A Day in a Life of Someone Living with Schizoaffective Disorder

I am about to explain my day to day life with schizoaffective disorder. Honestly, my life is no different than anyone else other then when I am not doing well (meaning I am off my medicine or I have a new chemical imbalance in my brain from a stressful life change)

Most days, I start my day as anyone else normally would. Wake-up to an obnoxiously annoying alarm early in the morning, roll out of bed, and start my morning routine.

My morning routine consists of brushing my teeth, washing my face, styling my hair and doing my make-up, with a little extra added bonus for my day... I take my medicine first thing in the morning.

After completing my bathroom ritual as I would call it, I then wake up my son to get us both breakfast and get him ready for his day at Daycare. Once everyone is ready to leave the house. I buckle my son into his car seat and take him t0 Daycare so he can socialize and have a structured day while I get my stuff done at home.

Throughout my day while my son is gone at daycare, it is quite relaxed at home, and my day needs to be relaxed because if it is not, and I am too stressed and I could end up causing myself to have an episode of Schizoaffective Disorder. This is why I struggle to work and need to be on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH). Without AISH, I would more then likely be homeless because of how severe my mental illness is and how work impacts my stress levels.

For the most part, I get some chores done around the house, I go grocery shopping, get errands done, work on a Vocal, or attend appointments.

I have a lot of self-care techniques that I rely on every day to keep me functional and sane, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic I have been using them more.

I use self-care techniques throughout the day such as journaling which I enjoy so much! I also read/study my scriptures, hula-hoop dance, do art, meditation, and more. I honestly could spend a whole couple blogs on self-care alone. That is beside my point though. I want to get across the ideas of what I do throughout my day living with Schizoaffective disorder. In another post, I'll explain some of my episodes I have had in the past.

So while my son is at daycare, I am taking care of myself, the house, my cats, and other things. By the time 5:00 PM rolls around, I am heading out the door to pick up my son.

When we get home, I make supper for everyone and I play with my son for a couple hours and chase him around the house trying to tickle him. I also will give my son a bath, brush his teeth, get him in clean PJ's for bed, read him a story and tuck him in bed. Honestly, the evening are not always this perfect, although I wish they would be but it is not humanly possible to expect yourself or your child to do a night time routine perfectly everyday.

My son has bad days like anyone else and myself included. So yes, he throws temper tantrums as any two year old would do when they don't want to do something.

Finally, after getting my son tucked into bed and asleep, I will continue my nigh time routine. I will shower, wash my face, brush and floss my teeth etc. Once I am all freshened up, I sit in a rocking chair called my "self-care chair." It is called this because I have a foot massager underneath the chair, I have a heated blanket on it, I also have my Sherpa blanket, my neck massager, and my SAD Lamp (Seasonal Affective Disorder Lamp) all in the same location. That is why I call it my "self-care chair" because it has all of my favorite comfort items for the evening to help me with low mood.

In Canada, it get dark in the Winter around 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM usually, so it is very easy for me to get depressed quickly. So that is why I have a self-care chair.

Then after a long day, I'll usually snuggle in bed with my spouse and fall asleep to him rubbing my ears. Just as a side note, there a pressure points in your ears that help relieve anxiety and stress. No wonder I fall asleep so quickly.

In conclusion, the difference with my day from any other persons day is that I do not work but I still try to be a productive and active member of society. I still enjoy and want to be a contributor to society in a positive way rather then negative. In all honesty, I do not like using my free time as a "get out of jail free card," because I don't like sitting still and doing nothing or just mellowing out and playing some video games. Of course, with balance. You work hard, then you get to play hard.