Schizophrenia or Tourettes?

I am 13 and already have Paranoid Schizophrenia and am on Seroquel. And at my school that I go too there are 2 kids with Tourette's Syndrome. I have classes with them both. The teachers know that they have the disorder and sometimes treat them specially(i.e. Giving them extra time for Homework, Upping the grade on projects, giving them 5 extra minutes in class, ect.)

I always was on good terms with most of my teachers but after they found out that I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia 2 months ago, they have been more distant and somewhat scared of me.

So I guess the question is, which is worse to have Schizophrenia or Tourettes?

Could you maybe just feel that there being distant? It seems like you have been pretty much a normal student. Please don't take this wrong. Maybe you were expecting some of the special treatment as the other two students receive, but since you are doing so well you haven't needed it. Schizophrenia and Turrets are both very difficult illnesses to handle. I hear voices but have not been dx with Schizophrenia. But I do understand what you go through. I have many friends who have been dx with sz.

Let your teachers know your difficulty's and then go from there. I'm sure they would be more then happy to help out in any way possible. I really don't think there afraid of you.

Take care and please dont give up!

I'm sorry your teachers are responding the way they are. My guess is that they have a lack of interpersonal skills in dealing with mental illness -- which is understandable, as they probably don't train people in how to deal with conditions as rare as childhood-onset schizophrenia. I think the real question is not about comparing apples and oranges, but rather, how can you get your teachers to give you the care you deserve?

I'd suggest staying after school and just talking with one of them, telling them what it's like, asking them what they think, advice, whatever. Just be human with them -- they're human too. If you approach them with good intentions, they will have no excuse to be scared.

Again, I empathize with your situation.

It doesn't matter which one is worse, lets keep the focus on you and your illness, as long as you are taking your medicine as prescribe you are not a threat to your teachers. Try and be a little more friendly with them and not withdraw so they can know that with treatment you can be like every other student OKAY!!

I'd tell your parents about these teachers - they may need some education of their own about your condition.

I honestly can't answer that. The public misunderstanding of and misinformation on schizophrenia (which is not a single disease but a spectrum of disorders) is abysmal. To be labeled as such is to suffer gross discrimination in my experience. To combat this one has to be better than perfect in demeanor and behavior which may be a burden.

Stay on good terms with your teachers; their education about the disorder is probably only from the media and gossip. Forgive them and try to educate them in the truth that your disorder does not lead to violence any more than normal people.. (Leave copies of the books "I never promised you a rose garden" , auth. Joanne Greenberg and "A beautiful mind", auth. Sylvia Nasar, around.).

Good luck with your teacher relations, good mental health, peace and Love!

There is no way to really say that one is worse than the other, both are just different types of conditions. If someone has severe tourettes, they might think that having that is worse than having schizophrenia. But if someone has severe schizophrenia, you might think it's worse to have that.

Don't try to absorb what you think other people are feeling towards you. In most cases, when any of us try to do this, we're often wrong, especially when it's something we're already self-conscious about. We exaggerate things in our minds.

For example, since you have been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, you might want to look at this situation and consider that maybe it is the illness causing you to feel this way - not anything real that your teachers are doing. I have anxiety, and I know that sometimes with that comes a 'fake alarm system' that makes me feel worried or in danger when really there is nothing to be worried about. You might want to focus on resetting your radar - choose to ignore those thoughts in your head telling you that your teachers are afraid of you or treating you distantly or differently. Teachers are extremely busy, overworked, underpaid people (I know, I used to be one) so if you feel like a teacher is being distant or weird, chances are they just got no sleep the night before, got assigned another person's job, or just got hassled by a principal or parent, and it likely has nothing to do with you. Teachers are constantly dumped on, so try not to take their moods personally. They are WAY too busy to be thinking to themselves "oh wow he's schizophrenic." TRUST ME! :)

As someone else suggested, just continue to be a happy friendly person, and no one will think anything otherwise. Good luck!

p.s. And although there are going to be some situations in life that don't fit this, I always like to say, there is good and bad in the world. It just depends on what you're looking for.

p.s.s. I also wanted to add that I actually had a student who was also diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. I did not think anything scary or weird about him/her! Instead I worked with him/her to recognize their unique strengths. He/she was not 'scary' or 'bad' ... just unique! Like the rest of us! This particular student was a wonderful writer, and I was so pleased to see that talent shining through. You seem to be a pretty good writer yourself. Maybe you could try to connect with a teacher through your writing?

If they are definitely acting differently towards you though, or do anything to make you feel uncomfortable, please talk to your parents about it and get their perspective on the situation. You might want to have a parent/teacher conference if there is something going on. That way everyone could sit down face to face and just have an open discussion about what you're perceiving. That might clear the air, and make you feel a lot better too.

***ONE MORE BIG POINT that might make you feel a lot better - Sorry to drag this on so long, but I just thought of one more thing, and looked it up to be sure ... more than 60% of kids with Tourettes also have a learning disability - this would be why the teachers are giving the students with Tourettes extra time on their work or tests, or perhaps grading their work on a different scale than the rest of the class. If you are in a public school, the law requires teachers to make special arrangements for students with learning disabilities, even if they are in 'normal' classes. I also had a student who had Tourettes, and the parents of that student requested that I give him/her extra time on all tests, etc. and more leniency with their homework. It turned out he/she was also dyslexic, in addition to having other learning disabilities, in addition to having the Tourettes - so with these other students you're talking about who seem to be getting special treatment, there may be more going on than you're aware of, there may be learning disabilities also that these kids are struggling with.