My diagnosis came as a shock to me. I thought schizophrenic was a term limited to homeless people talking to themselves on the street. Instead what I experienced was a long and tumultuous road filled with loneliness and at times, hope. I am 25 years old and had everything, a job, family, friends. Schizophrenia it feels took all of that away. Friends don’t know what to say to me to make it better, my family seems uncomfortable and doesn’t want to talk about it, and I lost my job due to not being able to perform the tasks. No one tells you how depression seeps in even after you’re well as you mourn the loss of your health. I lost my ability to connect to others, to experience true joy, and gained 35 pounds of which I am having a very hard time losing. I don’t want to go to the gym because I am tired. My brain is tired and my body is tired from the psychotic episodes that caused me to be hospitalized. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but right now, things feel grim.