by Joe in Indiana

I was enrolled in a Ph.D. Program of finance at the University of Rochester when I picked up the book, Moby Dick. I thought the book would be interesting to read while I waited for classes to start in the fall of 1986. When I began reading Moby Dick, I was mentally healthy as far as myself and all of my friends could tell. But two months later, once I finished reading Moby Dick, I was quite psychotic. I had autonomous voices talking to me inside my head much of my waking hours. As a psychotic, I felt some pressure to obey my voices. It is not as though I would obey every comment I heard in my head, but ideas that my voices spoke to me about that appeared relatively low risk ideas to follow, were commonly obeyed by me.

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by Michelle in Virginia

Mental illness has affected my life in that it has changed it forever. The things I aspired to do before I got ill have been hard to achieve. I always have a tougher obstacle to climb than others. Sometimes life seems so impossible and other times it seems too easy, until I crash.

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by Jennifer in Florida

At the age of 12, I began to have trouble with depression. This became a chronic problem for me, which eventually resulted in a suicide attempt at age 15. At the same time, I was developing anorexia nervosa, which I struggled with for many years. I was hospitalized for my eating disorder at age 17. I had also developed an addiction to self-injury as a teenager, something that I was able to completely stop doing when I was in my twenties.

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by Jo Anne in Arizona

I can remember being a toddler and thinking that the rest of the people in the world were somehow very different from me. I did not understand why I felt so sad to be here and everyone else seemed to know what to do and enjoyed their lives. I could excel in school and be the best at various sports or activities, but even so, I was not happy. I wanted more and did more than most.

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by Dave in New York

I was 17 when I had my first symptoms. I'm now 44. I was diagnosed schizophrenic with acute differentiation. About three years ago I was diagnosed schizoaffective. My second hospitalization lasted 11 months in a state-run facility. I've been on several different medications and had several hospital stays. I'm married to a wonderful woman who supports me during my funky periods. I had a good job working for the State and was able to retire early. I've been fortunate in that I've never had any problems finding treatment.

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by Scott in Ohio

"Does he love us? Does he love us? Does he love us? I look around & all I see is destruction. I guess we're all counting on his Divine Intervention." These are lyrics from a Matthew Sweet song on the Girlfriend CD. I bought it in Feb, 1993, in the depths of depression, This CD has always had great meaning for me, especially the first song, Divine Intervention. Listening to it, projecting into it, I wondered if there was a way to get weight off my body, the invisible kick out of my stomach and let me see the world in focus - not distortion – again. I was 32 years old, but felt like 180. It doesn't matter how old you are. This song summed up my ups and downs as they occurred during the day.

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by Terri in New Jersey

I've been affected with mental illness since the age of 12 when my brother died. I began having difficulty in school and at home. My friends started calling my mother and telling her that I was acting strange in school and when I spent time with them socially. At home, no one noticed anything different, but that's when I started having problems. In school, I started falling behind in my class work and began failing most of my classes. That's when my family starting seeing a difference in me.

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by Sandra in North Carolina

I have schizoaffective disorder and I love life. I am 44 years old. I have a son. I love my mother. I went to college some and have earned credits toward a B.A. in psychology. I like reading, writing, church, and dressing up for church.

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by Madison in Pennsylvania

Because of my mental illness, I had to leave my profession in social work and claim disability. It put a strain on my marriage, resulting in a divorce and emotional strain on my parents and brother.

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by Jamie in Michigan

I am a Mental Health Consumer Advocate. I have not always been a Mental Health Consumer Advocate. When I started out, I was in Schizophrenic Anonymous. I started out going to a conference where I met people like myself with mental illnesses – with schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder, and bipolar disorder. These people were like a family to me. As a mater of fact, it was better than the family because I have always heard the saying, "You can choose friends, but you can not choose your family!", and to this day, after 15-years of being involved with Schizophrenic Anonymous, knowing members of Schizophrenic Anonymous and having Schizophrenic Anonymous friends, I still keep in contact with people in California, New York, Lansing, Michigan – all over the United States.

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