Schizophrenics of reddit, what were the first signs of your break from reality and how would you warn others for early detection?

It started when I reminded some young fellas that they should not spit before my feet when i was walking one day to buy groceries. Then her bigger brothers started following me, which was really happening. But that situation triggered my paranoid schizophrenic episode. I soon felt that they were following me everywhere i went. Then one day i went to the park and what happened there really broke me. As i was walking some kids on bikes drove by and started chanting something about something i dont know anymore correctly. But this event really scared me and i remember that it took me few hours to get home because i tried to avoid "them". If there really was someone following me i dont know. When i was home i called the police and they said i should come by the station. So i went there the next day. But they basically laughed at me and just asked if i already have been to see a psychiatrist. And well this was it. Now i knew i was fucking loosing my mind. So at home i called the psycho hotline and went there. The doctor gave me Zyprexa (Olanzapin) which i took at home and that was the first time in weeks probably when i slept the whole day and night through. Next day i called my father and tried to explain what was happening. I called work and said i was sick. My father came to pick me up and together we found a way to get me into a clinic without committal from the doctor. So i went there. Got a shitload of drugs and after a few weeks i was out. Canceled my job and my apartment and got a new job in a new city. That was really important. I could not have gone back there. With the pills i could barely work for years. My life was pretty much. Sleep..go to work..go home and eat little bit and go to bed at 0600-0630. I slept until next morning. After 2 years i talked to my psychiatrist and asked him to lower the dosage because i pretty much had no life. So went from 50mg to 5mg in 5 years. My life was really getting better. So my current status is. I dropped my medication completely without asking a psychiatrist first. I know it can come back any time..I just hope it does not.

/r/AskReddit Thread