Could I have schizophrenia?

I don't hear voices or have hallucinations, but when I go into public I have this fear that people are whispering mean things about me and laughing at me, or thinking badly of me. This could be because I am not very physically attractive. I am also somewhat of a hermit. I don't go out much except to work and on dates with my boyfriend every so often. I have been told 4 times on different occasions (by different people that don't know me THAT well) that I might be a crazy schizophrenic. Please help me...if I am crazy I don't know it because I don't believe it. Please don't tell me to go to a psychologist because I already know that only a psychologist can truly diagnose me. This question is intended for people who have knowledge of this illness and can tell me if the symptoms remind them of schizophrenia. Thanks.

Schizophrenia is not a single disease but a spectrum of disorders. The public understanding of schizophrenia is abysmally misinformed. Usually when a person is not approved of in some way and acts strange some may want to call him/her a "dirty name" and schizophrenia is a "dirty name" to many, so they call him/her "schiz" or just "crazy." Diagnosis by a non-professional is usually this and nearly always wrong. Self diagnosis may also be wrong and a vying for sympathy.

Look up "schizophrenia" in a Yahoo! web search. You will find you have to be very sick and dysfunctional to warrant such a diagnosis. The symptoms do not in any way appear to be schizophrenia to me. They are not even bad!

Good luck and look up "improving ones self image" in a web search too, good ,mental health, peace and Love!

Sorry but you do need to see a therapist. Could just be some kind of social phobia.

You are definitely not schizophrenic...and you are not alone in thinking that people are whispering unkind things about you...just a slight bit of paranoia, brought on by a lack of connection with your SELF. If you knew your Self, you would have a high self-esteem, and you wouldn't care what people say about you...when someone is making negative remarks about someone, it is because they also lack self knowledge - self esteem. If they think they see some thing negative in someone else, it is because it exists within them. So just forget about everyone else, and focus on who you are. Make a list of all the positive things about you; make a list of your accomplishments, no matter how small or trivial they seem; make a list of all your strong points; make a list of the dreams you have for yourself that have not yet been fulfilled; make a list of goals with time lines that you want to achieve....just put it all out to the Universe, and say this is me, this is what I want, please open the doors....don't negate these dreams by saying, it could never happen, because if you put that out there, the dreams and goals won't happen.

I also suggest that you learn to meditate...preferably Transcendental Meditation.- as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...there is much scientific research with this form of meditation that shows a rapid disappearance of 'social phobias and paranoias', with a great increase in self esteem and self confidence, along with many other wonderful benefits, such as a balancing of the right and left hemispheres of the brain, and development of a better functioning frontal lobe etc....find a TM Center in your city and attend the free introductory lectures, and you can take it from there...decide for yourself. And another benefit that I have personally seen happen in many people who do TM on a regular basis is they become more physically attractive...I have seen faces that were so lopsided become balanced...there was one girl, who I met who actually looked like a troll...very, very unattractive....when I saw her a year or two later, I thought she was beautiful...her face had balanced out, her skin was healthy and radiant and she was radiating a lot of light, and she was charming and happy and no longer had a foul smell about her.....I was amazed. So good and wonderful transformations happen to people who learn to do TM and do it on a regular daily basis.

Good luck to you...may you have a very happy, long, fulfilled and prolific life.

you don't have schizophrenia, if anything you have a social phobia or are suffering from the "spotlight effect" which basically means that you think that everyone is watching you. you could go to a therapist if you wanna, but I think that if you just stopped thinking about it you'd be fine.

You don't sound like you are schizophrenic at all..you are a very sweet person, who someone has obviously made you feel horrible about yourself, and you have no self esteem...you are NOT crazy, or you wouldn't even care what they thought...you need to turn your attention to yourself, and find out what you can do to make you feel better about yourself and don't give a dang what others think about you..you need to love YOU...

It's doubtful. I haven't heard of a schizophrenic that didn't have hallucinations... at least auditory. You could have a social anxiety disorder or possibly low self esteem produces a lot of stress around large groups of people. Either way, a little counceling never hurts.

sound more like social phobia

Did you know that approximately 7% of the population
suffers from some form of social anxiety disorder (social phobia)?

Social Anxiety is the third largest
mental health care problem in the world today



Please read over our pages on social phobia (social anxiety disorder).

see link

you sound a lot like me. i think you might have social phobia ( a fear that everyone is watching and/or judging you). it has some side affects of depression if you get depressed pretty soon you might have social pobia. and i dont think you have to go to a therapist. as long as it does control too much of your like you should be ok