Schizophrenia has many symptoms that can be annoying for the sufferer. Before I got treatment I found it hard to process new information or process anything at all sometimes. For example I would learn a new skill and then not really understand it in a functional way. For example I once learnt about a cooking ingredient almost twenty years ago. Then launched into preparing a vat load of it even though you are only supposed to cook it in small portions. It sounds trivial yet it scared my partner of the time when she saw this giant boiling concoction. It was only four years ago that I returned to this ingredient and actually prepared it correctly. Even after I had treatment I still had difficulty processing information though every year I improved. So I could confidently say that over the past few years when I learn new things I actually understand them and approach them in a functional way. The thing is you do get the key information although it can get twisted and that is how it becomes dysfunctional. So when I was in a learning environment I never really got the subtleties and connections. For example I went back to Qi Gong after a very long break and years of treatment. Instead of getting confused and just getting it so wrong I actually can understand the fundamentals and how they relate to other ideas. Even some of my peers struggle with what appears to be contradictory information. 

Yet I can see the subtleties and relationships and how they don’t really contradict each other because of the related information. As an example I was told to eat shrimp because it has a chemical that improves eyesight. This by the way is a fact. Then some months later we were told not to eat shrimp. For most this would be a contradiction but not if you fill in the blanks. For example on being told to eat shrimp it was suggested to only have it once a week. Then when told not to eat it there was a suggestion that abalone was better because it was less likely to cause ‘fire’ or inflammation. So with each piece of information there is other information that is subtle and can be missed. Another example is green tea. We were told it was too negative so people decided not to drink it. Whereas if you mix in something like ginger or red tea it negates the yin aspect (too much yin can upset digestion). So some of my peers won’t touch it but you can still have it with slight modifications in winter (as green tea is more a summer drink than a winter drink according to yin yang theory). The fact that I could work these things out was because I processed most of the information in regards to the lessons. So I feel like I am not doing too badly. I haven’t just got a simple black and white understanding of some new information like I used to have. 

So I have new cooking techniques that are not mental, I learnt acupressure points and a lot about Chinese tea. I am always learning new things which I am grateful for and it is good I am picking up little hints that a lot of people miss. What I really need to spend time on is learning the Chinese language because that is an interesting challenge and the reading and writing system is so interesting. I am glad there have been some improvements in general information processing over the years. Learning is always enjoyable.