I had a friend in HS/college that was brilliant, a great athlete and loved by everyone. He was on the fast track to med school.
By the age of 23 he was homeless and off the wall crazy. He wasn’t a druggie, far from it. My friends and I were blown away by the changes in him. Schizophrenia is not kind.
Thankfully, when I saw him last he is married and in a stable relationship. Looked like a washed-up old hippie but is maintaining. I pray for God to keep him sane and watch over him and his family.
Well said. Schizophrenia is a horrible and devastating disease to both the sufferer and their families and I do believe that it is a disease.
When someone is diagnosed with cancer, we feel sympathy for them and their families. But when someone has a legitimate medical mental illness like schizophrenia, we too often blame the sufferer or their families. Families are often caught in a very bad situation; they want to help, even if that means involuntary commitment and forced medications but current laws prevent such. Until a schizophrenic actually presents a very real and present danger to themselves or other or commits a heinous crime, sadly, very little can be done unless they voluntarily agree to treatment – and for someone in a paranoid state, the very last thing they will agree to is treatment, confinement or medication.
I’m glad that your friend is leading a somewhat normal life.