Schizophrenia
By Jacques Gauvin
Schizophrenia
Having schizophrenia means that the things you find to do are therapy for you whereas they are hobbies, jobs and pastimes for everyone else. People with mental disorders are sometimes referred to as survivors. I suppose that this is, at least in part, because so many of the non-survivors have committed suicide. I guess I’m a survivor although I have never attempted suicide. I did, however, ride a motorcycle for a while.
Having a mental illness means that it is a challenge at times to give the ongoing impression of being sane or ok. At other times it is a challenge to convince people that you have a genuine illness. Much of what you do is to maintain the sanity that you do have and to try to be functional to an extent. The idea of improving your condition seems to not be an option from a medical point of view. You can only realistically expect to get worse. Your life expectancy is greatly reduced primarily because people with mental illnesses are more prone to commit suicide.
