Can't believe i got schizophrenia after 4 years of successful kickboxing experience !

[HighKick]

Yep. There's plenty of evidence that trauma - both mental and physical - can cause epigenetic changes. My memory on the topic is hazy, but I think those can lead to genetic changes over time.

Going through this, I was thinking of permanent, irreversible changes to the brain. Not 'wiring/logic' changes that can and do change on a regular basis. Not sure if that makes sense to you, but are you talking about temporal changes or permanent changes? I am having a hard time imagining an emotional trauma making a permanent, physical change. It would be fascinating to see that mapped out.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Going through this, I was thinking of permanent, irreversible changes to the brain. Not 'wiring/logic' changes that can and do change on a regular basis. Not sure if that makes sense to you, but are you talking about temporal changes or permanent changes? I am having a hard time imagining an emotional trauma making a permanent, physical change. It would be fascinating to see that mapped out.

I don't know about physical changes. I do know that looking back now that I'm getting treatment, the arc of my life changed permanently and not in a good way the moment I experienced the trauma I'm getting treatment for now. I would have been a very different person but for that. I am far from the Lone Ranger on this - it's just that now I understand it.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Going through this, I was thinking of permanent, irreversible changes to the brain. Not 'wiring/logic' changes that can and do change on a regular basis. Not sure if that makes sense to you, but are you talking about temporal changes or permanent changes? I am having a hard time imagining an emotional trauma making a permanent, physical change. It would be fascinating to see that mapped out.

So, I don't know if you're familiar with the term "epigenetics". Basically, it refers to chemical processes that more or less turn genes on and off. I think the process is called methylating. We have some genes that aren't active, until they are methylated. Then they are active. There are environmental factors that can cause this process to happen with certain genes. The chemical processes that happen in response to trauma are certainly among those. And, as far as my memory serves, methylation isn't something that just wears off - there has to be a counter-process that "de-methylates" (removes the methyl group from the DNA). There are some processes in the body that can do that, but it is often durable.

And this can be passed to the next generation. For a pregnant woman, the epigenetic process can affect the fetus, and I think methylation can also change what traits are passed along in the gamete (what's "active" in the gamete's DNA), though that's the part I'm not sure I remember correctly.

Here's a bit on methylation: The Role of Methylation in Gene Expression

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Going through this, I was thinking of permanent, irreversible changes to the brain. Not 'wiring/logic' changes that can and do change on a regular basis. Not sure if that makes sense to you, but are you talking about temporal changes or permanent changes? I am having a hard time imagining an emotional trauma making a permanent, physical change. It would be fascinating to see that mapped out.

Yeah, some ptsd can do this, and it's not actually all that uncommon in mental or physical illnesses. For PTSD, the hippocampus quite literally can shrink. Not just sending less info or being less active, the organ actually loses volume.

Trauma can also trigger schizophrenia in people susceptible to it. And just ask the people in this thread who have it - once you have schizophrenia, there's no going back.

 

[Prince_Alarming]

Been hearing a few voices lately, even at the maximum safe dose of olanzapine. I will need to contact the team as it's clear I need to be moved on to something stronger. Some people make a full recovery, some make a partial recovery and some get worse. It's clear that I have a limited time left before this disease robs me of my mind. So I'm going to make the most of it.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Been hearing a few voices lately, even at the maximum safe dose of olanzapine. I will need to contact the team as it's clear I need to be moved on to something stronger. Some people make a full recovery, some make a partial recovery and some get worse. It's clear that I have a limited time left before this disease robs me of my mind. So I'm going to make the most of it.

You recognizing that this is happening and making steps to reach out to your team is a good sign for your continued maintenance. The biggest roadblock is normally eventual non-compliance with medication

 

[Prince_Alarming]

You recognizing that this is happening and making steps to reach out to your team is a good sign for your continued maintenance. The biggest roadblock is normally eventual non-compliance with medication

Booked a doctor's appointment, in plenty of time. Thanks for your support.

 

[Fungus]

Booked a doctor's appointment, in plenty of time. Thanks for your support.

Good luck!

Many psychatric conditions are heterogeneous, the detailed mechanisms of two subjects with the same superficial condition may be different. So I think it's like laying a complex puzzle, unique for each person/patient, with no universal solutions.

So maybe you can try "different" medication and not just "stronger". But possible side effects may differ alot. Olanzapine mainly targets dopamine and serotonin receptors, from the little I know about the condition in some other signalling pathways such as glutamate may play a role too and then there are other meds to try.