In 1996, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia. Though I have endured and suffered a great deal, I have been blessed with satisfactory mental health care, I have learned a lot about the two conditions and how to cope, and I have achieved many goals and aspirations.

With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD, I have experienced many obsessions, which are fast, unwanted, intrusive thoughts. Did I leave the stove on? Did I touch my face with contaminated hands? Why do I doubt so much? These thoughts resulted in acute anxiety, fear, and worry.

The fear, anxiety, and worry made me want to do whatever I could to alleviate it; I engaged in any compulsion or ritual that I thought would free me from the torture. I would ask people if my fears were legitimate, for reassurance. I would wash my hands until they were raw. I would double check everything. I felt the need to check and double check; no amount of checking was enough.

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 I   AM SCHIZOPHRENIC. I HAVE T O TAKE MEDICINE.THERE IS NO  CURE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA,THE SAME  WAY THERE IS NO CURE FOR CANCER.BUT THEY ARE DOING MORE AND MORE RESEARCH ON SCHIZOPHRENIA, WHO GETS AND WHY IT HAPPENS I SEE AND PYSCHIATRISTS, I ALSO ATTEND A CLUBHOUSE WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE DEALING WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA,BIPOLAR,ADHD ,OCD.AND MANIC DEPRSSION.

In 1996, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Schizophrenia. Though I have endured and suffered a great deal, I have been blessed with satisfactory mental health care, I have learned a lot about the two conditions and how to cope, and I have achieved many goals and aspirations.

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Hi I’m a young man in Southern California with schizophrenia and OCD. I’ve always been reserved and not very social my whole life, but it wasn’t until age 17 that I began hallucinating with voices and smells. I have been told not to freely admit my diagnosis since people close to me feel I am doing well with it. Despite the stigma in America that mental illnesses should be pushed under the rug, or that people like me are more often violent, I have fortunately never been victimized by any prejudice or discrimination so far (knock on wood). Not long after my illness was discovered I joined a social group mainly for people affected by mental illness. Throughout my time there I have made strong friendships and had lots of fun. I am blessed with a loving family that supports me unconditionally. Though they cannot relate to me very much nor fully understand what I go through, they all give support and see me at my best. 

I have several mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, OCD, anorexia, dissociative, Tourettes, and a couple more minor ones.
I’m really into theater and it’s my dream to act and direct, even a small part in the back of a scene that’s 20 seconds would be enough. But because of all of the stuff I deal with its not realistic, instead I do tech and stage management I often do props and lights, those are things I don’t have to be very social or outgoing to do so it works out really well.
Currently I’m working on a production of a midsummer nights dream, a woman I know is in charge of it and she recruited me for it, most of the other people working on it are 17/18, there’s a few older and then there’s me, I’m 15.
The woman who got me into this is really great and friendly and supportive of me and everything I’m going through, she’s really helpful when I have an attack during rehearsal and puts my mental health before the show which is really unusual for me. But anyways I’m really sick of panicking or freaking out every time we have rehearsal and I know she won’t see this but I just want to apologize to her again because I’m so sorry I’m like this and I’m so sorry I keep interrupting your work and taking you away from it. I feel so bad about it. I just wish I could get this all under control… I’m sorry, Maria, that I’m like this.

I moved in with my abusive step mother in 2006 and lived with here till 2014 when my dad died of cancer (i was 11). I now live with my bipolar mom and little brother. I suffer from PTSD, OCD, depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, and panic attacks. I used to be suicidal, but I could not leave my brother all alone with my mother, so I’m coping.

I have two adult sons, the first borne with chronic depression and the 2nd borne diagnosed with schizophrenia. The one with schizophrenia has had the diagnosis for probably >15 years. In his early years, he demonstrated his intelligence by maintaining a 3.0+ grade point average! However, as he aged, he got into the drug scene in a heavy way starting off with heavy marijuana use and graduating into chronic meth and heroin usage. He even dabbled in whatever drugs could be purchased on the internet via China. I strongly believe that the drug use is what pushed him over the edge into his current psychotic state. He has been in hospitals and treatment programs more times than I can count and is currently in a group home. He has anosognosia in the worst way and is I am sure very scared and frustrated. He gets a daily dose of methadone for his drug addiction issues, anti anxiety meds, and other psychoactive meds for his negative symptoms. He  Persistently wants to talk about his delusions and almost nothing else. He becomes confrontational when I try to switch subjects.  I would like to be able to communicate with him, but, am unable to at nearly any level. Have viewed countless hours of Youtube videos “living well with schizophrenia” which I recommend to others. Have just finished reading “I am not sick I don’t need help”. Have viewed many other Youtube videos dealing with mental illness as well to become more informed and knowledgeable. Like others who are dealing with this situation am becoming exasperated! I still have just a tinge of hope! and have become and am becoming a stronger believer in the fact that there is a higher power that is in control and that all of this has a reason which has not been revealed to me yet!

Ten years old is supposed to be an age when children begin to develop their personalities and the skills needed to live an independent life. For my sister,  this was the age when she was diagnosed with Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia. Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia  has all the symptoms of  Adult-Onset-Schizophrenia, but it manifests  at an early age and often with a higher degree of severity.  While struggling with this illness, it appeared as if my sister’s childhood was rudely snatched away, as she was occupied with her hallucinations and delusions instead of friends and school. 

Yes, Schizophrenia sucks. My sister may never have the opportunity to graduate from college, establish a career, or marry. The good news is, she doesn’t see it that way. With medication, she is perfectly stable, and as she likes to say, “I’m normal, just with some issues, like everyone else.” And  perhaps because she was not given a chance to mature emotionally, she does not have the normal worries of a (now) eighteen-year-old. Every day is a new opportunity, and there’s always something to look forward to, no matter how mundane. In a sense, the childhood that was taken away was given back, for eternity.

I have learned a lot from my sister, and one of those things is to let yourself be a kid again. There are times when you have to face reality, but there are also times when you have to escape reality to live fully.  Let your inhibitions fly away, and live in the moment, for the moment.

This is my personal story of living with schizophrenia:

I used to tell people “I have a bad brain.”

I am not going to say I suffer from schizophrenia but rather I endure and cope with it.

My name is Amy Kay and I have schizophrenia. I do not want to hurt others or myself. Neither do I hear voices and I no longer live in a delusional world.

In 2008 during my initial psychiatric breakdown I did live in a delusional world. In this world I believed I was Mother Earth. I felt I was responsible for taking all souls to heaven with me. I was afraid that my family and friends were trying poison me. I ran away from them. They called the cops and that is how I ended up in the psychiatric ward.

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My journey with a mental illness began the summer of 2016. I had recently moved to Ohio, after graduating high school. It was in June that I started showing symptoms of schizophrenia, though at the time I was unaware of what was going on. I had the usual symptoms. So my grandparents took me to the hospital, and it was there that I was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Then the hospital staff transferred me over to the state hospital in Athens. I remember some memories of the state hospital. But I didn’t know, wasn’t aware of what was going on. I had fantasies of what was going on, from what was really happening. One of the patients there thought that I was deaf, because I didn’t speak and thought I knew Sign Language. I didn’t talk to people the beginning of the six weeks that I “lived” at the state hospital. I did end up talking to people though and made a few friends. It’s funny now that I recall this, but the patients would protect me from the staff if they thought that I would get hurt. And I remember that I thought that I would find my mom at the state hospital. I saw one person that kinda looked like my mom. But my mind was messed up because of my illness. I knew my mom died of breast cancer when I was 10. My mom’s family visited me everyday, during my stay in Athens. I remember they had art groups and other activities at the state hospital. I have an art piece that I did at the state hospital. Someone also gave me a painting they did for me. I stayed at the state hospital for six weeks. After I got out, I was referred to another facility. I was assigned a Counselor and psychiatrist and a case manager. Through therapy and medicine I have gotten better. I am now able to make decisions and do things that I enjoy.