Life Before and After Treatment for Schizophrenia |
Find a therapist to treat psychosis
A person living in treatment for schizophrenia can have a different life than one who is untreated.
I had been an honors student at USC before untreated schizophrenia led me to drop out and become homeless.
There is hope today for people with schizophrenia thanks to the newer medications and clozapine.
Antipsychotic medication can restore even a severely ill person to a point of recovery and productivity.
Some days when I get out of bed and begin getting ready for my day, I look in the mirror and am amazed. How can I really the same person I used to be when I was homeless and deeply affected by untreated schizophrenia?
Growing up, I was the honor student, the violinist, the daughter, the sister, and the friend. I loved my family. Life was full of friends at church, in school, and at the Cleveland Institute of Music where I studied violin.
I never imagined that the next phase of my life, right as I was turning 21 and becoming an adult, would involve losing everything I loved and becoming homeless.
As I student attending USC, one of my favorite classes was differential equations. As schizophrenia symptoms began to insidiously emerge, my mind became distracted.........