How to Champion Schizophrenia

Living with schizophrenia has not been easy for me. In fact, I have been living with the illness for ten years. Not until now can I say that I have made enough progress to call myself high functioning. I would like to share my life story with you in the hope that you learn from my experiences and won't take ten years to become healthy.

The first step on my road to recovery was to accept that I had schizophrenia. This was by far the most difficult step I took. I was in denial for seven of the past ten years. Once I accepted my illness, I asked myself where do I go from here.

First, I had to accept the responsibility of taking my medication regularly so that I could think clearly and make important decisions that will affect the rest of my life.

I asked my psychiatrist what should be my next step after becoming mentally stable. She recommended that I should start making goals. My doctor referred me to what is called a case manager for this purpose. Having my doctor at the Clarke Institute, it was easy for me to get a case manager. The purpose of a case manager is to encourage and guide the client to enter society and contribute as much as he or she can. A case manager is usually an occupational therapist or social worker.

Before tackling any more goals, my case manager suggested that I should begin with small modest ones. We agreed that these goals should be hobby related; that is, find an activity you like and follow it from beginning to end. Make sure you pick something you enjoy. Starting and ending a task is very good for the self-esteem. The activities I undertook were painting and participating in the Clarke Institute drama group. The rewards I reaped from these two activities were an increase in self-esteem and new-found confidence.

Once I reached a healthy mental state, my case manager and I decided that I was ready to take a computer course to upgrade my education and become employable.

My first volunteer job was as an assistant computer network administrator. I worked a few months in that computer firm and did very poorly. I did not give up. I found another volunteer job in a mental health organization. I do clerical and computer work, and have been working there for over a year, and I'm still going strong.

Now that I'm almost fully integrated into society, the shame of schizophrenia has gone away. I have become a spokesperson on schizophrenia and have continued to develop my artistic and acting talent.

This year the Life Television Network did a short documentary about me in which I speak about art through the eyes of a man with schizophrenia.