Possible Disorganized Schizophrenia?

Name: Alex
Gender: Male
Age: 22

Symptoms:
- Diagnosed depression and anxiety
- Reclusive behavior. I stay home all day, every day unless I HAVE to leave. I avoid social interaction.
- Poor hygiene. I shower at most 3 times a week, and almost never brush my teeth. I go days wearing the same clothes.
- No motivation.
- Flat facial expression. I always have a blank face and barely move my mouth to talk. When my face does move it's in a grimace.
- Monotonous speech.
-I talk to myself(I know that's normal), but when I talk to myself out-loud or in my head I easily lose my train of thought. This happens if I talk to other people too. I'll forget everything mid sentence and just stand/sit there.
- I mix up the order of sentences when I'm talking. Sometimes I'll say it almost backwards like Yoda or I'll just use the wrong word.
- When I talk I constantly change the subject and I never realize it unless someone tells me or I think about it later.
- Sensitive to criticism. I always get a sinking ache in my chest and I feel like crying even over small things someone says.
- Sometimes I see "air". I can see what looks like circular transparent "molecules" move in circles.
- I have to sit with my back against something or I constantly look behind me and feel like something is behind me.
- Sometimes(but very rarely) I laugh inappropriately. Example: Someone is telling me something serious and I grin or laugh.

Maybe it is just depression and anxiety, but given that I can relate to some of the symptoms and that my mom has a mental illness, I wonder if I'm showing signs of something more.

What worries me is that I was never this way before. I used to be very social and quite the opposite of how I am now. I was at the top of my class in AP English, but now it's hard to write(this took nearly and hour to type). It seems like over the past 3 years this behavior has grown.

Any ideas?

ETA: I forgot to mention I also suffer from insomnia.

Well, Alex, what prompted you to this diagnose? Did you seek any professional help, a psychiatrist who implied that? Otherwise, although I am not too acquainted with schizo, I don't think that really fits the symptoms of what typically is described as schizo. I'm speaking from a layman angle and from knowledge gathered from media and other people's experiences. To me it doesn't seem that serious, but you should definitely seek some professional advice and opinion. For example those "particles of air" that you perceive are probably Scheerer's phenomenon or Floaters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floater.
Believe me, those things caused me some problems and uneasiness. Aside from that, perhaps some medication is bound to greatly improve your condition.

Maybe you experience a drastic manifestation of some chemical imbalance which may seem serious and horrifying, but, believe me, DO NEVER DIAGNOSE YOURSELF. I remember when I sought information on my symptoms(depersonalization and depression, also anxiety disorder), every damn psychological disorder seemed to correspond to what I felt. It only deepened my anxiety and hopelessness, which in turn aggravated my ailment. The problem was, for me specifically, that not much is known about depersonalization per se and a lot of medical personnel don't know much about it. But even if, highly unlikely, you end up diagnosed with such illness(schizo or whatever), remember that many people with it have been successfully treated, perhaps some even cured it, and are functional today. You should always retain the attitude "Oh, great, my brain is sending me false information and feelings again" , because for a great part, you simply can not reason with a partly biological disorder that operates on an irrational level. With some counseling and therapy, things should set for the improvement course, which will also have ups and downs all the way and might last for quiet some time.

Again, I am neither professionally nor experientially relevant for schizophrenia, but I felt that someone should reply to you as quickly as possible, so that you don't feel deserted or alone.
All the best!

Hi Alex,
I am not a professional, but you just described my 19 year old son's symptoms to a tee. My son was very outgoing and funny, and then he did a 360 and had every symptom you just described. We immediately went to his primary care physician, who then referred him to a physchologist. It has been 9 months and 3 hospital visits, but he was finally diagnosed with affective schizophrenia. He is now back in college and attends an outpatient program, thanks to his meds and family support. The best advice I can give from someone who has been there....tell someone and seek help...the sooner you get help the faster your life gets back on track. Good Luck!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floater

are these similar to the "air" molecules you see? If so, don't worry, we all get them sometimes.

Hikikomori42

I'm sorry but the use of the word "schizo" is bugging the hell out of me. We are not talking about schizo effective disorder, that is "schizo". " Schizoid" is schizoid personality disorder. "Schizophrenic" is schizophrenia. One is a mood disorder, one is a personality disorder, the last is a psychotic disorder. OK rant over.

Some of your symptoms might be personality related and might just be you. My concern is that you have so many of them and I definitely see myself in many of them. You may raise these questions to your psychiatrist. Often doctors are hesitant to diagnose someone with something as serious as schizophrenia but if you raise the concern first they may investigate your symptoms and see if it fits the criteria.