Schizophrenia- Causes and Treatment

Schizophrenia is one of the least culturally understood mental disorders. For example, a common belief is that schizophrenia means split personality; which it doesn't. The term was originated by Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, in 1911. It actually means "split mind" from the Greek "schizo" meaning split and "phrene" meaning mind. It was created to describe the type of thinking that someone suffering from schizophrenia exhibited, not multiple personalities. The original term for schizophrenia was "dementia praecox" which means "early dementia." This comes from Dr. Emile Kraepelin who was one of the first to recognize the disorder. The name was to distinguish the disorder from late in life mental disorders such as Alzheimer's. The reason for the many technical names for different disorders is that scientists often do not have a full understanding of the causes of mental diseases and can only classify them by symptoms.
The cause of schizophrenia is still unknown, but its affects on the brain are clear in numerous tests, including MRI. So, schizophrenia can be easily diagnosed with the proper equipment. While the cause is still a mystery, there are indications that both genetics and brain chemistry play a role. Another important factor is drug abuse. Drugs like nicotine, marijuana, cocaine and alcohol all have an effect and the abuse of such substances can greatly impede treatment. So, it's important to ensure that schizophrenic patients are kept strictly away from recreational drugs.
Although those with a family history of schizophrenia are more likely to develop it, depression, chronic stress, anxiety and traumatic life events can also trigger the onset of the disorder.
Visual and auditory hallucinations are a feature of schizophrenia, although not in every case. Other significant symptoms are the inability to rationally assess the environment or to rationally understand interactions with other people, which may result in extreme paranoia and lack of trust.
Other symptoms include apathy, poor concentration, withdrawal, difficulty in speaking or movement disorders or a poor ability to express emotions. Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that other disorders, even very mild ones, can cause some of these symptoms. And so, the symptoms alone do not necessarily signify schizophrenia. People should avoid self-diagnosis. And it should be remembered that one of the hallmarks of schizophrenia is the inability to notice the disorder in oneself. So, if you think that you have schizophrenia, you probably don't. When in doubt, consult a professional.
There are five subtypes of schizophrenia. These are the Paranoid subtype which is typified by delusions of persecution and conspiracy along with auditory hallucinations. Those who suffer from this subtype can often appear normal, or at least what is accepted as normal.
There is Disorganized Schizophrenia which exhibits disorganized thinking and difficulty in performing normal tasks such as bathing and dressing. While symptoms of delusion and hallucination may exist in this subtype, they are not as severe. The other three types are Catatonic, Residual and Undifferentiated.
Disorganized, Catatonic and Residual were all categories originally proposed by Kraepelin.
Diagnosis of schizophrenia usually involves a psychological evaluation including collecting information on the individuals mental health, information on his or her family, understanding the patients medical situation, such as what prescription drugs they might be taking, as well as social and cultural influences. Lab tests are also performed including a complete blood count (CBC), imaging of the brain through MRI and CTs and screening for drugs and alcohol.
Anti-psychotics are presently the best form of treatment, as they help balance neurotransmissions within the brain. But they do have side effects, including weight gain and tremors.
The person diagnosed with schizophrenia will also need the attendance, guidance and understanding of family members if he or she is to get better.

About the Author:
Dr. Tali Shenfield is a child psychologist accredited by The Ontario College of Psychologists. She is an expert in clinical and educational psychology and provides psychological assessment and psychotherapy for clients age 4-20.

Living With Bipolar

I have suffered with Bipolar for over 20 years. Bipolar disorder usually first occurs between the ages of 15 - 30 years, with an average age of onset at 25 years. I was 27 years old when I started noticing my Bipolar symptoms. However, bipolar disorder can affect people of all ages, including children. Bipolar disorder frequently occurs within families. Family members of patients with bipolar disorder are also more likely to have other psychiatric disorders. They include schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, anxiety disorders, ADHD, and major depression. This is true in my case, my Grandmother was schizophrenic, and my mom is bipolar.
I also had just about all of the classic symptoms of bipolar:
• Decreased interest in friends and activities >yes
• Difficulty concentrating >yes
• A drop in grades or frequent absences from school >yes
• Complaints of tiredness or boredom
• Vague physical symptoms, such as unexplained aches and
pains
• Changes in sleep patterns, such as insomnia or oversleeping >yes
• Increased crankiness, hostility, or anger >yes
• Outbursts of shouting or crying
• Reckless behavior >yes
• Alcohol or drug abuse >yes
• Trouble getting along with others >yes
• Social withdrawal >yes
• Hypersensitivity to rejection or failure >yes
• Self-injurious behavior or talk of suicide
As many as 90% of marriages involving someone with bipolar disorder reportedly fail.
Bipolar disorder puts a huge additional strain on a relationship, particularly when you don't have a diagnosis. In my two marriages, I never openly stated what was wrong with me medically. I also did not seriously pursue treatment for my bipolar. Bipolar disorder causes significant psychosocial morbidity, because it frequently affects patients' relationships with family members as well as workplace functioning.
A recent community survey investigated the impact of bipolar disorder on people's lives, using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) as a screening instrument. Subjects screening positive for bipolar disorder on the MDQ reported significantly more work and relationship problems and a greater burden of comorbid medical illness than subjects who were negative for bipolar disorder. Significantly more respondents with positive screens for bipolar disorder had been arrested, convicted, or jailed for a crime compared with respondents with negative screens for bipolar disorder.
Before my Bipolar, I was very active in studying the bible. I even became a Ministerial Servant, and was considered a potential Elder for the congregation. My mental illness Bipolar, sapped out all the discernment I had for the scriptures. I use to have very deep conversations about the bible. Bipolar caused me to now avoid, even the simplest spiritual discussions. I use to feel very close to God, Bipolar caused me to withdraw into a shell, even with God.
I use to be a very successful sales person. Every sales organization I joined, in very short time, I climbed to the top. Before my Bipolar, I was a very sharp and personable person. For me, my Bipolar affects me very severely, as to my thinking ability. My brain feels like there is a cloud or fog encompassing it. Besides, how can you succeed at sales anymore, when your mental illness makes you just want to stay home in bed? I tried for many years to manage my Bipolar out in the workforce, but in the end Bipolar got the best of me.
Worst of all, Bipolar affected my relationships, with the people I dearly loved. Bipolar caused me to withdraw emotionally from those I loved. I lost my first marriage, because she was very deep into the bible and I no longer felt the same spiritual connection. I met her in the congregation, she was a wonderful wife, and devoted person. When I withdrew from God, I also withdrew from her. My mental illness also helped ruin my second marriage. She too, was a very nice person, even meeting me at the door when I arrived home from work, because she wanted to. My Bipolar was getting progressively worst at this point. I begin extremely isolating myself. I would spend all my time alone in the basement, severely affecting my marriage. Eventually, my bipolar again assisted in my losing someone I truly loved.
Today, I am 47 years old. I struggle daily, to live a happy and successful life despite my living with severe Bipolar. Unfortunately, it's the hand I was dealt. I have Bipolar, and it's not going anywhere. I now work at home as a customer service agent. I do have a significant other. I still believe in creation, but am not active at all in practicing religion.
http://mentalhealthlivingwithbipolar.blogspot.com

You can follow my continuing story at http://mentalhealthlivingwithbipolar.blogspot.com

Texting- The Worst Addiction

The world is filled with temptations, from the seemingly ordinary - new shoes and clothes, chocolate and cakes - through to pornography and everything which falls under the broad description of the Seven Sins. Our daily lives are confronted with material and fantasy which attracts our attention, diverts our thoughts and creates a, mostly temporary, need or desire. It is, however, seemingly rare that what tempts us actually takes such a hold on our lives that we become addicted, that we cannot walk by without stopping, without purchasing or, in our highly technological world, testing. There is also a very fine line between someone who is addicted to something, be it a product, a service or a person, and someone who collects and concentrates their interests on one particular subject or range of items, between a stalker and someone who has a strong, knowledgeable interest.
Communication is the buzzword of our generation. Society, or so it seems to many, demands that we be constantly available, that anyone who needs to can reach us, communicate with us, no matter where we are or what we happen to be doing. Our world has become one where we are available, or at least reachable, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Those who are not, those who switch their telephone off or go offline, when using a computer, revert to some form of primeval being out of touch with the rest of the world.
This constant availability, the need to remain in touch at all times of the day and night, has brought a new form of addiction with it: an addiction to impersonal contact; an addiction to communication other than face to face; an addiction to texting, to sexting (text messages of a predominantly sexual and sexually explicit nature), to services such as Twitter and, to a lesser extent, Facebook. It has almost created a younger generation incapable of speaking one to another, constantly checking their cell phones for new messages where those who are not available, who do not reply immediately to texts or, worse still, do not possess a cell phone, are outsiders. It is practically impossible to walk down any high street, to go into any store or popular restaurant and avoid people checking their cell phones, typing in messages, being distracted from life around them. When a cell phone beeps, rings or plays one of thousands of specially adapted tunes, countless people reach into their pockets, ignoring all about them, and check to see if it is for them, if someone is trying to contact, communicate, with them.
It has long been recognized that using a cell phone, especially when driving or even riding on a bicycle, is dangerous. It distracts from the task at hand and, through this distraction, can be a threat to not only the person controlling a vehicle, but also to everyone else in their vicinity. In many countries, the use of a cell phone, even the holding of it in your hand, whether it is actually in use or not, is an offense punishable with a fine.
Can texting be described as an addiction or is it merely a welcome distraction from other events, a sign of close friendship or availability for any eventuality? It is clearly addictive. Many telecommunications companies have recognized the potential of texting, attracting ever younger customers to their services, and offer telephone rates specifically for those wishing to text. A certain number of texts included in the basic price, a certain number of minutes online without extra costs right through to rates which boast unlimited texting. The boom in texting, in the use of smart phones capable of communicating through text or online as well as with the old-fashioned form of talking, has resulted in an overload to many telecommunication networks, with constant outages and service unavailability. New services, better cell phones, more and complicated access have done nothing to ease this situation, in fact quite the opposite, and have fuelled the rise in numbers of those texting.
Society sets certain restrictions on each and every one of us. There are times when it is considered unacceptable to telephone with someone else, when full attention to the task at hand is required and demanded. In school classrooms, in the work place, whilst driving, during times when we are with other people, enjoying a social event, a concert or visiting family. The text message seems to over ride these restrictions. Just a quick look to see if it is anything important, just in case, no matter where we are, no matter what we are doing. It only takes a moment. And then, even when it is the most banal message, a moment to quickly reply, rather than have the other person, the person sending the message, think they are being ignored. We are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so an immediate reply is expected. The rudeness of interrupting a meeting, a gathering, other people enjoying a concert is less than the perceived rudeness of not replying to a text message immediately, and any message which follows it.
The signs of addiction are clear: a cell phone which cannot be switched off, just in case; a nervous twitch whenever a cell rings or beeps, even if it is not your own; constant checking to see if you have missed anything, if the cell didn't ring or beep or, heaven forbid, someone in real life had distracted you enough that this ring or beep went unnoticed; a cell phone which is constantly within reach, on the breakfast table, the desk at work, on the table in a restaurant during dinner.
There are also physical signs of addiction: slightly malformed thumbs, something which used to be a sign that a person was constantly playing video games with a console and controller; difficulty in moving fingers, which can become cramped up against any other movement but that of typing into a small screen, on a miniature keyboard; lack of concentration to all that is going on around you right down to a slightly bent walking manner, brought on by constantly looking down at a small screen to read one text or another. In later years such addictions may bring short-sightedness, tired eyes which have concentrated so long on the cell phone screen they can no longer focus effectively on anything further than three yards distant.
Can texting really be described as the 'worst addiction'? There are many different levels of addiction, many different forms of addict. Often it depends on the subject matter; a person addicted to chocolate, for example, is probably more socially unacceptable in polite society, or young society, than someone who constantly texts. A person addicted to pornography, regardless of its form or content, is more secretive and withdrawn. Someone who is addicted to texting, who cannot go more than a few minutes without checking to see if something new has been received or who, no matter when they last spoke to a person, feels the need to contact them again and again, is effectively withdrawn from society whilst, physically, still being present.
Texting can be described as the worst addiction simply because it removes a person from the reality around them; from the real society they are sharing with other real people, into a world where a few lines of text are far more important than conversation. It distracts from the pleasures of talking to other people. It disturbs, in certain circumstances, those around them. It leads, when there are no messages, to a feeling of desolation, to a belief that they are being ignored or cut off, to a feeling of intense frustration when a text sent is not replied to immediately. It replaces, in the worst cases, real life conversation. It can be highly dangerous, according to the situation, both for the person texting and for those around them. Texting is considered to be a social attribute where, in reality, it is an anti-social addiction which should be handled in the same manner as any other serious addiction, with care, education and understanding.

Viktoria Michaelis is an American student (born July 1992) currently resident in Germany studying Business Studies and Economics at Bremen University. She has had fictional works published in several anthologies and regularly writes in her personal Blog. Her collected articles are available to read at Viktoria Michaelis on a wide range of subjects from Beauty and Health, Politics and Copyright through to Women's Issues and Adult subjects.

All About Depression And Intuitive Counselling

 

The hustle and bustle of modern-day living is causing too much stress for many people. Along with factors related to work and relationships, stress can lead to a major depressive disorder. While it is normal for a person to feel down every now and then, it will be a different story when it gets worse and you suffer from it in long episodes.
All about Depression
Depression is a common disorder characterized by sudden mood swings. It comes with the feeling of being sad, worried, and helpless. Depressed people suffer from an endless cycle of bad moods. In many cases, these things lead to self-destructive behaviors.
Depressive disorders manifest in three different types of illness. These illnesses are similar in a way that they affect the sufferers' emotions, attitude, and overall productivity. They, however, have their own distinctions.
Major depression is one of the most common. Its symptoms often influence a person's daily life, primarily their studying, sleeping, eating, and working habits. There are episodes where a person goes through severe depression. When it becomes chronic, the person must seek assistance and undergo treatment.
Dysthymic disorder is another kind of depressive disorder. The symptoms are usually longer and more severe. People with dysthymia usually suffer from significant changes in their productivity. They are also prone to major episodes.
Bipolar disorder is an illness where the person suffers from drastic mood changes. It is also called manic-depressive illness. The sufferer's mood cycle has very low points called depression, and high points called mania. In some instances, the mood changes gradually while it switches abruptly for the most part.
Steps to Take
You should take the necessary steps if you start experiencing depressive symptoms. One way to do this is to seek intuitive counseling. Contrary to how people see them, an intuitive counsellor works not to predict the future. The function of this type of counseling is to help depressed people create their future by looking at the past and present thoughts and belief.
A counsellor's help determine things that the person is hesitant to act upon. An example is letting go of an unrewarding career or perhaps a long unhealthy relationship. A professional intuitive counsellor can help the person see the necessary actions to take. They know how to translate the challenges the person is going through to opportunities to grow and be more mature. This way, the person will realize how to deal with the challenges and stop the depression.
With the help of an intuitive counselor, you can have a clear idea of what's bothering you. In many instances, you know the root cause of your depression but you find it hard to admit and accept. The counseling service will help you. More importantly, it should guide you in coming up with solutions. The healing process might take a while, but what's important is you get through your depression in the end.

Look for a professional intuitive counselor today. Go online and visit websites like www.sharonsnir.com to start your search for the much-needed assistance and relief.
Gerald Whitt is a counseling professional who has a blog on managing depression.

Uncovering Root Causes Of Anxiety

So many people with anxiety, depression, panic attacks, etc. just "learn to live with it". I have been there personally and didn't like the options that were given to me by the doctors. Most doctors are doing the best job they can and there is a time and a place for medication. But personally, I feel very strongly that it is a tool to use until the ROOT CAUSE is revealed. Most health professionals never dig deep to find the root causes.
Does your scientific mind ever kick in and ask "why" something happens? Anxiety and other associated experiences are not the cause. Anxiety is a result. You don't "have" anxiety, you experience it. It also doesn't happen over night. Yes - anxious feelings can start over night. However, the groundwork that lead us to that point took months, if not years, or even decades!
Unless we have a physical deformity that caused malfunction in the body, the cause of anxiety boils down to stress of the mind, body, and/or spirit. Stress doesn't necessarily mean overworked and underpaid. It can mean running, running, running without relaxation for years. Decades of blood sugar swings from improper eating and malnourishment. Maybe it's emotional turmoil of dealing with a loved one who has a made poor lifestyle choices. All these things accumulate and eventually our body burns out.
Our bodies are physically affected by these stressors. A massive cascade of chemicals are released when we feel any sort of stress. During this time our bodies consume enormous amounts of resources to cope. Resources like amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. As we live under chronic stress, those resources get depleted and we physically can't cope - hence ANXIETY or even panic attacks set in. When we start putting the raw material resources back in - the anxiety starts to subside. Then permanent lifestyle changes can be made that contributed to the problem such as over working, over committing, and worrying about everything. This is when recovery without relapse is achieved.
We as humans are not meant to burn the candle at both ends for years at a time without rest and play. Think of a pet and how they live. Let's use a cat for example. Maybe he wants to go outside hunting and do his cat thing. Then he wants come home and sleep. Then back to hunting and playing activities, then sleeping. To have the life of a cat! The point is, observe any animal on this planet. They all have times of intense activity, then great rest. We wonder why so many of us feel like we are going to crack at any moment, we are rest deficient!
Unfortunately learning how to overcome anxiety permanently requires a bit of study. More so, recovery and rebuilding yourself won't happen in a day. Maybe not even a month! Getting rid of anxious feelings can absolutely happen extremely quickly. Rebuilding your body so the anxiety roots are gone forever take time. Start by making simple changes to diet, adding in personal time, and enjoying relaxation time is a great start.

Jennifer Springer - Crippen has personally overcome anxiety, hypoglycemia, and adrenal fatigue that paralyzed her life for over a year and a half. To learn about the surprising root causes of anxiety and how she recovered using a natural approach, visit her blog at http://www.NaturalAnxietyTherapy.com.
Would you like to know 5 Things to Reduce Anxiety Right Now? Get it now by visiting http://NaturalAnxietyTherapy.com/5-things/.

What is S.A.D. And How To Prevent It

Do you seem to become sad every winter and just want to hibernate? You may think it is just your body trying to get used to the change in the weather or the change in time. But there is also another possibility. You may have what is called "seasonal affective disorder" also known as SAD.
Although it is common in the winter it can also occur in the spring. People who are diagnosed with SAD find themselves becoming more irritable and moody. If this happens to you every year, there are things that you can do to help you get through it.
What causes SAD: The causes are relatively unknown, as there are so many things that contribute to it. It can be caused by your internal clock. There is not as much sunshine and your body gets confused as to the time to go to sleep and wake up. In the summer, the darkness of nighttime does not come until after 9:00 pm, so you get used to going to bed late. In the winter the amount of sunshine changes and the sky becomes dark between 4 and 5 pm. Your body wants to go to bed but your mind believes that it is too early to do so. Serotonin levels also play a part in SAD. A reduction in the amount of sunshine you get causes your serotonin levels to drop and this triggers depression.
Females have a higher chance of having this disorder. People who have been diagnosed with depression before also have a high chance of having this disorder during the winter months. While more women have been diagnosed with SAD, men who have been diagnosed with it have more severe symptoms. If someone in your family has been diagnosed with it then you are more at risk of contracting it than those who have no family history of it. If you already have depression then it may become worse in winter. SAD is actually more common in people who live far from the equator as there is less sun in the winter.
So if you find yourself being moody, suicidal, or feeling withdrawn from society when winter appears then you could very well have SAD. But all is not lost, there is treatment for this. Your doctor could prescribe anti-depressants that you only take during the winter months. Light therapy also works. With light therapy you are exposed to bright light that mimics the summer sunlight. This will cause the chemicals in the brain to change and your mood will improve.
So if you think you have SAD you should go see your doctor and let him help improve your life during the winter months. Don't let SAD lessen the quality of your life. Change it today and you'll be happy you did.

Living With Schizophrenia

When I was a kid, nobody told me about mental illness. It seemed to me, as it may still to you, to be some sort of a myth, something that existed only to create fodder for campfire stories or compelling movies. I had never, to my best recollection, spent any time with someone who had a mental illness. I'd always avert my eyes whenever I happened to see somebody in the strange and epic throws of mental illness, talking to themselves, or acting out of turn with what I considered to be normal. These people were not people to me; these people were gone, mere shells that looked like human beings but with a wild ether of otherworldly intent in place of an actual human soul. Inside I'd feel both a pang of fear and a deep pity, which together were like a wretched black mass that tore at my gut. I can remember always wondering what exactly had gone so wrong for these people that now the normal human characteristics that had once been were gone. I'd feel a compulsion to help but I was both too scared and knew too little to do any good. So I shut them out, trying so hard not to look when they passed, struggling to not make eye contact for fear that they would suck me in to their world.
I've always been interested in figuring out what makes things tick. After a childhood of taking things apart, toys, electronics and what have you I came to the ultimate fascination of people and their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Just what in the hell made people tick? Suffice it to say that I was fascinated by Hollywood accounts of mental illness, internal struggle and psychology. I'd enter movie theatres always excited by the possibility of retaining some kernel of understanding about what exactly made people behave the way they do, and even today I still only have a general understanding. I'll put it lightly, nobody told me that one day I'd be one of those poor afflicted people walking down the street with no clear indication of what was real and what was not. Nothing in my life before my "break" prepared me for life in the shoes of a schizophrenic.
Today I look back on my life as two separate and distinct phases, one being who I was before the episode and the other being who I am now. I see it as almost two separate lives instead of one. I recall how I was gregarious, extraverted and carefree in the teenage years of that life that is now gone. Who I am now is a virtual 180. I am quiet, reserved, a bit paranoid, and prefer to be alone. Granted, as I am merely four years out of the gauntlet of schizophrenia I regard myself as shy 4 year old, still just learning how to interact with the world. Perhaps ten or fifteen years down the line when I am a seasoned pro at dealing with the disease things will be different, but who can tell? I'm sure that things I struggle with on a day to day basis seem infantile and obvious to most people but as I said, I'm still learning how to interact with the world as a virtually new and different person. I still have as strong a desire to connect with people as I did before, but due to my illness, a spring of overwhelming fears and paranoia keep me from doing so. I also have the tendency to overanalyze every single tiny interaction until it's cold and dead. Sometimes, until it means something entirely different than it did originally. I find that many times I overanalyze something to the point where it's taken on an entirely different life. Now instead of an obliged polite smile from a girl that meant nothing I'm dealing with the emotions of a desperate unrequited love that exists only in my mind. I'm learning more about the world every day though and those who know me best describe my progress as slow and steady.
I suppose I should take you back to where things started to change though. I was in freshman year of college in 2004 having left a high school where I was runner up for prom king. I had received accolades ranging from a journalistic award for my work on the school paper to the touted biggest applause at my graduation. I was friends with everybody. Those whose names I didn't know still always received a warm smile from me in the halls. As a freshman in college I desperately tried to make connections and form friendships. To my dismay, all the tricks I had used in high school weren't working with this new and unfamiliar crowd of faces. Instead of making simple friendships it seemed the only motivation these people had was to get drunk or high and have sex. Nobody responded to me the way they had in high school. They all seemed nervous and wary of a friendly smile. I had dabbled in marijuana and alcohol in high school but had never made it as much a priority as it seemed to be at this college. Desperate to make friends though, I began to use alcohol and pot much more frequently seeing it as the only way in to a daunting social hierarchy. Before long I was smoking marijuana every day, multiple times a day. It hadn't quite occurred to me what was happening but as a result of the pot I felt dreadfully insecure. I amped up my goofiness in an attempt to make people laugh so I didn't feel so bad. Accordingly, I was ridiculed for it. I finally realized what was happening one night when I overheard what the guys I had smoked with were saying about me. It's as though my world broke in half.
I began to worry constantly what people thought of me. In an attempt to self medicate I smoked more and more pot, and I became more and more afraid to go outside and be among people. The paranoia was crippling and nothing I tried to squelch it out worked. At the end of the semester, I moved back home and transferred to my local university. Still smoking a lot of pot, things only got weirder. I began to personalize things thinking the only reason they existed were for me alone to see. I started to think that everything I saw was some kind of code or indication meant only for those who could recognize it and I was one of the lucky few. Foremost, I started to recognize the connections everything had to everything else. The interconnectivity of every innate thing, animate or inanimate, was profoundly apparent to me. It was as if an entirely new world had opened up and I was the only one who could see it. Before long, I realized that every bit of media, TV, newspaper or otherwise held messages apparent only to those who could read them. I coined it "reading between the lines." A lot of it seemed to be gibberish but there was a good percentage that spoke to me personally, as if it was meant for me alone.
Soon I began to believe that whoever was putting this stuff out there knew me intimately or had been watching me for quite a long time, even in my most private of moments. They knew things about me that I had never told anybody. I questioned everything. Why me? Why was I so important? Why was I the only one that could decipher what they were saying? I had conclusions but I was hesitant to jump to them as I wanted to remain humble. I wrestled with these notions for months, resistant to what they were saying and fighting them to stop. They never went away.
Eventually, I accepted defeat and decided to go with it, to assist whoever "they" were because they were sure as hell not going to stop bothering me until I did. This led to a period of careful analysis of every piece of stimuli I encountered as I searched for messages and indications towards what they were driving at. The amount of fluff I sifted through made it increasingly hard to discern what they were saying. So I decided to trust the things that I had always deemed worthwhile - my favorite musicians, my favorite news sources, and my favorite TV channels. It was still hard to determine what they were saying but I searched for patterns and repetition and it soon became apparent that I was a very important person who had a lot of work to do. From all that I gathered I was meant to save the world by bringing a message of peace and understanding to the government. In essence I was a secret leader, higher up than the president. I'd watch C-SPAN for hours interacting with the TV until I saw someone that represented me saying something that I said. This was apparently on my behalf.
Before long, I knew I'd have to leave my old life of comfort in Boulder, CO and get to where I could do the most good. It seemed that the world had taken notice of me. My first thought was to go to D.C. but I knew later that I'd do the most good at the U.N. in New York. I knew they'd be waiting for me. I struggled with these indications for a long time until eventually, I left with no word to my parents. I knew they'd understand once they realized who I was. Full of delusions and a quite healthy dose of paranoia I set out. I'll say this, I got nowhere and was found on the side of a new England road by a kind and gracious woman who took me in and paid for my ticket home. My journey is chronicled as fiction in my novel Connections.
When I returned home, amidst jabbering about aliens, conspiracies and connections, my parents, knowing no other option, took me to the Psychiatric hospital where I remained for a week. It was there that I was diagnosed Schizoaffective and eventually accepted my diagnosis. I was returned to my parents still full of delusion and paranoia and I have since been on a long and arduous journey back to normalcy and stability. As I said before, it's been a slow and steady battle and everyday I make small improvements.
In the four years since my diagnosis one thing has become blaringly clear to me. That is the travesty of misconception when it comes to the label of mental illness. Inherent in those two words are an overwhelming fear on society's part of the implications that the label carries with it. Society is misinformed of the overwhelming amount of success stories of mentally ill people who faithfully take their medication and have some sort of support structure established. The fear that comes with the label is due to decades of misinformation on the media's part about the mentally ill. Rarely do you hear stories on the news about how well someone with mental illness is doing. The media coverage on mental illness seems largely dominated by stories about how violent or out of control someone with mental illness can become when un-medicated. The result of all the negative news is a stigma so strong against mental illness that those who suffer may have as hard or harder a time re-acclimating because of the stigma, as they did when they suffered with symptoms. Organizations like the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and BringChange2Mind are actively working to battle the stigma showing that mental illness is no different than cancer or diabetes, but there's still a lot of work to be done. According to the National Institute of Mental Health 26.2% of adults suffer with some form of mental illness. That's 1 in 4 people that are afflicted.
I'll leave you with this, what exactly is normalcy? We as a society have a set of rules that we adhere to mainly out of respect for others but also partly out of fear of others. We all have burdens to deal with and the strange man walking down the street talking to himself only does so because he's found no other option of dealing with his disease. Some people are stubborn and some people are submissive. Some people deal with their problems by bottling them and some people scream or cry to express themselves. Everyone you know or ever will know is just trying to get by in this world of confusion and heartbreak without surrendering their illusion of control. Those with mental illness, however they act, are no different. They merely have different brain chemistry than you. People joke about going crazy and some are already but have never have been diagnosed.
Keep this in mind, People with mental illness are still people, they still have thoughts, feelings, ideas and guilty pleasures. They like ice cream, long walks on the beach and they want to be loved despite their condition. They are no different from you, they simply have an affliction, an illness or a disease. How would you treat someone who has cancer or diabetes? Why would you treat someone with a mental illness any differently? People are people no matter what the circumstances.

Mike Hedrick lives and works in Niwot, CO. He has written for a variety of publications and magazines and also has a collection of poetry and short stories titled 'Delusionalism: The Collected Ramblings of a Schizophrenic'. 'Connections' is Mike's first novel. It is based on his own experiences with mental illness.
Check out his book:
http://www.connectionsthebook.com