Explaining the pain of schizophrenia to caregivers and loved ones

Family
21

Some are horrible, some are quite tolerable. I am able to cancel out the side-effects of Geodon through diet, exercise, and a positive attitude. I’m functional enough that my doctor has signed off on me driving a school bus. My kid’s school regards me as their most reliable bus driver. I can handle piloting a 78 seater full of yammering teens through downtown rush hour traffic on field trips just fine, thank you. I’m alert enough to outperform most of the drivers around me.

I credit my meds, my doctors, and a positive attitude for having a mostly normal and enjoyable life. The one message I wish I had received early on from my own caregivers was that you can still live a full life, but that it takes more than popping a pill and waiting for a miracle. The meds are nothing more than laying a foundation – it’s up to us to build something on it. I wish I hadn’t been discouraged from pushing myself and starting building my new life sooner.

10-96

22

Thank you. I tried going to church with my family, but they weren’t there this week, they were meeting somewhere else so we just went home. We will try again in a week maybe. I felt depressed thinking about how in three years I’ve only taken 4 classes, 2 of which I just took last semester. I’m just so embarrassed that I don’t have a job.