Schizophrenia: Cognitive Decline and Stress Impact - Psychiatry

Schizophrenia leads to impaired brain function, and it raises the question of whether stress contributes to these issues?

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I would like to ask the doctor two questions.
The first question is that I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia for over a year, and I feel that many functions of my brain have deteriorated.
Due to poor comprehension, I feel that my abilities in expression, understanding, thinking, logic, memory, reading, etc., have all declined.
I have severe distractions and poor attention (there may be other functions that have worsened, but my comprehension is lacking).
I experience the same issues when writing, typing messages, and speaking.
Learning new things has become somewhat difficult; my new company requires me to write reports, and although I used to be able to write, now I have no idea how to do it.
After my illness, my colleagues often say that my speech lacks focus, and my writing and typing are also unfocused and lengthy.
I have been in treatment for two years, and I am unsure whether my brain function has been affected by schizophrenia or if it is due to the fact that I sought medical help more than a year after the onset of symptoms.
Will the decline in brain function improve, or can it only partially recover? (I estimate that the onset was over a year ago because of my lack of insight; I started counting from the first time someone mentioned they did not understand what I was trying to express in a LINE message.)
The second question is whether schizophrenia can manifest in the absence of stress and during happy times.
However, I found online that the onset of schizophrenia may be related to stress.
My family has no history of schizophrenia, but just before the onset, I experienced an extremely stressful event that I had never encountered before.
I would like to know if the cause of my illness is more likely related to this unprecedented stressful event I experienced.
I am 44 years old and considered a normal person.
Since birth, I have faced both recurring and new stressors, but up until June 2020, I had not developed any symptoms.
However, in July 2020, I encountered a stressful event that I had never experienced before.
This stressor was a new regulation that created many unresolved or unmanageable issues.
Starting from July 1, 2020, I had to comply with this new regulation daily, but it was illogical, preventing me from doing things that were previously legal and reasonable.
If I did not comply with the previously correct actions, it would lead to issues with integrity, income, agency rights, and work.
This situation caused me unprecedented stress, as the new regulation led to numerous harmful problems daily.
Complying with the new regulation did not resolve or improve the issues, and the harmful problems continued to accumulate, doubling each day.
The increasing harmful problems expanded my stress daily, significantly impacting my integrity, income, and safety.
If I did not comply with the new regulation, I would face heavy fines and lose my agency rights, resulting in no work or income.
The new regulation started in July 2020, and due to the overwhelming stress, about two months after it began, on September 28, 2020, I received my first LINE message where someone said they did not understand what I was saying.
After that, it became common for people to say they did not understand my messages, that they lacked focus, were lengthy, or were off-topic.
On August 28, 2020, I mentioned in a LINE message my fear and the unexplained severe pain and trembling in my body.
(The life-threatening aspect refers to the fact that the new regulation left me feeling overwhelmed; if I did not arrive at the designated time, I would incur penalties.
I would ride my bike 20-30 times a day to meet deadlines, and due to feeling overwhelmed while trying to arrive on time, I began riding my bike at the fastest speed I have ever gone.
Because I often rode quickly, there were many instances where I almost collided with cars or pedestrians, but I managed to stop in time.
At that moment, I was genuinely frightened.
If someone else were to hit me, I might not be able to react in time.
However, the new regulation affected me so much that it forced me to ride fast.
I used to ride slowly and had never been in an accident, especially since my uncle died in a car accident.)

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Xiao Yu, 40~49 year old female. Ask Date: 2024/06/17