Back in the early 90s I dated a woman that was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. I can honestly say it was the most intense and sometimes terrifying relationship I've ever been in. When she was on her medication she was the most amazing person I'd ever known. Unfortunately, on those occasions when she would stop taking her meds it turned into a frightening roller-coaster of a ride. One day she just up and disappeared. Absolutely nobody had any clue as to what happened to her until a few years later when I was walking in a completely different city and I found her living on the streets. I took her to a restaurant and bought her a meal and we chatted for hours. Then she just got up and left. I never saw her again.

As a schizophrenic, I can say that hallucinations and delusions aren't by themselves terrifying, but over time losing grip on reality is absolutely debilitating.

I had a friend who had schizophrenia and he never told anyone. Anyway, one day he got real quiet in gym class and whispered “do you see him?” Me and my friends all looked around confused. Apparently, one of his delusions was a man in a black trench coat that followed him around. He held one of my other friend’s hands until it went away. Till this day I think about him and hope he’s ok. He looked genuinely terrified.

i’m schizophrenic and the hallucinations don’t bother me too much since when i see them i feel so out of it i’m barely able to acknowledge their existence. i get very common delusions that my cats are demons trying to kill me and that’s way more scary than any hallucination i’ve ever had

There’s nothing worse in life than being betrayed by your own mind

My granddad was schizophrenic. He developed it in 2008 after he lost his house due to the financial crisis. My nan passed away from cancer in 2021 and didn't get to say goodbye to him as he put himself in hospital due to voices telling him to hurt her. He walked 8 miles to the hospital at 3am by himself whilst hearing voices screaming at him to hurt my grandma. I cannot fathom the strength that took and I'm so proud of him. He commited suicide in December 2022 after trying to submit himself to the hospital. They wouldn't let him into the hospital as they didn't believe he was in a crisis, so he walked 6 miles to a bridge and jumped into the river where he drowned. My heart bleeds for anyone who suffers with these types of illnesses.

Suddenly I don’t feel much self pity for having bipolar 1, schizophrenia is truly terrifying and my heart goes out to anyone that has to deal with this disorder

My mother is schizophrenic and since i was a kid i have seen her behaving abnormally. When she is in her meds she is the most kindest and fun loving person but sometimes she have these kinds of psychotic episodes where she just hurt herself and my father and behave as we are lying to her or someone in the house we are hiding. She just becomes a completely different person and it becomes difficult for us to handle her and even feed her. It's just so depressing to see my mother struggling through it we can't even imagine what she must be going through. I wish no one has to through it not even my greatest enemies. No one deserves to experience this. It kills you and your loved ones from inside.

my mother was schizophrenic, she took her life around 3 years ago- can honestly say all the stigma around people with psychosis and the stereotype that all of them are violent couldn’t be further from the truth. i couldn’t have asked for a more caring mom. miss her everyday :(

I was diagnosed Schizophrenia in 2012. I can happily say that after all these years, trying different medications and other things, I am about 95% symptom free and on a medication that works really well. I'm working part time and also learning game development. I'm doing really great. Edit: Thank you all for the kind words. As for what medication I'm on, I've been on Risperdal 1mg for the last few years and it works great for me. However, schizophrenia is on a spectrum just like Autism. What works for me might not work for you, you just have to find a good doctor and experiment until you get it right. It's a combination of medication and many other things, such as a good support system (family and friends), a good sleep schedule, and eating right. I also self medicated with nicotine and alcohol, and sort of have a schedule for when I drink (never 2 days in a row, and I don't buy more when I run out). Alcohol is kind of a tightrope in that if I drink too much, my symptoms come back, but if I drink just the right amount it gets me out of my head and I can just be happy with no voices or delusions. I don't recommend trying to manage the disorder unmedicated. I've never seen anyone come out good who wasn't on meds. I'm in a support group on Facebook called Schizophrenia Unlimited, and the admin has been an absolute gem of a person. If you need people to talk to who know what you are going through, I recommend checking out that group.

I experienced this when abusing psychedelics, was hell on earth… wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. There’s one thing losing control of your body but when it’s your mind it’s torment

For nearly 3 years I was diagnosed as schizoaffective but last year that all changed when I got a new therapist. She's one of the best I've ever met but last year my diagnosed was changed from schizoaffective to schizophrenia and she even apologized to me because she stated that my case was overlooked and not properly diagnosed. I have good days and bad days, most of the time I hear voices coming through the walls and sometimes I see shadow people coming in through the walls. I'd never wish this on anyone even my worst enemies.

My best friend had a psychotic break, it’s been 3 months and he still hasn’t been the same. He’s been in the psych ward for a month and calls me every few days and he’s always speaking in riddles talking about a new delusion he has. The most devastating part is his sense of humor is completely gone, he used to be the funniest guy I knew now I haven’t heard him laugh in months. I just want my homie back man. I love you Chris and I will always pick up the phone when you call no matter how ill you are or how dead ended the conversations seem. edit 2 months later: he seems to have pretty much fully recovered from the episode although there’s always the looming possibility of relapse. Thanks for the kind words y’all it means a lot

I had a friend in high school who was an incredible artist. His schizophrenia would cause him to see the wildest things ripped straight from a horror movie and so he would paint what he saw. The problem was when he took his meds he wouldn't have the hallucinations and therefore didn't have anything to paint. So he eventually worked out a schedule where he would set aside specific days to paint and on those days he wouldn't take his meds, but he would have someone nearby in case he had any problems and to make sure he took his meds when his allotted time was up. This system worked for him for a few years but I haven't seen him in decades so I hope he's still doing well.

I am diagnosis with schizophrenia. I have my first episodes for a month. I really thought it was real until recently i began to recall everything. I keep hearing voice of people who hurt me day and night. I can't turn it off. My thought become so foggy that i was no longer in control. I am afraid of talking medicine but i am training my mind to experience the pain and embarrassment again and again by recalling every details. I really am recalling everything again and again to recognize my triggers. I pray for those who is going through this. It's difficult.

My wife was diagnosed with paranoid schizopfreddie over 10 years ago and it's literally tearing our family apart and I really wanted to divorce her. I know people say its the disease not the person, but when all of the disruptions coming from 1 person it's hard. On top of that I have one son that's autistic not really bad, but he has a lot of social issues. And our youngest son is intellectually delayed. It's a really heavy load and my plate is full and my wife is not willing to take any medication.

As a schizophrenic, I appreciate your coverage of this disorder. A bit of trivia I read years ago that I found very investing: People in highly developed societies with auditory hallucinations tend to report more often that their voices are negative or malicious, while people in less developed societies tend to report that their voices are positive, helpful, and benevolent.

I have an uncle who's about the hardest working man I can ever think of who sadly still finds himself chronically homeless or incarcerated because of the lack of options for treatment for someone like him. He's a talented sailor, the man can *captain a shrimping boat*, but the symptoms are debilitating for him whenever they begin manifesting once again. Man deserves better, deserves to be understood more. The paranoia is crippling, I wish more people would understand that.

i should not have watched this when I’m this high

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia about two years ago, only recently taking medication for it.one thing most people dont realize is the inner turmoil some go through, myself included. The painful acceptance of your incurable condition, and the demoralizing feeling of when you think youre getting better. And it all comes back. Not to mention people have avoided me because of that stigma that "schizophenics are dangerous". It honestly means a lot to me personally when people make informative videos about the finer details. And i assume others with schizophrenia feel more understood as well.

My older brother developed schizophrenia when he was around 18 years old. It was like the old him died and something new took its place. It was fucking terrifying. He would say disturbing things to us, and was so mean to my parents. I wanted my old brother back, but he refused to take his meds cuz he was paranoid that they were draining his passions from him. Maybe they were. He was committed to a mental hospital at one point, and that had an adverse affect on him as well. Nothing helped, it just seemed to hurt him more. He said he heard voices, and they were constant, telling him mean things and ruining his perception of himself. He never recovered and he killed himself when he was 22. Weird thinking I’m the same age as he was when he did it. I remember he used to tell me he’d always be smarter and more experienced than me because he would always be older. It pissed me off at the time. But it’s sad to now know that he was wrong. I regret not seeing him one more time before he died. No matter what happened between us, he was still one of my biggest inspirations, and he gifted me a love for punk and the macabre. I just hope he found what he was looking for in death.

My younger sister has schizophrenia. Her own mind traumatized her once while showering, she saw something so terribly horrifying, something that HER mind manifested, and now she refuses to take a shower or a bath without somebody being in the bathroom with her. This was over a year ago now, my mom, my other younger sister, and myself often have to go in there with her and talk to her while she bathes because it makes her feel less scared. It's messed up man. :(

Please do this with borderline personality disorder!!! My partner of 28 years has schizophrenia AND BPD. It's been one hell of a ride!!! I should write a book. No one would EVER believe what I've been through but I REFUSE to give up! I made him watch this video AND the D.I.D. video (because he believes I have that disorder). I think we would very much enjoy hearing about this extremely hard to treat mental illness. I have been diagnosed with bipolar recently and medications have helped tremendously. I just wish for him to get the same help...I just need him to realize it is HIM and not EVERYONE else in his life! Simon's video might just convince him to seek professional help. He has already admitted to having schizophrenia after watching this very educational and enlightening show. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Much love, Strangela from Chattanooga, TN U.S.A.

Ive had a very hard battle watching my father lose himself and having to say goodbye to the man I once knew, it took over 2 decades for him to receive proper help and that’s not through a lack of trying. I wish I could help him regain his sanity but there’s only so much that can be done. Thankyou for making this video and spreading awareness

My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia 6 years ago . Takes olanzapine daily without fail. Last year he graduated from Brighton university with a first in psychology and is thinking of doing a masters . His goal is to work and help people with MH issues.

My dad was Schizophrenic, he committed suicide in '07. He was the most kind and caring person I've ever met in my life, and I miss him all the time.

Mental illness runs on both sides of my family, mostly bipolar disorder and depression. I fight depression and anxiety. But, I have a schizophrenic uncle. As long as he takes medicine, he is relatively normal. Once he stops, he either gets religious or he gets into drugs and sketchy behavior. As a teen, I struggled with my own issues. Watching my uncle frightened the hell out of me. I was terrified of ending up like him. Thankfully, this didn't happen. Though I am in my 50s and I still battle depression and anxiety, I realize that it could have been much worse. Thank you for this insightful video.

My bf has schizophrenia. It’s debilitating for him. He has this hallucination in his mind he calls Francis, and for a bit he used to think he had DID, he didn’t. Francis is a violent voice, having a completely different personality from my bf. Despite how sometimes he’s violent, he can also be fatherly. I don’t really know how he works. He’s told me about it, and he’s told me about how he sometimes keeps waking up to hallucinations of Francis and another voice, screaming and arguing at eachother and telling him to hurt himself and other people. It’s already hard having to help him during his breakdowns, I can’t imagine how bad it is for him. I love him so much and I hate seeing him like this.

After a childhood of being diagnosed with various mental health issues like depression and plain "laziness," my sister finally was honest with her therapist and admitted to hearing voices. These voices whispered that she was a failure, ugly, unloved, and some screamed at her to kill herself. She had been fighting against those voices her whole life. Just surviving to the end of the day was a battle. She's never tried to harm anyone, though. She's funny, intelligent, a published writer, she holds multiple degrees, including microbiology, Medieval English Literature, and she studied abroad twice for a Masters degree in Spanish Literature, becoming fluent in Spanish. She's now a high school teacher, which seems far below her potential, but just managing to live such a productive life with her constant battle with mental health is impressive.

I watched the only person I've ever loved disappear into his own head. It was confusing, terrifying and heartbreaking. I ended up homeless, suffering a complete mental breakdown, after he turned on me. That's partly why I went back to college to study psychology -- my way of coping is to learn and hopefully understand.

I was diagnosed in 2022. Most of my auditory hallucinations sounded like people speaking backwards. My visuals included shadow figures, distortion of faces on people. I believed strongly that people were placed on earth specifically to kill me. I’m on meds now and every so often I hallucinate but I’m being put on stronger meds soon. It’s definitely scary to deal with but have hope. There is help for you.

I'm a diagnosed schizophrenic and look at my psychosis as entertainment. I'm harmless and I never get bored. Understanding the disease and having a positive perspective helps. I look at society being insane and I'm sane because I don't deny that I'm insane. Does that make sense to any other schizophrenics?

Schizophrenia honestly seems like a really debilitating, terrifying mental illness. Props to those who suffer from it, you guys are true warriors :(

I met a schizophrenic guy who told me that one day a whole gang of little kids came into his living room and begged him to play with them. When he was put on medication they went away. He told me he misses his kids. That was the most wholesome case I've ever heard of...

When I was in the mental hospital a few years ago the two women with schizophrenia were two of the sweetest women I've ever met. I felt so bad for them and made sure to talk to them when they were okay with it, because nobody else would hang out with them. The one girl had hallucinations of demons and a sister who looked exactly like her who would constantly yell horrible things at her. The other one couldn't carry on a conversation but she was happy to answer questions like what movies do you like. Her husband had to have her committed to get her meds adjusted. She was sad because the new meds weren't helping enough to go home and she didn't feel like herself anymore.

I am in a new relationship with a schizophrenic, she held it from me until we were 3 months into the relationship, im trying my best to educate myself to help her the best way i can 🙏

I went to college with a woman who was schizophrenic. You’d never know unless she told you (as she’d told me). She was one of the nicest people I’ve met and she was super outgoing and friendly to pretty much everyone. She was the kind of person who tried to include you and helped break you out of your shell. I hope she’s still doing well wherever she is now.

I developed schizophrenia about 5 years ago and it tore my life apart. The scariest part about it is that no matter how much you tell yourself it's not real, when you hear the voices it seems as real as anything else you experience through your senses. I met other schizophrenics when I was in the hospital who wouldn't even consider the possibility that they weren't real, so I'm pretty lucky that I can at least compartmentalize my hallucinations and therefore not act on them, but it took alot of time and I still don't do it perfectly. I'm a really big fan of all of your videos Simon. They've really helped me get through when I'm struggling and need something to look forward too.

I have a neighbor who is schizophrenic. She’s the most nicest person I know but she’s just terribly effected by this disease… there are times when she talks to herself or argues with people that aren’t there. She says that the mailman steals her money that she makes from her songs(she says she used to be a world known singer) it’s so sad because whenever we talk she always so nice.

Honestly I just watched this whole documentary, whilst I felt like this was a very informative and honest overview of the condition, I also can't help but feel like parts of this video could be guilty of verging on glamourizing or sensationalizing schizophrenia. I don't have it but the phrase that should generally be applied to every mental health condition, is "if you ever feel embarrassed/ashamed/marginalized/judged for having a friend, family member or colleague with a mental illness, whilst taking care not to trivilise your own uncomfortable emotions as a result of being in close connection with that person with the mental illness, imagine how shit it must feel for the person who actuàlly has the mental health condition"

I would not wish schizophrenia upon my worst enemy. For those of you reading this comment that have it...stay positive and stay strong. We love you.

I have Schizophrenia edit: I am in no way violent and I hate having it. I take a shot each month to suppress it. It seems to help except if I go out in public a lot or get stressed and anxiety or depressed it seems to bring on the episodes. I have been in the hospital numerous times and have been treated very bad even by the police. I understand that they have to do their job and I am 6 ft 4 inch and 287 pounds so they just grabbed me and slammed me down on the ground to take me to the hospital. I didnt even know what was going on. The hospital did it also because I refused to take a shot. I didnt fight back. I dont go so much out in public and have really no friends. It seems to just make things worse when I do.

I feel so sorry for anyone that has this disorder. Such bad luck. I feel very grateful to be well. It must be so frightening for them!

I am working in soical work helping clients with schizophrenia & you did a good & fair job here. Thank you for that!

My brother not only has schizophrenia, but is also bipolar. When he's on his meds he's so fun, cool, & also wise in a sort of sly, mysterious way. He has a heart of gold, & he buys so many things for the family, which I suppose is to make up for his condition. I was always very fascinated by him. But off his meds, he becomes non-talkative, antisocial, dismissive, & can even be plain scary to be around. There were even a few occasions where he said he wanted to disappear off the face of the Earth. It's scary & so heartbreaking because i know deep down there's somebody amazing underneath it all. I've seen him walk around without a shirt on at 3am repeating gibberish & laughing at literally nothing. He knows how to cook some damn good meals, too. He actually won an award for best cook while he was in high school from what my mom told me, too. It is indeed a very strange rollercoaster ride, but I'll always love him

my older brother's first psychotic episode happened when he was 14. He had to be hospitalized, and thats how we found out. I was 7 at the time. Apparently he had been hallucinating for *months* and didn't say anything because he was scared. I don't remember why he was scared, I was having my own issues. It's truly a sad disease. It hit him so young. He wanted to be a pilot when he grew up :(

One of my best friends is schizophrenic and hes one of the most amazing people i know. Ive talked with him about it a lot. He's a very very logical thinker and anything not scientifically possible he just slurs off as impossible. He has auditory and visual hallucinations and he don't really mind them that much, cause he know that they arent real. Sometimes tho he has moments where he would just stare blankly into space for a few minutes or just look around the room when im talking to him as if hes looking at something, before snapping into reality. Hes very intelligent, great at math and has photographic memory! I can always rely on him and ive never once been frightened by his actions. He does however have a general lack of empathy and have issues expressing himself emotionally. Once he said "if my parents died, i dont even know if i would be sad." Afterwards he giggled a little bit. I told him that he shouldnt say something like that and he agreed, and didnt quite know why he said that or why he giggled. Schizophrenics arent dangerous, you just need to get under their skin and understand how their brain is wired to communicate at a higher understanding

I had a single episode of this, formally diagnosed, and will most likely never have one again, and lord. Worst thing I’ve ever dealt with and I didn’t even get delusions. I got cognitive symptoms like brain fog and negative symptoms. But I did get awful, horrifying hallucinations and paranoia. I would not wish it on the worst person. Alongside the symptoms everyone knows, it also affects you in a lot of really insidious ways. It can make you act very strange in other ways. Kills your social skills. I embarrassed myself so much. Diagnosed with PTSD as a result of the episode I had. It is incredibly traumatizing.

This describes my late wife in every way. She was diagnosed with bipolar early on and they changed it to schizoaffective mood disorder later in life as the schizo symptoms became very prominent and persistent. Sadly she took her own life because of how tortured and debilitated she was from it. I’m still honestly not ok from having to witness that for years. And will probably remain alone for the rest of my life. My heart goes out to anyone experiencing this or who cares for family members with it.

My mother had a panel of doctors in her head that blew her stomach up with gas everyday, woke her up at 2am to piss her off, and laughed at me when I said something they thought was stupid. She also became convinced that I was the bad seed and my sister was an angel. She said she saw demons hanging out in my bedroom....It was a tough childhood.

My uncle had schizophrenia. My entire life I've known and felt him as the most wholesome, loving and genuinely caring person I'll ever meet in life. And I still belive and feel that to this day. He looked EXACTLY like young Tom hanks (like in "big" kinda acted like the character too) He had sever schizophrenia, turned to hard drugs to make the voices and hallucinations go away, destroyed his life. Then got clean, found religion, and focused his life on it. He never talked about what he was expierenceing. But you could see him going through it. And because of the time he grew up in, and the little was known about his condition, he was definitely shamed, ostriches, and treated like he was crazy (by family as well as strangers) And despite all of the mistreatment, he was never violent or even mean. He would genuinely give you the shirt off his back no hesitateion. He did end up passing from cancer. A few years ago I realize this comment may be put of place But I'm leaving it for him. He deserves to be known and remembered.

I appreciate your respectful take and helping me understand what went so wrong. I got the diagnosis right before they changed my ADHD diagnosis to autism and honestly? I've never been so lost in life, this gives me an understanding of the strange ways things work for me and could even help explain my worst traits in my teenage years.

I’m schizophrenic, largely symptom free due to meds. But one of my more funny & less frightening delusions use to be that the Simpsons writers were reading my mind. Not to steal my jokes or ideas but just to put easter eggs for me personally in each episode. A lot of my other fears/paranoias are less fun but the simpsons one is my go to example about how some schizophrenic delusions are sometimes weirdly almost mundane in comparison to others

When my younger sister was around 11 or 12 she was diagnosed with schizophrenia because she told the psychiatrist that she heard voices in her head. Little did anyone know that she did not suffer from schizophrenia but from borderline personality disorder type 1 and the "voices" she heard in her head were just her own emotions that she couldn't identify and describe as such.

I was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder (Bipolar + Schizophrenia) in 2021. Several years leading up to 2021 I had symptoms of sever depression, isolation and delusional thoughts. I didnt understand why I all of a sudden lost interest in every single thing that once mattered to me. I was only 22 when I started hearing and seeing things that werent there. I had a constant radio static sound in my ears that would be mixed with people talking/whispering and birds chirping. I had psychosis for 2 years straight. I would not sleep for 3+ days on end. I would just pace in the middle of my room for hours until the sun rose. I thought i was being followed by a shadow figure and often heard the hallucination of a knife being scraped across the door, indicatong that someone was waiting to kill me on the other side. I had to drop out of college from my dream school and 3+ years later im still trying to recover. These mental illnesses can easily lead to someone taking their own life. The dangerous stigmas that exist around these psychotic illnesses made me feel like I was evil whenever i heard voices telling me to stab my own mother in the back with a kitchen knife. I am a lot more stable now at 25 but im still unemployed as I can barely take care of myself throughout the day. Please, if someone is showing symptoms or is asking for help, listen to them.

AS SOMEONE WHO HAS HAD EPISODES. DO NOT STOP TAKING YOUR MEDS! YOU AREN'T BETTER! YOU GOTTA KEEP GOING IF THE THOUGHTS STOP. YOUR MEDS ARE WORKING! ALSO DO NOT EVER THINK YOU ARE WEAK FOR TAKING THEM! That bit of Drama aside. I've been lucky I've never to have a violent episode before I started getting help. Go talk to someone. If You do get to talk to someone. Like Simon said, Listen to the therapist. They seen this hundreds or thousands of times. You Have hope and I love everyone who has gone through this. I got lucky. The majority of Us don't. If You think You know someone like this. Talk to Your friends and help them get set up with someone to talk to. You can help. It often times takes a friend, to get people like us to a place of therapy. Helping with paperwork. Dragging us out the house to even get to the office. Because usually We feel defeated. Like nothing matters. That's when the voices get loud. And instead of help. Millions are left with nothing and nobody.

My father and I were diagnosed with Schizophrenia when we were young. Unlike my dad, my diagnosis was described as mild. That doesn’t make life any less difficult, working, episodes, relationships and even basic skills can be so hard. I’m thankful that more people are trying to understand the disease and realize that not everyone with schizophrenia is an awful human beings.

Best buddie when I was a kid. He went down hill pretty fast. Started off wearing headphones and listening to music over peoples houses and not talking to anyone. This continued, and he started singing the lyrics very loudly regardless of the situation. Then one day I noticed he had the headphones on and was singing again….but they were not plugged into anything. We hung out basically everyday before this. He had a tough childhood and did use some recreational drugs, but was normal as could be just seemed to come out of nowhere.…He came down with it around 18 years old or so. I tried to maintain a friendship with him because I just had a feeling he wouldn’t hurt me, but he started showing up to friends houses unannounced late at night. He also was becoming very manic and would have vivid hallucinations, telling me about an old man in a tree watching us, or the TV was telling him to walk downtown. We became more distant and him and his family ended up moving away. I will always love my buddie and learned so much from that experience. I know he may have scared some people in the Neighborhood, but i knew he was also scared and tried to be a friend, as he did too……Thanks for reading my little story.

thank you for this video! i just did a research project on schizophrenia for my psychology class and used this video as one of my sources. thank you for covering so much information and making sure to emphasize that not everyone who has schizophrenia is violent and dangerous

When i was super young like grade 4 some gore movies my friends watched scared me so much i saw hallucinations of the characters for months, they were always far away in a little room where they taught us to kickbox, id never go near it in fear. Obviously after a while the hallucinations stopped and i barely remember them now. I cant imagine battling with them every single day of your life, you peoplr who suffer this illness are amazing

When my wife was finishing up her veterinary doctorate, I got a gig managing a convenience store in the area. It was a small town place about 20 minutes out of the city. A few houses down we had a gentleman with Schizophrenia. He was an extremely kind man. Amazingly intelligent. He was a talented guitar player and had jammed with a few popular bands from the 60s and 70s (this story was corroborated by numerous people) this was before and early into the onset of his symptoms. His family suspected that the obscene amount of drug use might have spurred the disease into high gear. After he started struggling with his condition, he spent the next 10-20 years playing music alone by himself. Hours and hours a day. He developed arthritis because of this.. and that took his music away. His hands were... something else. He was polite, tried to be well mannered, and always wanted to do something nice for others. He INSISTED on buying whoever was working the register a candy bar or a snack. Or pick them a flower from outside. We tried to talk him out of the gifting, as im sure his income was an issue.. but on the other hand it made him happy. He would get kind of upset if he couldnt. I only got him to stop trying to gift me by telling him that I wanted him to bring joy to someone else, i'm already happy. Others would keep a candy bar up front to show him "I still have mine from yesterday, but thanks for asking!" or something of the like. His speech patterns were extremely memorable. He would often quote songs, bible verses, text from other religions, famous speeches, poetry, etc. and had a very particular cadence when doing so. When he would mess up his words (usually in ways that simon mentioned in the video) he would start over and make sure he did it right. Those words all meant something to him. Often I could see why they did. Powerful words. The ONLY instance of violence I recall him having was when he bit one of the patrons of the local church. She was a rude and obnoxious lady.. total hypocrite.. so I can only imagine what he had going through his head about her. Whatever voices he was hearing, they were telling him to make the world a better place. Somehow that fell into that genre. I was there about two years, and he visisted most days. He would often stick around when nobody else was there just to talk. He lived on his sister's property, but in a fixed up shed behind her house. While he knew most of the people in that neighborhood, I still think he was very lonely. His meds certainly helped. I could tell when he had missed some.. He died just before we moved. I know that was a long ramble, but he was one of the most memorable people I met during that part of my life. I had not been around someone with this disease in any quantity until then.. and I really got to know him. I saw him under varying degrees of sickness.. from pretty much neurotypical to.. episodic. He was a good soul. May you rest in peace, Mr. Paul.

The Catatonic state is not one I would wish on anyone. Mild anxiety, depression and small doses of Psychosis has flirted with me over the past 10 years but last year I was under a lot of stress at work, when suddenly started to experience persecutory delusions. Add that to being crippled with anxiety, got so bad I was in a catatonic state for a few days - I’ve never been so scared of not coming back to reality in my whole life. Luckily mum was there for me.

The saddest part is how law enforcement, as aggressive as they are (here in the states anyway) are almost always the first ones to show up to incidents involving schizophrenic individuals. These officers rarely deescalate situations in general, so they absolutely have no clue what to do with people suffering with & going through mental health events. Way too often those interactions end tragically.

You are doing really good job of explaining subjects, difficult to understand. And that is art. Thank you for that.

I have the gene in my family, but never experienced any symptoms of it. Until once when I was 28 years old. I took too much of a weed edible with my friends and I absolutely had a schizophrenic Episode. So bad in fact, that I was convinced that my friends who I had known for years and lived and trusted, were FBI agents posing as my friends to set me up for a hypothetical crime I committed that never existed. The episode felt so real, I ran from their house, buried my phone in the ground so they couldn’t track me and hid in an alleyway all night completely paranoid. Needless to say, I never ate weed again, and my my friends keep an eye on me if I’m ever tempted to again.

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2013. Since then, I've had nothing but social problems and have even gotten in trouble legally. It's a horrible condition, and I've been watching myself deteriorate year after year. I've had problems and symptoms of it since the early 1990s. It's horrible.

Great job getting the information out there in a compassionate view point.

I’m glad I finally have a video that actually tells the negative effects. It’s hard to explain to my friends why I suddenly freeze and why I struggle with emotions.

My uncle has schizophrenia. Medication works well for him, but a few times he's stopped taking it, and it's horrible to see all the delusions come rushing back. He's truly one of the strongest people I know. I can't imagine the struggles he faces every day.

My mother is a schizophrenic with multiple personalities. I remember her having us crouch down under a window because the Russians were invading our trailer. I think I was around four at the time. She married an ex Klansman who was a child predator. Obviously, he took advantage of her sickness. I’m gonna leave it at that as to how my childhood panned out. One personality, King Johavis, an angel sent from heaven with her “son” being the child she wanted. I am an only child… and her daughter. King Johavis hated me, unfortunately, he was the most prominent personality as a child. It’s made me different from my peers… I’m 50. I think my mentality is different from your typical 50-year-old. I’ve struggled with relationships in general to the point where I’m an extroverted loner. Extremely complicated to be this way, and have relationships that can understand the contradiction. Growing up I had to hide everything that was happening to me. And what was even worse, she allowed it. She would disappear for months and leave me with him. I left home at 15. if I would’ve stayed any longer, I don’t think I would’ve lived past 18. I just knew I was going to die. Thankfully, my cousin took me in or else I wouldn’t be here today. I don’t know where she is. And to be honest, I really don’t want to know where she is. I realize her sickness caused her to be the way she was. But it doesn’t make it easier to reconcile the terrible life I lived. So now I feel nothing for her. And my deadbeat dad, my real biological father, I couldn’t care less where he is either. I’ve tried to be the best person I can be considering the life I lead. And I have succeeded, to some extent in living a life without abuse. But being so different from everyone else, because my life growing up was not healthy, it’s made me a very complicated person to deal with. I don’t wish anyone to have to go through what I went through. Ever. I am a good person, who excepts people for who they are regardless of skin color, sexual orientation and race. And I hope that my stepfather is burning in hell with a bit of extra punishment added because he didn’t turn me into him. Anyway, this was my life, being raised by a mother with schizophrenia. This is a very dangerous mental illness that can negatively affect families as well as the individual going through the illness. And it’s up to the individual to be responsible enough to stay on treatment, considering there’s no cure. That’s the tricky part.

My dad had a friend who developed schizophrenia after smoking weed in Thailand on a business trip. I don't remember her well but when she was calm she apparently was gentle and a borderline math genius. Their friendship ended after a psychotic break during which my dad (who then worked in an ambulance) had to sedate her and forcefully inject antipsychotics which she never forgave him for.

I’m schizoaffective which just means I have schizophrenia and major depression at the same time. They both affect each other and can get quite bad, but I’m one of the lucky ones that can typically function quite well, minus the anxiety and paranoia. We’re typically only dangerous when in a psychotic break, and even then we’re more of a threat to ourselves rather than others. There are fringe cases in the extremes, but most of us are just dealing with our demons in silent. Some delusions come and go, others are seemingly permanent and unshakable. If you meet someone with schizophrenia, just try and understand that we only want to exist without our thoughts tormenting us constantly; we just want to be normal like everyone else.

2:00 It's important to note that people suffering from mental illness, including schizophrenia are far more likely to be victims of crime or abuse than to commit it

I work in healthcare. It's absolutely heartbreaking to watch the way that the American Healthcare system treats people with mental illness, particularly people with schizophrenia. The symptoms are treated as behaviors that the person is choosing to do. Nurses and doctors alike often treat pts with schizophrenia as "difficult" and "obstinate." Rarely are pts with symptoms of schizophrenia treated with compassion or even human decency.

Great video got it bang on. I would add that in most countries court orders are a long and tedious and expensive process that needs to be updated. My mom passed away before we were able to get one. The mental health system has a long way to go for sure.

I have Schizoaffective Disorder (Schizophrenia and a Mood Disorder). I was diagnosed in December of 2013. I finally got stabilized on Medication with in a year. I have been stable for 10 years. I take my medication every day because I am terrified of losing my mind, again. I put my meds together weekly ( I used to be an RN), with my husband’s help. I hope to God that I never experience psychosis, again.

I was in prison for 7 months and for the majority of my stay I was in a cell next to somebody who suffered from this. It was incredibly eye opening, frustrating, maddening, sad and heartbreaking. I wouldn’t wish the symptoms on anyone.

My brother is diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic (now just schizophrenic). His diagnosis was actually very helpful in understanding my childhood growing up with him. He is treated and lives a mostly normal life. He doesnt work but he understands his diagnosis and takes his medication religiously. Which he hadn't always done and resulted in several suicide attempts. I love my brother and I am proud of him. He has battled this mental illness most of his life.

Had this for over 4 years between 2009 and 2013. Horrible debilitating illness.

Hi Helena, I am an Aussie who has done a lot of travel in France. It is fantastic you are out thete experiencing all the benefots of travel. I really agree wih your observations. I love the way French dining is a relaxed experience savouring flavours in beautifully prepared fresh simple dishes. It is also a culture where discussion over food is savoured. I am glad you appreciate the richness of French history and the gorgeous architecture. Australia should be celebrated for its unique blending of nature and cities. I also believe it is the most succesful multicultural society in the world. I applaud you for living your life to the full.

I remember I met a girl who is schizophrenic and she was crying and speaking very low to the person that was with her "Their talking to me again and I'm scared." I felt so f'ing bad because she's such a nice person and the way she was shaking in fear trying to hold back tears in fear that the voices would do something is sad.

As a parent it feels like you are in a constant state of mourning. The child you knew slowly disappears along with the hopes and dreams of a life he will never have. My son has suffered for 10 years he is considered treatment resistant as they haven’t found a medication that takes away the delusions and hallucinations. As I write this he is currently hospitalized because of the command voices telling him to harm himself. He has enough insight to know when he needs to seek help. He has maintained his concern and empathy for others I am thankful for that.

As someone diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (schizophrenia + bipolar), I hate when people dismiss me as just having psychosis when I'm not. My upstairs neighbor was harassing me, following me and had a pinhole camera in my apartment. No one believed me and I was ignored everything I asked for help or told someone what was happening. In the end, I was able to obtain evidence and the guy was arrested and convicted and now I'm traumatized. Just because one of us is claiming that something is happening to us that you may dismiss as psychosis, the person could be completely in reality. Bad things happen to us too.

My mother and i have BPD and i have chronic depression. Ive had bouts of hallucinations and I have been admitted due to my thoughts and feelings of hurting myself and others. Genuinely the worst period of my life, and it was about half a year, and the worst of it was maybe a month. I can only imagine what those with schizophrenia live with daily.

I have a friend that i knew since high school with schizophrenia. At first you couldnt tell that he was schizo when we were kids. I watched him descend into madness over the last 20 years. I didnt see him for a while, then suddenly i started seeing him in boxers on the side of the road talking to no one. I tried talking to him and it was crazy. He acted like we just spoke the day before even though its been 10 years since i last saw him. I called the police so they can take him home. I then saw him again a few years later at a gas station. He was again half naked with Jesus written in marker on a tattered shirt. He was talking crazy to the attendants saying he was Jesus himself. I intervened i told the attendants that i knew him. Again, he acted like we talked just the day before. He told me that he was Jesus and that the devil was trying to kill him. It almost seemed like he saw me as the same kid he knew in high school. Like no time has passed. I saw him one more time like a year ago on the side of the road screaming at traffic. Again in boxers with a shirt that he wrote Jesus on. Everytime he seemed happy to see me. Like we were hanging out at school again. I hope hes ok

im diagnosed schizoaffective . i am doing pretty well on my meds. ive graduated university with a bachelors. i live on my own and i am big chillin. i know when my mind is fucking with me and i am not violent even though those thoughts come up. i’ve gone through hospitalization once but for short amount of time. journaling has helped me a lot, my phone has helped with things that are or aren’t there. i just have found ways to cope for myself and it’s still a journey it has been but what helped is realizing i have a problem and actually seeking help and receiving support.

As somebody with schizophrenia, who’s spent months in combined hospital stays in a behavioral health wing of a local hospital. This video has helped me understand my own disorder more than any health professional ever has.

I have Schizophrenia, and I would like to personally thank you for spread word on the mostly unknown aspects of Schizophrenia. This video means so much to me.

It’s unbelievable how poor accessibility is for folks with schizophrenia. Society is not designed to accomodate them at any small cost. My uncle has schizophrenia, and though I’ve never met him, I can see how it affects my dad. He isn’t sure where his brother is or how to help him and it makes me really sad to imagine. My brother means the world to me and it must be truly heartbreaking to lose someone like that. I wish support and compassion for these people was common.

It was always super weird reading the objective part of my psychiatric journals because the psychiatrists would often describe me with worgs like megalomania or persecutory and catatonic and what not. I learned a lot about myself from reading it, but wow it was strange (idk why I'm writing it in past tense because I am still affected lol)

Thank you for putting out this content.

I had a schizophrenic friend. An architect. She unfortunately was taken advantage of by her married coworker, an engineer, ending up in a fling, under the assumption he loved her but then he left her and never spoke again with her afterwards. She became convinced he was stalking her and ruining her career, and she became more and more withdrawn, believing he was hiring hackers to interfere with any activity she joined. She eventually left her firm, and started to believe demons were also influencing her life, including the actions of the engineer. I was the one she turned to in order to verify if things were real or not. I never denied things she saw were real or not, but I always told her before we turn to her delusions, we look for likely explanations. And for the most part, this helped and pulled her down to earth. But while I'm a psychology graduate, and while I worked in guidance and counseling, I am not a psychologist, and all I could provide was the support and advice to see her therapist. And as much as I wanted to be there... it became frustrating carrying her whenever she was down. I once decided to not reply for 2 days just to take a breather. When I checked on her, she had blocked me. I am under the impression she started to suspect me as well. I don't know if I could have done more. I still worry about her sometimes.

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, Asperger's and ADHD at a young age, I went through 6 years of heroin addiction (8 years clean) and now that I'm 28 I am still managing, I live a fairly normal life aside from almost being diabetic with the medication I'm on, but I am doing MUCH better than I was in my teens and early 20s, I have a steady job, a nice apartment and I manage my life okay, there are some things I still need to work on though, it is tough sometimes

When in the process of getting assessed for ADHD, the doctor was asking a lot about things that showed up in this video that seemed out of left-field and unrelated/not applicable but hearing that schizophrenia might be caused by too much dopamine now makes a lot of sense why those questions were present to be safe and not to give dopamine enhancing medications to people who might suffer from too much dopamine.

It's so good to hear someone explain something you understand in such a very nice and simple way 🙂

We learned in my studies for my BA that 90% of all people with mental illness are not violent and that, as you said, they are far more likely to become victims of a violent crime than to commit one. I knew a girl in high school with schizophrenia who I was like the only friend of (I also had few friends). Even her school counselor said stay away from her. She had such awful hallucinations and I saw her get tormented. But she wasn't dangerous. She attempted suicide a few times. Not sure where she is today

Very well made video! Such a misunderstood class of disorders, yet an incredibly fascinating phenomenon to try and fail to make sense of. We need more people talking about and explaining psychiatric disorders of all variety, and especially help in removing the social stigma and association with perpetuating abuse and violence that those of us afflicted experience. Thank you

Im married to a high-functioning paranoid schizophrenic (possibly suffering from it from childhood, first major break at 16). Witenessed her spiral after the birth of our son. Its fucking horrible. Thankfully she received the treatment she needed and almost had a break during the pandemic (had to up her dosage) thankfully she sees the signs and i listened and helped her act fast.

My best friend who is my brother, was diagnosed with this MFing disease when he was 23. He is 30 now and still has his moments. I can't tell you what he mentally went through, but this disease devastates families. Shit put me in depression and I cried a lot, especially when he called me a liar and not his brother. We need to invest more into mental health research.

So here's a funny story: I was really sick with a cold and was reading in bed one day. It was kind of late at night but the symptoms of my cold were keeping me awake so I thought I'd just read. I had one of those HEPA air filters in the corner of my room that was pretty loud but I was used to the sound. Shortly after I sat up so it would be easier to hold the book than it had been while I was lying down, I started hearing whispers that made me think that someone was right outside my bedroom window. Since I was on the ground floor, this was a rational thing to think so I got up and looked, but I saw nothing. At the same time, I also didn't hear the whispering anymore. When I went back to sitting in bed, I started hearing the whispering again. The annoying thing is that I could never make out quite what the whispers were saying. At this point, I started to get a little afraid since I have a degree in psychology and knew that this is sometimes how schizophrenia starts. I worried about this and continued to hear the whispering. Finally, I turned my head to get my cup of water, which is when I realized that the whispering was actually the sound of my air filter bouncing off of the wall before entering my ears, which changed the sound I was used to it making since this was the first time I had ever sat up in bed to read. Sure enough, I could predictably hear the sound that my brain had interpreted as whispering every time my head was facing a certain way relative to the wall behind me. That's when I had a good chuckle over the whole matter. It's pretty common for one's brain to misinterpret things every so often but it usually doesn't take much further investigation to discover that it was just a misinterpretation rather than a hallucination.