Hi Mancunianpoodle,

I’m glad you are having success with the diet so far.

Have you discussed it with your GP or Mental Health Care provider?

I agree, if you’re going to hand out such potentially discriminating advice, resins should be provided. After a life time of lecturing and working with serious mental health problems, I can’t see how exercise could adversely affect people with that condition. Indeed most people with your diagnosis and other with problems with psychosis are advised to exercise as its been shown to speed recovery from depression as well as help combat the obesity resulting from use of neuroleptics.

I have had a MH diagnosis, and am using the diet to combat the weight gain due to the meds I’ve been out on. In fact my psychiatrist advised me to /eat smart’ on these meds and watch out for carb cravings. So I’m doing a kind of combination of the BSD and this, fasting on two days a week and cutting white carbs basically. It is helpful. I also take Omega 3s as well. BMI went up to 33 on the meds and now down to 28 and falling. Excercise also good and for MH. HTH.

Most likely the caution is due to the issues that might come up for people who have an uneasy relationship with their bodies, their body-image, or with the sensations you get when you’ve become quite hungry. I think a lot of people struggle with hunger, and one of the things that happens when you have a tendency to either over-think or over-react (two tendencies that can get really dysfunctional in people with major mental illness) is that hunger might trigger some feelings, thoughts, etc., that can be unexpected or very unwelcome.

I agree with everyone that, practiced carefully and not over-doing the fasting (that is, don’t start fasting for three days straight… or four days out of seven… or whatev) you should be fine. And I have found that my mind actually responds quite nicely to hunger (not that I enjoy it) — my memory, attention, etc. are all fine. that said, I’ve noticed some extreme hunger pangs really get my attention but if I talk nicely to those hunger pangs, they subside.

Good luck with the schizoaffective symptoms you are struggling with. I would venture to say that between alcoholism, anxiety, depressive episodes, a little magical/obsessive thinking, a few compulsions, delusionary and mildly or moderately paranoid thinking, as well as feelings of desolation and anger with humanity, and general problems with focus and procrastination… MOSt of the people in the world are quite familiar with mental illness! So, on behalf of all of us who struggle with these and other issues, good luck, hang in there, and be kind to yourself and your good intentions. We are rooting for you.