I have depression anxiety and OCD problems, but i'm thinking it may be something else. OCD has some similar symptoms to schizophrenia in that it can be similar to phycotic delusions and fears. I was reading more about OCD the other day, and it says that when the patient has thoughts/fears and paranoia they can easy distinguigish that this these thoughts are not real and part of there OCD. the thing is with me, when ever i get intrustive thoughts and worry's i really do not have any way of knowing the truth, and i don;t think they are out of porportion, i think they may well be real. I keep thinking everyone is in some kind of plot against me, it's the government who are trying to control my mind, and everyone is in on it. I can't trust anyone. Not that long ago i had a panic attack, and felt like i was losing my mind, i had a huge amount of paranoia and all reality had vanished and i thought i might have died and gone to hell.

Every intrusive thought i get that is meant to be linked to my OCD i have a really hard time telling myself it is not true, because honestly i think they are truth, that is something i have realised that seperates me from other OCD friends that i have.

what should i do?

Best thing to do is to get formal medical advice, preferrably through your GP and then a specialist, or if you're not comfortable with that, maybe try some type of phone advice line that has trained people on there.

I'm no expert, but do speak from personal experience as an OCD sufferer. I think paranoia is a slight proponent of OCD, but what you mentioned about your thoughts about the govt controlling your mind etc does sound outside conventional OCD symptoms ie possible schizophrenia as you allude to.

But the best way to go is certainly to seek professional help. There are people who are out there who are genuine and will be keen to help you, just remember that.

Good luck :)

I found your post interesting because I was of the thinking that OCD and Sz were two separate issues.
I will say, though, that my brother has definitely has OCD and Sz thoughts. The only difference between you and him is that he can't rationalize. He actually believes that "they're after him". Last time he was questioned about that he was surprised and said "Haven't you heard? It's all over the news!"

I agree with Australian Guy. If you are able, please seek medical help.

thanks for both replys. I think i will go back to the doctors soon and also i have a phy appointment coming up in which i can talk about this stuff to them. I think the thing that upsets me the most about it, is most of the time i can calm myself down, and even though i generaly don't trust many people, i can be in an ok state, it's just when i start thinking about all the conspiracies i think there are, my mind gets really muddled and i start thinking really strange confused thoughts and then panic. these moments, i do feel like i am losing my mind and they feel terrifing :(

Do all schizophrenics see and hear things, or not? the only time i saw things and heard them like it was real was a time when i tried drugs. This was a legal allternative to opium. although it was very much just herbal, but it seemed to affect me in ways i wasn't expecting atall. I heard voices had very muddled and confused thoughts, saw shaddows and just felt a sense of inconsolable fear, which i couldn't seem to calm myself down from because i can't see the reality of anything. other times have been when i see things out the corner of my eye and sometimes hear my voice being called, and once, when i was compleatly sober heard the devil talk to me, telling me to kill myself. that was also a very scary time. my question is, is hallusinations a part of schizophrenia or does it not always happen, and it's just paranoia and dellisions?

and also thank you sherminator19 your post was very helpful :) i have made an apointment to see my doctor again, so hopefully they will beable to tell me the reason for my dellusions and paranoia. about your question, my paranoia usually starts with a small comment, that i dwel on, for example i was on the phone to my boyfriend not that long ago, and i was eating a cheese cracker, but i didn't tell him what kind it was, i just said a cracker. then he said cheese cracker, and i immediatly felt uneasy and scared and couldn't understand how he would know, my first thought was there are camera's in my room and people are watching me, then i thought people can read my mind, and other paranoid thoughts that took quite a long while and a talk with him and my friend to realise it was just a conincedence.

I experience the feeling that there are bugs on my skin too. I feel like itching my skin, because of the feeling, and have woken up from a light sleep, where i thought a spider was on me.

sherminator19 what meds are you on? did your symptoms get better after taking meds? did you feel any relife from knowing you had schizophrenia, did you trust you had an illness and felt more relaxed knowing that people aren't really out to get you, or do you still feel paranoid frequently?

thanks.