Hi Adam's mom,

Without going into details about me [there are certain things I don't talk about], I can tell you how it could be for people living with SZ who have symptoms.  The diagnosis itself is a label, and indeed is a stigmatizing label in society.  If someone feels confused, out of sorts, hears voices, has troubling concentrating on the twists and turns of a conversation, in short, if he's experiencing some kind of fallout from the SZ, he can feel vulnerable or different or ashamed or upset or any of these attending feelings.  When someone is diagnosed with cancer, they don't call themselves canceerous, yet sadly the schizophrenic label is alive and well and identifies us by our symptoms by people who are ignorant or intolerant.  So, your son could have feelings that surround what he thinks about what is going on in his head.

Trust me, as soon as someone hears the diagnosis "schizophrenia," it has an effect.

This is the long, long, long way of leading into my talk about why people with SZ could prefer to be alone, rather than out with people.  To feel different, to feel the eyes of society on you is not a good feeling, and it's compounded when you are a young teenager who seeks his friends' approval and wants to belong in a group of like-minded souls.  Alas, he may not meet people he wants to get to know in the schizophrenia world.  Does any of this sound like what could be going on?  Please write back and let me know if I am way off target.

Lastly, the idea about his getting overstimulated could be his own manifestation of a symptom.  For me, I have a hard time riding the subway and eating in crowded restaurants where the other diners are within my peripheral vision.  That is all I can say about that.  I give you as much as this to tell you that everyone experiences the SZ in his or her own way.  The ideal is to strike a balance.  You don't want him isolating in his room, yet it will of course take time for him to get to a better place in his recovery.

A jazz term, woodshedding, describes when musicians go into the wood shed to practice their instruments before playing out in public.  Woodshedding for at least 10 years now has been a concept applied to schizophrenia recovery.  It took me at least one year from the time I came home from the hospital the first time, to tentatively find my way back into the world.  One thing I did as soon as I came home was sign up for a jewelry-making class at an art studio.  Every Monday night for 10 weeks I would go there and craft a copper necklace and earrings.  At the end of 10 weeks, I had something concrete that I had fashioned, a testament to that baby step I took to be out in the world.  It was the only thing I did because it was the only thing I could do.  I also was in therapy.  So sometimes people in their early years of recovery  need to go in the wood shed to process what's going on and tune in to their needs.

I think I said this before that you should encourage your son's hobbies, however far-fetched they seem if they are within reason.  Maybe, he never had a hobby outside of the pot smoking, that's OK, now is the time that he can explore healthier hobbies that are new and appeal to him.

Aim for a healthy balance of his going out and staying in.  I believe therapy could help him cope with how he feels in social situations.  For me, therapy isn't a crutch, it's empowering.  I feel my therapist is the most empathetic person I know.  He is an ally in my recovery.

Trust me, and you may have found this out where you are, where I used to live there weren't many support groups for teens.  When I was a freshman in high school, however, I attended a group therapy session at a teen therapy clinic in the next town.  I would take the train one stop there and take the train home.  I'm sorry I didn't immediately think of this option for your son.  Ideally, there'd be some kind of formal drop-in center for teenagers with MIs and emotional issues where you live or nearby.  A drop-in center is a place where peers "drop in" to chat and socialize and hang out.

I hope this helps.  Please write back to let us know if it does.

Regards,

Christina