The Start (6 years ago): Ever since I left for college and came home during breaks, I noticed that her memory changed. She wouldn't be able to remember what IKEA was, or couldn't verbally map out where buildings were located in our neighborhood. Over those 4 years it then became "Oh, you're in school? Where do you go?"or "When I was driving the strangest thing happened, I didn't know where I was!" (but she always knows how to get home). This was concerning to me and I tried to advocate for her to see a doctor and she refused, insisted that nothing was wrong or different and was consistently mean about it too. 

Pandemic: She quit her job because working online was too hard for her and  became even more socially withdrawn. Her friends from grade school have always described her as kind of a loner and I was worried that quitting would make her memory worse. 

Fast forward: Her mom died July 2021 and she started skipping meals and had no idea she was hungry. Because of the weight loss we were able to get her seen by a doctor (but he was genuinely terrible) so now I have an appt. with a neurologist late April. Throughout the last year she thinks that someone is breaking into the house and taking her tax paperwork and/or money (the story changes). To address this fear I had a security system installed but she consistently thinks she hears someone breaking in. Now with the security system, I can temporarily soothe her fears by letting her know that the security tapes don't show anyone suspicious, etc. around the house. This got me thinking about the other times she hasn't been rooted in reality throughout my childhood.

History: About 10 years ago she had this episode of believing there were bugs crawling on her, living in her skin and it was crazy itchy and irritating. She was slathering this slave on her skin for over a month, made us live in a hotel for weeks to get away from the house because thats where the bugs were, and had to take herself to the emergency room at 3am because of the bugs (the doctors couldn't find anything). Another persistent incident that she continues to tell to this day and has always told are about her relationships with famous musicians. I recently talked to her friends that have known her her whole life and they confirmed that she does not know these people. She goes to concerts and truly believes that in the sea of over a thousand people the musician sings directly to her the whole time and asks her to go backstage (which she always declines) at every concert. She consistently relays these stories and to top it all off, there's a history of schizophrenia in the family. 

If you've made it this far in the post, thank you for taking the time to read. When I read the FAQ on this page, she has every symptom listed there and I wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter since I'm completely flying in the dark. What does this sound like to you? Are there good treatment options for schizophrenia? Ive spent the last 3 months thinking she has a terminal illness so I would definitely rather this be schizophrenia. Thanks again for reading