My boyfriend just told me he's schizophrenic ...Im kind of worried.?

Question

My boyfriend told me he's a 'level 2 schizophrenic' but he's on medication for it. I dont really understand schizophrenia and the only schizophrenics I've witnessed were paranoid and they were screaming and delusional. My boyfriend isnt like that but he does have a temper and if pushed, he can go over the edge. Also, he tends to lie alot. Is that part of schizophrenia? What is a level 2 schizophrenic, and can he be dangerous if he goes off his meds?

Answer 1

He kinda sounds like me.  I have schizophreniaia and take medication for it.  I can also get pretty angry.  I wouldn't worry about it to much.  Most people with mental illnesses are fairly normal when they take their meds.  Just make sure he takes them.  The lying may or may not be part of the illness.  It should be treated as separatete issue, though.

Answer 2

its dangerous if he goes off his meds.  i don't know if lying is a symptom.  

I go to a mental health support group once a week for my Bipolar Disorder, and I know a couple of Schizophrenics there.  They seem like normal people- I was surprised, because Schizophrenia is always shown as such a scary illness.  but with these people you would never even guess.

Answer 3

That's about the saddest illness I can think of. My brother married very young and his wife developed schizophrenia after they married. They stayed together for 18 years. Very few of them were happy. She was ok on her meds but they needed to be adjusted often and she was awful during those times. I often hear people say that schizophrenics aren't violent toward others but I look at my brother's nose and I know it didn't break itself that many times. It also tends to run in families so he could pass it on to a child. I'm sorry, call me hartless but I'd run.  

Answer 4

You might check out these websites:



http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publicati...

http://www.nami.org

http://www.schizophrenia.ca/files/Rays_o...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/schizop...



They have a lot of very good information on schizophrenia.  The first three websites have booklets in pdf format that you can download and save for future reference.



There is also an excellent book, "Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers" by E. Fuller Torrey, Fifth Edition.  I know Barnes & Noble has it.  Amazon.com only has the 4th edition.  That is very good reading and tells a lot about schizophrenia.



I would suggest you get the "Surviving Schizophrenia" book, and read through it - there is a lot of very good information in it on relating to someone with schizophrenia.



I wish you the best of luck :-)

Paul.

Answer 5

Schizophrenia is a fairly serious mental disorder. Although there are several subtypes I am not familiar with level 2. Here is a link that I hope will help

http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide...

Answer 6

my husband has schizophrenia of the paranoid type and is on medications for it he is doing well and is stable.i have to do some things for him to help him,such as paperwork and managing the money he gets,as he does not know how to budget it,so i help him with that.we hardly go places,as we both do not like to hang with too many people,it makes his symptoms act up,i try to limit the amount of stress he is under as this also causes his symptoms to act up.i have been married with him for two yrs,we both have our ups and downs,but we also give ourselves a chance to sit down and talk about our day,it helps him so this way he doesn't hold all of those bad feelings in if he has any,as this could cause more problems for us.

Answer 7

Schizophrenia has been shown as a very scary mental illness, but many schizophrenics are able to function extremely well in daily life. It's understandable that you're worried, but he must really trust and care about you to have shared his diagnosis with you. There are 5 types of schizophrenia (paranoid, catatonic, disorganized, undifferentiated and residual), and each has its own diagnostic criteria. The link below gives the criteria for each:

http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-ps0...

Lying can be a part of the illness, but it's not a key factor. There's also the chance that he either truly believes what he says, or that he's used to lying in order to cover up for his illness. Each person is different when it comes to meds, but be sure to ask him about what his triggers are, and what you can do in order to help him if he is feeling out of control. This may also help you to feel a little more at ease with his schizophrenia. Don't be afraid to ask questions, because if he told you I'm sure he wants to! Best of luck.