What is "borderline" schitzophrenia like and how does alcohol or smoking affect people with this disease?

and do people
with this disease seriously alternate back and forth?

what causes this to happen and how long do the periods generally last for?

why and how so?

Thanks for your answers!

p.s. anyone who can give a brief definition to this disease and how it is
similar or differant to "manic- depression" would be appreciated.
think of really over dramatic and attention seeking people, who participates in
risky behavior, tries to fit in, types, ie, Anna Nicole Smith. Someone like her
might be considered borderline.

Sometimes drugs and alcohol can lead to schizophrenia, it will last forever, but
can be managed with medications. Whether they stay on their meds will determine
whether they alternate.

Manic dep. is someone who goes through periods of being really, really
hyperactive, then goes through periods of being super depressed.
If you are talking about a disease where people 'alternate' back and forth
between different personalities, that is dissociative identity disorder,
formerly known as multiple personality disorder. Yes, they really do switch
between totally different personalities, and there can be more than two, some
have dozens of personalities. This caused my marriage breakdown. Schizophrenia
is a mental illness characterised by hallucinations, not multiple personalities.
Borderline personality disorder is something else again.

Dissociative identity disorder is generally considered to be caused by physical,
sexual or emotional abuse at a very young age. The child 'distances' themselves
to protect themself and then creates another person to take the abuse ih their
place. This process of fragmentation can occur more than once.

the disease is characterised by deception, including self-deception, and the
unit as a whole can be very good at deceiving itself and the owrld at large. the
original personality, the 'host', is often unaware of what is happening and may
wake in places not knowing what day it is or how they got there with gaps in
their memory - these are periods during whcih another personality was in
control. there is no way to preduct when or how a switch will occur or for how
long it will last.

The disorder generally worsens with increasing stress and life changes can cause
a 'meltdown', where another personalit takes control and remains in control.
This typically occurs after an extended period of increased switching, often
chracaterised by impulse buying, excessive spending, especially on credit, and
infidelity.

It can be treated with therapy, but the process is long and painstaking and can
be resisted by the alters (other personalities) who see the therapy process as
an attempt to 'destroy' them as individuals. there is no drug therapy available.


Manic depression, or bipolar, is a mental illness chracaterised by bouts of
clinical depression mixed with periods of 'mania' or times when the sufferer
feels untouchable and on top of the world. This can also be characterised by
excessively fast thinking or talking and high periods of creativity.
I'm no doctor but i believe it is when a person has delusions that they can no
longer determine if they are real or not.
most are affected by voices in there heads telling them to do things and saying
all kinds of stuff.
they some times can feel people are out to get them and often will say its not
them who are ill but the people around them.
we really don't know what causes people to suffer from this, it might be
something past down from your parents or messing with strong drugs.
once a person is on medicine they are normally fine but the problem is the pills
do make people feel very sluggish so they stop taking there pills thinking they
are OK now, but they get ill again. hope this helps
the parallel of schizophrenic episodes and bipolar disorder remains
halucinations and a separation from reality.
this occurs in severe manic or depressive episodes.
with schizophrenia, the halucinations are consistantly present without mood
swings...

substance abuse can impact a persons mental illness in a negative manner-higher
highs and lower lows.
more intense hallucinations...

hope this helps.
im bipolar
with mild schizophrenia
im succesful in life
im loved, and i love.
i like a few drinks
and some ciggies
because im human.
so far i have done well
without the condescending patronisation
of idiot laymen
with nothing to think about.

cheers, brother. yeeeeeech!
their third eye is swinging right open and they are very receptive to things
other people may not see or hear sometimes painfully sensitive, alcohol can
heighten this state so can smoking drugs
They often drink to self medicate.
Schizophrenia. Some people including me believe that there is no such illness
and certainly no such disease. It was a name given by the psychiatry profession
for a human condition they could not accurately define or treat. Mental health
problems are usually caused by environmental problems, such as stress, physical,
sexual or emotional abuse. We can all suffer these in our lives espacially
stress. The whole mental health industry (because thats what it has become) has
been taken over and undermined by the drug companies. My son was at university
where he could no longer cope with emotional pressures he was exposed to. He
returned home and we tried to get him some counselling. HIs GP arranged this for
him but the first available appointment was in 4 months time. How pathetic is
that. He felt unable to cope so returned to his GP. He was put onto the
anti-depressant Cipramil. Within hours of taking it he got worse and within
three days became psychotic. The Cipramil had increased his anxiety to the point
where his brain literally went into melt-down. He was sectioned and put onto
anti-psychotic medication. We just wanted him to be looked after until the
effects of the Cipramil had worn off, but they think they know better. Six years
of drug induced psychosis followed. He had all the classic symptoms of
Schizophrenia and we gave up hope of him ever living a normal life. My wife did
lots of research into drugs and found that there is a growing groundswell of
opinion that not only are the drugs ineffective but they actually maintain
people in a psychotic state. It takes a long time to wean someone off them and
it is a dangerous time. The cases you hear of people who commit some horrible
crime and they say he had stopped taking his medication are now common. It took
us years of reducing the drugs by tiny amounts every day to get my son off these
poisonous substances. You cannot suddenly come off them. My advice is never go
on them. My son has been drug free now for approx 8 mnonths and he has returned
to the young man we knew and loved. His psychiatrist advised us to virtually
abandon him and leave him in their care. He would be dead if we had listened to
that advice. If you have problems in your life try and find alternative ways to
deal with them. Don't accept a diagnosis of schizophrenia. BEWARE OF DRUGS
(MEDICATION OR STREET DRUGS) One thing we have learned is that the brain has
plasticity. In other words it will correct itself from any temporary imbalance.
Time and understanding are the best cures. I hope that my son can now cope with
the added trauma of the "mad" years he had to suffer and continue to recover his
life. Do some research on the internet. See some peoples comments about the
anti-depressants and other medications they were given (youtube). Empower
yourself and live in hope.