by Charlie in Rhode Island
After having struggled with schizophrenia previously, I now live with it but no longer struggle with it, which is not to say that I sometimes don't struggle with problems. I was diagnosed with, at the time, schizoaffective, in my senior year in college. I was given the wrong treatment and diagnosis for six years, getting medications that didn't work, and no chance to feel comfortable expressing myself.
by Marsha in Kansas
When I started my downward spiral after hospitalization, I was asked to quit my trade school classes and take a break from the stress of it all. It was a nice way of saying we don't want you to come back. I couldn't handle the stress of marriage so I divorced my second husband. He got main custody of my daughter but I got half custody of her during her last year of school. She came to live with me full-time.
by Greg in California
I have suffered from schizophrenia for over 30 years. My first episode was triggered when my mother died a terrifying death of bowel cancer when I was 20. After descending into a mad world of demonic voices where I was hospitalized and medicated, I thought there was no hope left. I suffered for years, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee and doing little else. Then, I thought I was a Christian and I started hearing aliens tell me the world would end soon and The Rapture was at hand. It got to the point where the slightest sound would make me think it was beginning.
by Tamoa in Virgnia
I am just turning 35 years old and have lived with mental illness all my life. I remember asking my mother when I was little, "was I retarded like my uncle'" who is now 60 and has the mentality of a ten-year-old. I was crying all the time and could not sleep at night because I was afraid of things coming out from the bed or closets that I was actually seeing. My parents didn't think anything of it at the time. As I got older it became progressively worse.
by Laura in Florida
My Name is Laura, and I have had this awful disorder since I was a young child. At the time, my family had no idea what was wrong with me, I was just different. I did not have many friends and wanted to be by myself all the time. As I got older, I was in and out of facilities in Central Florida. They treated me like a dog, and that is the complete truth. I did not realize how they hurt you instead of helping you. I lost almost 20 years of my life and did not really realizing what was going on around me.
by Denise in Minnesota
In retrospect, my illness was noticeably present by the time I was eight years old. I would project myself into a different realm and take no consequence for my behavior because that was the other Denise. Then I would "sulk", as it was put to me. As a teen, it became mood swings, which finally manifested themselves into a move to the attic. I became isolated from my family. I had two groups of friends: the popular girls, when I felt 'normal' and the girls who ran with the fast crowd when I did not feel "normal." When I was depressed I had my good close friends.
by Greg in BC
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 20. This was after my mother died of cancer. I was working full-time and attending college but couldn't cope. I began hearing demonic voices and I was very paranoid, believing aliens were sent by God to abduct me. I was hospitalized and was put on different meds that didn't help, but eventually, we found the right combination of meds. I lived for years in four different boarding homes, and in the last eight years I have finished a BA in English, took Creative Writing courses and I've had two novels published about schizophrenia, The Temptress Ariel and Selene's Guiding Light (both published by Publish America).
by Zach in Nebraska
As far as how has mental illness affected my life, it has completely changed my life. Growing up I was almost never sick and never had to go to doctors. Now I go to my nurse practitioner once a month to monitor how I m doing with my mental illness. I don't have many friends and I haven't dated in almost a year, but the friends that I do have are amazing. I also get a lot of support from family members more so than I could have ever imagined.
by Billie in North Carolina
My name is Billie and I have schizophrenia. I grew up in a small town, and was born in a small tin house. As time went on, I joined the military in 1975. I was in the Marine Corps for four years. I traveled to a lot of nice places such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Philippines, Hawaii and Alaska. I was discharged in 1979, and then I moved to California for three years. In 1992, I found out I had schizophrenia.
by Dean in North Carolina
I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia for five years now. For two years, prior to going to my local clubhouse, I spent most of my time at home, isolated from everyone and wasn't very active. Through my attendance in the program, I have been afforded numerous opportunities that I would not have had if I had stayed on the road I was on prior to attending the program.
