13 True Stories of Living with Schizophrenics

When I was doing theatre in college, I once played a character with schizophrenia. In preparing for the show, I did a fair amount of research. Since I was approaching it as someone portraying the condition rather than someone studying it, I wanted to hear about personal experiences.

I read stories written by schizophrenics, I met a man living in a group support home who’d dealt with it literally since birth. It was all very eye-opening. Basically, Schizophrenia is what happens when your brain gets into such a state that it can’t really tell reality from imagination anymore. It’s treatable, and medications and therapies are getting better all the time. But it’s a heavy reminder that we’re made of some fairly fragile stuff, and we need to treat ourselves with care.

Here are a few anonymous contributions from people who live with those dealing with the disorder.

13. “I love him, but…”

Man, how do you lose a therapist?

12. “He’s good people”

The two things are definitely not mutually exclusive.

11. “I hope you die”

What a horrible thing to hear.

10. “Because my grandma asked me”

That’s quite a responsibility to take on.

9. “Things are getting out of hand”

You’re not gonna see that money for long.

8. “Wow.”

You take after them, huh?

7. “I will never have a child”

That is one of the heaviest things I’ve ever heard.

6. “For the first time”

How can you handle that sort of thing?

5. “I cry every time”

“He already asked me what my favorite ice cream was like 5 secs ago. So sad.”

4. “I worry”

That’s understandable.

3. “Too many tales”

Strange how we all find a way to survive.

2. “I’d call the cops, but…”

Yiiiiikes.

1. “I hate how mean society can be”

We’re all only human.

It’s pretty sobering stuff.

Do you have experience with this sort of thing?

Tell us about it in the comments.