Life with schizophrenia by freedom_writerr July 22, 2011

It has been few months I have talking to my dry sis from my homeland.  I have called her once two weeks to discuss her treatment and daily life.  If she did not have this illness to affect her life, she might be a happy single girl living in the big city or married with few children.  The life she has just to stay with her retired parents and took care of her eighty years old father on the wheelchair and helped her mother around the housework. 

During our phone conversation, I knew portion of her memories have been lost and her comprehensives somehow lacking of languages skills.  She is really looking for to find a job again, but I wonder how she can handle outside environment.  She has no computer skill or any other skills I doubt she would be able to perform.  As my TWRF foundation that one of our research groups is mental illness patients, I have tried to find a way to communicate with her doctor as well.

I was able to talk with her mother one time; she has mentioned that her daughter’s violent behaviors were her concern if she did not take the medicine.  My dry sis admitted to me that she does not like to take medicine.  She has been in outpatient program for going to the hospital for a shot every month.  My homeland currently has a plan for every citizen receives health care.  She is also under the plan that she paid $3US for each treatment since her father is retired veteran. 

We were also able to talk about her mental illness elder brother who has been hospitalized since he went to army service.  She has never visited him there before.  She hates the mental institution.  As for her family, her oldest brother and youngest brother do not have any sign of mental illness. 

After three months, she has been asking to correspond in writing in air mail.  I just sent her one.  It may take ½ month for her to receive my letter.

She is not the first one I encountered, I also had a schoolmate in my graduate school acting out in front of my family included my new born son.  We were afraid of her may endanger our son unintentionally we had asked her to leave.  She has been suffered for the mood change behavior closer as schizophrenia and depression.  Her mother had hidden the truth from me when I asked till later she finally admitted.

Those cases I still consider they are mild.  Those shooting incident like V. Tech, AZ, even the one in Brooklyn dismembered an eight year old boy.  Can we prevent it?  Now WHO research shown 1 of 4 people may suffer mental illness for his or her life time.  There are millions of people have depression.  We could not just treat the illness and abandon the research.

I know it is hard to live with schizophrenia and it is manageable I believe.  I am looking for heart-felt professionals in this field and we need to bring hope and fund better research.