Is there anyone who either suffers from schizo-affective disorder or knows someone who has it

I suffer from schizo-affective disorder and I would like to know how others deal with this illness. Can you give me a detailed discription. If you'd rather, you can leave me your e-mail address or send me an e-mail at vanessaalexisboyd@gmail.com if you're worried about privacy. Serious answers only PLEASE! And if you'd like we can discuss this more through private e-mails or IM.

I have had schizoaffective disorder for over 12 years now. For a long time it was my whole life, and I think that was the problem. The best thing you can do is continue to take your mediciations, follow up with a psychiatrist and/or psychologist, and find a good support system. Once you know and recognize how your mind and body behaves before an episode is underway, you can generally curtail a full blown set back that may end up in hospitlization by good communication with your doctor. But the best thing from what I have found, is to stay busy and involved with activities you enjoy. Dont let the "abnormal" days outnumber the normal ones. I am a nurse and I see every day how people with mental illness can end up. A lot of it is personal choice though. Be honest with your doctor, your friends, and your family about how you are feeling. Your medicine will generally make you feel better, but trust me, stopping the medicine will put you back even further back from where you started. Find coping mechanisms that work for you. If you feel like you have an idea that is a little "off" to you, or even if you see something or hear something that you are not sure is real, run the ideas by a close friend or family member to help assure you. Schizoaffective disorder is just like any other mental illness and will only impact your life as much as you give it the power to do so. You may not be able to stop the symptoms, and it is certainly not all about mind over matter. But by making the decision to be proactive before you are in the midst of an oftentimes scary and harmful episode, you are almost certain to at least make the symptoms you do encounter less severe. Just remember that life will go on, its all in what you make of it...