Can psychiatrist recognize beginning of schizophrenia on himself?

Hi, i'm 25 years old, and i have OCD, one of my biggest fears is getting schizophrenia and psychosis, especially when i'm travelling, so i often avoid to go abroad and travel because of that stupid fear of 'going crazy', what is weird for me because before developing that fear i loved to travel. Even with that fear i was 4 times on all around 7 days trips in diferent european cities, and everything was very good, except sometimes there where anxiety moments.

So to reduce my anxiety about this things, my question is, would schizophrenia expert psychiatrist recognize beginning of schizophrenia - psychosis on themself, will they recognize signs before acute phase, and on beginning of acute phase?

Hey Zmayer,

As a schizophrenia 'expert', you should be able to answer that question yourself, surely? And at 25 years old, are you sure 'expert' is the right word to use? An expert is someone who has around 10 or more years actively in their field. You would have had your doctorate by the age of 15 to class yourself as an expert in the field of psychiatry by the age of 25!

But whatever you want to call yourself- the answer to your question is probably- No. I say probably, because I expect there are professionals out there that could spot their own psychosis, but I'd say they're pretty rare. A psychotic disorder is not usually apparent to the sufferer- not in the cases of schizophrenia and bi-polar anyway. A 'trained' sufferer can often spot behaviours and thought patterns that precede a psychotic relapse, but when I say 'trained', I mean someone who has undergone some form of extensive therapy, whether that be CBT (and as 'expert'- you should know what CBT is), psycho-therapy or medication.

Tbh, you sound as if you have an anxiety disorder- possibly related to flying, possibly not. But what you have described does not, in any way, sound like schizophrenia. You have only stated that the anxiety occurs when flying, so that is perhaps your trigger, but may not be the cause. The cause may be rooted in why you are travelling so much.

I'm guessing you're a psychology or psychiatry student? The fear of 'going crazy' and developing a psychosis sounds like a condition that is well-known to psychology/psychiatry students- it is the fear of contracting everything you are reading!

You are not going to go crazy, but it certainly sounds as if there are areas in your life that you are feeling out of control of. A sense of 'craziness' in its rawest form is a sense of chaos and confusion, with a fear of losing control. Look at what you feel out of control of and the anxiety may start to calm down.

Good luck