What is "borderline" schitzophrenia like and how does alcohol or smoking affect people with this disease?

and do people with this disease seriously alternate back and forth?

what causes this to happen and how long do the periods generally last for?

why and how so?

Thanks for your answers!

p.s. anyone who can give a brief definition to this disease and how it is similar or differant to "manic- depression" would be appreciated.
think of really over dramatic and attention seeking people, who participates in risky behavior, tries to fit in, types, ie, Anna Nicole Smith. Someone like her might be considered borderline.

Sometimes drugs and alcohol can lead to schizophrenia, it will last forever, but can be managed with medications. Whether they stay on their meds will determine whether they alternate.

Manic dep. is someone who goes through periods of being really, really hyperactive, then goes through periods of being super depressed.
If you are talking about a disease where people 'alternate' back and forth between different personalities, that is dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. Yes, they really do switch between totally different personalities, and there can be more than two, some have dozens of personalities. This caused my marriage breakdown. Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterised by hallucinations, not multiple personalities. Borderline personality disorder is something else again.

Dissociative identity disorder is generally considered to be caused by physical, sexual or emotional abuse at a very young age. The child 'distances' themselves to protect themself and then creates another person to take the abuse ih their place. This process of fragmentation can occur more than once.

the disease is characterised by deception, including self-deception, and the unit as a whole can be very good at deceiving itself and the owrld at large. the original personality, the 'host', is often unaware of what is happening and may wake in places not knowing what day it is or how they got there with gaps in their memory - these are periods during whcih another personality was in control. there is no way to preduct when or how a switch will occur or for how long it will last.

The disorder generally worsens with increasing stress and life changes can cause a 'meltdown', where another personalit takes control and remains in control. This typically occurs after an extended period of increased switching, often chracaterised by impulse buying, excessive spending, especially on credit, and infidelity.

It can be treated with therapy, but the process is long and painstaking and can be resisted by the alters (other personalities) who see the therapy process as an attempt to 'destroy' them as individuals. there is no drug therapy available.

Manic depression, or bipolar, is a mental illness chracaterised by bouts of clinical depression mixed with periods of 'mania' or times when the sufferer feels untouchable and on top of the world. This can also be characterised by excessively fast thinking or talking and high periods of creativity.
I'm no doctor but i believe it is when a person has delusions that they can no longer determine if they are real or not.
most are affected by voices in there heads telling them to do things and saying all kinds of stuff.
they some times can feel people are out to get them and often will say its not them who are ill but the people around them.
we really don't know what causes people to suffer from this, it might be something past down from your parents or messing with strong drugs.
once a person is on medicine they are normally fine but the problem is the pills do make people feel very sluggish so they stop taking there pills thinking they are OK now, but they get ill again. hope this helps
the parallel of schizophrenic episodes and bipolar disorder remains halucinations and a separation from reality.
this occurs in severe manic or depressive episodes.
with schizophrenia, the halucinations are consistantly present without mood swings...

substance abuse can impact a persons mental illness in a negative manner-higher highs and lower lows.
more intense hallucinations...

hope this helps.
im bipolar
with mild schizophrenia
im succesful in life
im loved, and i love.
i like a few drinks
and some ciggies
because im human.
so far i have done well
without the condescending patronisation
of idiot laymen
with nothing to think about.

cheers, brother. yeeeeeech!
their third eye is swinging right open and they are very receptive to things other people may not see or hear sometimes painfully sensitive, alcohol can heighten this state so can smoking drugs
They often drink to self medicate.
Schizophrenia. Some people including me believe that there is no such illness and certainly no such disease. It was a name given by the psychiatry profession for a human condition they could not accurately define or treat. Mental health problems are usually caused by environmental problems, such as stress, physical, sexual or emotional abuse. We can all suffer these in our lives espacially stress. The whole mental health industry (because thats what it has become) has been taken over and undermined by the drug companies. My son was at university where he could no longer cope with emotional pressures he was exposed to. He returned home and we tried to get him some counselling. HIs GP arranged this for him but the first available appointment was in 4 months time. How pathetic is that. He felt unable to cope so returned to his GP. He was put onto the anti-depressant Cipramil. Within hours of taking it he got worse and within three days became psychotic. The Cipramil had increased his anxiety to the point where his brain literally went into melt-down. He was sectioned and put onto anti-psychotic medication. We just wanted him to be looked after until the effects of the Cipramil had worn off, but they think they know better. Six years of drug induced psychosis followed. He had all the classic symptoms of Schizophrenia and we gave up hope of him ever living a normal life. My wife did lots of research into drugs and found that there is a growing groundswell of opinion that not only are the drugs ineffective but they actually maintain people in a psychotic state. It takes a long time to wean someone off them and it is a dangerous time. The cases you hear of people who commit some horrible crime and they say he had stopped taking his medication are now common. It took us years of reducing the drugs by tiny amounts every day to get my son off these poisonous substances. You cannot suddenly come off them. My advice is never go on them. My son has been drug free now for approx 8 mnonths and he has returned to the young man we knew and loved. His psychiatrist advised us to virtually abandon him and leave him in their care. He would be dead if we had listened to that advice. If you have problems in your life try and find alternative ways to deal with them. Don't accept a diagnosis of schizophrenia. BEWARE OF DRUGS (MEDICATION OR STREET DRUGS) One thing we have learned is that the brain has plasticity. In other words it will correct itself from any temporary imbalance. Time and understanding are the best cures. I hope that my son can now cope with the added trauma of the "mad" years he had to suffer and continue to recover his life. Do some research on the internet. See some peoples comments about the anti-depressants and other medications they were given (youtube). Empower yourself and live in hope.