Schizophrenia & Recovering

Cherry

By Gabzgrl

Wed, 22 Aug 2012
  • 2166 reads
6 comments
 

The word would make anyone shudder. Schizophrenia, an illness that causes a normal person to lose touch with reality. Schizophrenia is more common than diabetes, and affects over 2.2 million percent of the population. It is a heart-breaking, and life-stealing mental disease. There are no cultural markers for schizophrenia. In my opinion, poverty only adds to the lack of treatment available to a person with schizophrenia.

There have been several great movies focused on schizophrenia survivors. "A Beautiful Mind" is one such movie. It portrays the adult life of John Nash, a brilliant mathemetician who was afflicted with schizophrenia. "The Soloist" is another great movie which is also a true story based on Nathaniel Ayers, a great violinist who lost a potentially bright future to this cruel disease of the mind.

I also have schizophrenia, and I can tell you first-hand it is not possible to overcome it alone. Some still believe people can "pull themselves up by the boot-straps" and carry on, but it is near impossible with medication and therapy. My first experiences were earlier than most people's. I began having symptoms at the age of thirteen and onwards. It began to appear in a subtle way to everyone else, but me. I was very withdrawn into stories and poetry.

Certificate U
Story
The Reality Files
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by Sooz006 on
You know what I like about this? There is not one word of self-pity. You write it almost factually, it reads like a report or a news article and yet you are writing about you and your family. The lack of emotion in the piece makes the emotion behind it all the stronger. He is only nineteen, and I wish he never goes through what I went through... and here it says how much pain there really is in the piece. A good piece of writing. Good luck going forward, keep taking the meds, and I would seriously consider taking up the counselling, I think you would be good at it.

 

Submitted by Gabzgrl on
Thank you so much! :) I am glad that my writing was successful in expressing things clearly and objectively. I have noticed this is the most effective way to write and reach an audience. I may go on to get my Master's, but that will be after two more years of college. I was thinking about Transpersonal Psychology or a similar counseling degree.

The force be with you!

Gabrielle B-G

Submitted by Sooz006 on
Good luck, sounds as though you've got it pretty well sussed, don't let anything hold you back. Reach for the stars and if you grab a handful of air-pollutant ozone layer on the way, at least you know you're headed in the right direction. :-)

 

Submitted by celticman on

the understated way you put this makes it stronger. Facts do not need swagger. An insight into a medical condition that is hidden,  a dirty secret in our society.. I can assure you in the UK treatment is just as poor.

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi

I looked for something you had written, because you commented on my piece. I was very interested in your take on mental health, and your personal experiences. As the others have said, you do a good job of instructing the lay person on what the problem involves - and how it is treated, and some of the side effects and problems.

My son has bi-polar and aspergers. When he was a teenager, he had trouble coping with high school, dealing with social situations, and life in general. We didn't have him seen by a psychiatrist, because there was such an enormous stigma attached in those days which we thought would follow him around for the rest of his life. Instead we home educated him. He, like you, is very bright. And now he is coping with life most of the time - as I am sure you will. He was diagnosed when his American girlfriend took him home with her (we live in Britain) and got him to see someone. He has been on medication ever since - 15 years now - and has lived in America ever since, although no longer with the same girl.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by celticman on

all the best jean