Building Patience

Schizoaffective disorder doesn’t resolve in a month. Or a year. Or maybe ever. Healing is not fast, not linear, and definitely not easy. You will have breakthroughs. You will have relapses. You will get sick again, and you will get up again.

So the real skill becomes this: learning how to wait without giving up.

🔹 What We’re Actually Waiting For

• Medication to work

• Side effects to fade

• Episodes to pass

• Therapy to start helping

• People to understand

• Systems to support us

• Energy to return

• Life to make sense again

You’re not weak for being frustrated. You’re human.

🔹 Patience Isn’t Passive

Patience is not the same as doing nothing. It’s the act of holding on when you want to give up. It’s the decision to keep breathing through the unbearable parts.

It looks like:

• Taking meds even when you hate them

• Going to appointments even when you’re over it

• Saying “I’m still here” even when you don’t feel like it

• Letting yourself rest without guilt

🔹 How to Build It

➤ Track tiny wins

Did you eat something today? Text a friend? Avoid a harmful behavior? That counts. Write it down.

➤ Use time blocks

Tell yourself: “Just get through the next 10 minutes.” Then the next hour. Then the next day.

➤ Use visual cues

Cross off days on a calendar. Use a sticker chart. Track your meds or mood in a planner. Seeing your effort builds patience.

➤ Add grounding routines

Simple rituals can slow you down and help you tolerate discomfort. Try:

• Drinking a cup of tea at the same time every day

• Watering your plants each morning

• Lighting a candle before bed

• Playing the same calming playlist while you clean

These small acts of repetition remind your body that time is moving—even if it doesn’t feel like it.

➤ Zoom out

What felt unbearable last year might feel manageable now. What feels impossible today might pass in a week. Keep perspective where you can.