionality in schizophrenia, especially in response to stressful or negative events.[14] A third symptom grouping, the disorganization syndrome, is commonly described, and includes chaotic speech, thought, and behaviour. There is evidence for a number of other symptom classifications.[15]

Answer 5

Leave it up to modern medical advisers and if you jump because something startled you would make you schizo or paranoid instead of just startled.....The first have sounds more like depression even though I don't believe none of depression or schizophrenia.Talking to yourself/conversations in your head is merely thinking depending on your thoughts.obsessing could be over protective,additive behavior could be customs,the others could be medical/laziness....The second actions of schizophrenia sounds more like what a friend of mine has or had when she was diagnosed with schizoid.....Blessings Yahoo.

Answer 6

Everything you were told is true.

How do I know it? I spend two years with almost never leaving my house and not talking to anybody. I kinda developed everything you wrote there (and many more things you don't wanna know about because you'll think you're more crazy than you think). However, I never lost my skills to do things and actually I learned so many things that people my age don't even dream of knowing or experiencing. I also (when I noticed that I had developed mental imbalance) I started writing it all and even enjoyed it and used it to get positive things about it. Then I got out, nobody knows about it, and now I'm one crazy dude with almost all the mental illnesses out there (know-it-all they say) who laughs about it when he thinks about it and answers questions in Yahoo!

p.s.: (I'm famous too, but don't tell)

Bye

Answer 7

these are interacting conditions/symptoms.

You don't have to develop schizophrenia because you are alone a lot BUT

you may start being alone a lot because you are already developing schizophrenia --- no one would be able to tell which came first.

Several of the symptoms you describe are symptomatic of schizophrenia, but it takes several symptoms for it to be diagnosed as schizophrenia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophren...

is a good description of the symptoms etc. of schizophrenia.

Just getting a bit sloppy in your appearance doesn't make it schizophrenia.

Aside from that, the less and less you interact with others, the more likely one is to start believing things other people don't believe, because you aren't testing your perceived reality against anyone else's perceived reality.

Answer 8

Before addressing your question, here's what schizophrenia is -http://www.schizophrenia.com/

Anyway, yes of course so much time in isolation could go that way - It may not happen, it may have negative effects on the individual without causing a condition or mental illness, and then what you're describing from happening. Actually, a good example to highlight some of the more extreme effects of isolation is a programme I was watching about a serial killer the other day - his mother locked him in the basement as a child for long periods of time. Many feelings that would not be so strong or extreme, culminate and grow a lot larger. Therefore, this child grew up with severe mental illness, result - serial killer.

But then again, it does depend on the individual and exact situation.

In terms of what you were saying about detachment from reality, delusions - Isolation will cause these things - You detach yourself from the outside world because you are no longer a part of it, and create your own world, which could eventually dominate and take over, making one completely forget the outside world - the individual is then deluded.

Anyway, hoped that helped at all.

Answer 9

You can become detached from need of companionship, which is not natural as humans were made to need companionship. That's obviously not good and we all need to interact with people. Nothing can replace the companionship we can provide for each other. Not computers or robots, or, anything simulating humans. That's why I see how it can affect you negatively...but...you said you can develop schizophrenic symptoms?

First of all, talking to yourself is NOT a schizophrenic symptom. Talking to yourself, especially out loud when you are alone is COMPLETELY normal. Ask a psychologist. It's what we do when we don't have anyone around sometimes, and staying completely quiet while you are alone means your thoughts and actions are delivered but not expressed. Humans usually express their feelings at all times, either by saying them or by acting them out. So that's normal.

The other things, I wouldn't know...But, I suggest you just research it more. Don't take anyone's word for it, if you REALLY want to know accurate things about this. :D

Answer 10

For motivational help, i found the following blog quite usefull

just check it out.

http://great-motivational-stories.blogsp...

It has Short motivational and inspirational stories

hope you will also like it

good luck