Plain-language, educational articles on schizophrenia, psychosis, antipsychotic medications, and lived experience — by ColdAI.
The CGI takes thirty seconds and asks the clinician one question: how sick is this person, and how much have they changed? Its simplicity is exactly its strength.
HallucinationsOlfactory hallucinations — phantom smells with no source — are an uncommon but real symptom in schizophrenia, and they have a long differential diagnosis worth taking seriously.
StoryI lost custody of my son during my second hospitalization. I have shared custody now, four years later. Here is the long, careful road that made it possible.
Caregiver scenariosRespite is not a reward for caregivers — it is a clinical tool that keeps caregiving sustainable. Here is how to actually plan, pay for, and use a real break.
VocationalSelf-employment is appealing for many people with schizophrenia — flexible hours, no boss, no disclosure dilemmas. It is also financially riskier and demands more executive function. Here is the honest trade-off.
StoryI lived in Brooklyn for fourteen years. At 40, I moved back to a suburb in New Jersey to be twenty minutes from my parents. The decision was not the failure I had feared.
TransitionsChanging prescribers is one of the most common reasons people fall out of treatment. With a small amount of planning, the switch can happen without losing the months or years of work that came before.
MedicationFlupentixol is a thioxanthene antipsychotic widely used outside the US, with both oral and depot forms — and a low-dose indication for depression that does not exist for most other antipsychotics.
StoryFor seven years I told myself that if I had been stronger, smarter, or less weak, I wouldn't have gotten sick. It took a long time to put that story down.
Early onsetAn IEP and a 504 plan are different legal tools that help students with disabilities. Here's how to choose between them when schizophrenia is in the picture.
MythsThe 'medication zombie' image comes from old, high-dose typical antipsychotics. Modern prescribing aims for the lowest effective dose — and most people on it do not feel flat.
DisparitiesIndigenous communities in the US carry a disproportionate burden of trauma, suicide, and serious mental illness — and the federal system meant to provide their care has been chronically underfunded for generations.
Side effectsPeripheral edema — swelling of the lower legs and feet — is an uncommon but recognised antipsychotic side effect. Here is the differential and what to do about it.
HallucinationsSmelling something that nobody else can smell is unsettling. In most cases the cause is neurological or ENT-related, but olfactory hallucinations can also occur in schizophrenia.
StoryThree weeks in a psychiatric hospital can change a lot, including the question of whether you can do your job. A composite story of going back.
CaregiverWhen you're the last person standing for a sibling with schizophrenia, the responsibility is uniquely heavy. This guide covers the practical and emotional work.
CaregiverFamily psychoeducation is one of the few interventions in psychiatry that consistently reduces relapses. It is also one of the least available. Here's why it matters.
WorkplaceSelf-employment can be a great fit for people with schizophrenia — flexible hours, controlled environment, no boss. It also strips away structure and benefits. Here is how to weigh it.
RecoveryWRAP — the Wellness Recovery Action Plan — is a self-management framework developed by Mary Ellen Copeland and used by hundreds of thousands of people in mental health recovery worldwide.
LifestyleArt therapy is specifically recommended in UK NICE guidelines for schizophrenia, particularly for negative symptoms. Here is what the practice looks like and what the evidence actually says.
TherapyTrauma is far more common in people with schizophrenia than in the general population — and standard psychiatric care can sometimes retraumatise. Trauma-informed care is the alternative.
TherapyAsking whether CBT can replace antipsychotics frames the problem badly. The real question is which combination, in what sequence, for which person.
Side EffectNeuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but potentially fatal reaction to antipsychotic medication. Recognising the warning signs early can save a life.
MedicationPimozide has a narrow but distinctive role: FDA-approved for Tourette syndrome, long associated off-label with delusional disorder, and demanding careful cardiac monitoring.
MedicationPaliperidone shares much of risperidone's profile — including prolactin elevation and movement effects — but has its own dosing logic that shapes the experience.
MedicationCariprazine is a partial dopamine agonist that prefers the D3 receptor, with growing evidence in negative symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar depression.
ProfileVirginia Woolf had several severe mental health episodes across her life and died by suicide in 1941. The exact diagnosis remains contested — but the record itself is rich and worth careful reading.
ProfileRoss David Burke spent the last years of his life writing a detailed account of his own schizophrenia. The book, edited by his clinicians and published after his death, remains one of the most candid first-person records of the illness.
ProfileEduard Einstein, the younger son of Albert and Mileva, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at twenty. He spent most of the rest of his life in the Burghölzli psychiatric hospital in Zurich, separated from his father by an ocean and by a treatment philosophy of the era.
PsychosisSchizoaffective disorder sits in the territory between schizophrenia and bipolar or depressive illness. The diagnosis is precise — and the treatment approach reflects both halves.