okay here it goes. i'm not especially worried because things haven't exactly made their way to the point of emergency, but i'm seriously starting to wonder if i am schizophrenic. about once a week i'm experiencing incidents i can only describe as hallucinations. these aren't severe in any way, but i believe it requires some sort of attention. this doesn't seem to interfere with my social skills or other functions (yet) but i believe the situation has been progressively escalating. a few days ago in my car while on break from work i was driving on a back road coming back from a store.. and so help me i swear some voice was in the car .. several times it said my name and once while i was being distracted by it it shouted something i didn't understand. i slammed the breaks because to be quite honest i was really disturbed by what was going on. the interesting note is that in the midst of being distracted by this voice i had drifted into oncoming traffic. if i hadn't slammed the breaks because of some fictional voice i was hearing i would've hit an oncoming car. right now i'm hearing thumping noises outside. the worst incident i can recall was a few months ago. i swore the lights were dimming in my house. upon looking out the window i was confronted with the figure of some person running around the house. for an extra touch at the same time i was also hearing things in the walls of all places. and an extra punch is that occasionally if i hear running water it begins to resemble a woman screaming. you know, reviewing what has been happening now.. things are a bit more severe than i thought they were. i've always thought of myself as a bit on the eccentric side but this is starting to get a bit out of control. no idea what to do.. read about prescriptions for schizophrenia such as risperdal and zyprexa.. and the side effects bother me. this has been keeping me from going to a doctor about this. what the hell should i do? i'm at a bit of a loss as to what sorts of decisions i should be making about the situation. i'm sorry if this letter was hard to follow at all but i tried my best to keep it understandable. any response will be appreciated.

Here is a plan of action I can recommend...

1. Go in for an initial assessment by a clinical psychologist. Make sure this psychologist is a PhD, not a "psychotherapist" or some other BS. You can also see a psychiatrist, but it will cost more (but not always). Have the doctor give you a battery of psycho-metric tests, along with a typical interview.

2. Before you do ANYTHING or take ANY medications, get a definitive diagnosis. Then, if possible, attempt to pay for both the meds and the doctor out of pocket. Schizophrenia is a chronic disorder, and if your health insurance company gets wind of this, they may
a) try to drop your coverage
b) if you lose your coverage through a job loss, etc. you will NEVER again be able to get health insurance again.

Remember that Schizophrenia is primarily a physiological problem, and can be treated with medication. However, therapy can also help, along with meditation, dietary changes, etc.