# Depression and Negative symptoms of schizophrenia



## Anna (Aug 2, 2005)

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the relationship between depression and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Are they very similar? Also, does anyone have any thoughts on an antidepressant called  Arima. I've just  been on it for about a week and it doesn't seem to have any effect on me, positive or negative. (I am also on antipsychotic medication). To me, negative symptoms such as apathy, loss of pleasure, and loss of energy, seem almost exactly the same as the symptoms of depression, which is probably why I have been placed on antidepressant medication as well. I'm not sure thje distinction really matters but am just curious to know, and is there any particular term for epople who have schizophrenia and depression together?


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## Anna (Oct 11, 2005)

*Efexor*

I'm now on Efexor, and it has worked much better than the Arima did, so that's good news. With 50mg Abilify and 150mg Efexor I feel clear in the head for the first time in months, and my motivation is somewhat returning. It feels kind of wierd to be 'normal' in the head again (If there is such a thing as normality). Has anyone else had success with Efexor? Maybe I should be asking this question in the section on depression as efexor is an antidepressant rather than antipsychotic medication.


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## David Baxter PhD (Oct 11, 2005)

Abilify is one of the so-called "atypical antipsychotic" medications. Effexor is helpful in treating the symptoms of anxiety or depression that may accompany other symptoms of schizophrenia and in addition there is some recent evidence that the addition of one of the SSRIs may boost the effectiveness of some antipsychotic medications.


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## stargazer (Jan 6, 2006)

I have a friend who is a diagnosed schizophrenic.  He takes repiridol (sic.) for his illness, which has helped him to stop hearing voices, but which also seems to slow him down considerably.  He's unable to work anymore, and has been on SSI for several years, though he had graduated with honors from a local community college.

I am trying to be a better friend, as I've noticed that he's an unusually nice guy, and a disciplined person in his own way (does not drink or smoke or use drugs other than prescribed, is frugal and practical with his money, etc.).  However, he seems to have an odd communication problem that causes all of us who know him to distance ourselves from him.  Iâ€™m still trying to figure out what to do.  

Once, when he and I were having a discussion involving what to most people would be taken as a mild difference of opinion, he gradually became very self-conscious about his communication problems, and he started to become unusually depressed.  He started making statements such as "I guess I will never succeed in life.  My future will consist only of mental insitutions.  I will never accomplish my goals.  None of my dreams will be fulfilled.  I might as well give up."

Most people brush this off as a kind of martyrdom and bid for attention.  However, I have seen it lead on a number of occasions to suicide attempts involving vast overdoses of over-the-counter medication.  He then lands in the hospital again, and he has no qualms about letting everyone know that he has once again attempted suicide.

It's gotten to the point that I am afraid to disagree with him for fear of an inordinately threatened and defensive reaction.  I'm also worried about his depression, and seeming sense of low self-worth.  At times he masks this insecurity in an exalted sense of purpose.  He sometimes expresses a desire to form a worldwide organization dedicated to stop all wars in the next four generations.  At these times, he always believes that he is to be the leader of such an organization.  It never seems to occur to him simply to join an already existing such movement.

I am wondering if anyone has any insight as to how I can be a better friend to this person.


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## stargazer (Jan 6, 2006)

I believe the drug I was referring to is spelled "risperdal."  (That might be a brand name, I'm not sure.)


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