| My younger brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia about 8 years ago. Since then, my mother and father have been so immensely sad watching my brother not be able to hold down a job, talk to himself, laugh to himself, pace around the backyard of my parents home, and not have a an adult life with adult responsibilities.I never accepted that diagnosis for him. I refused to believe that he had a chemical imbalance without PROOF of a chemical imbalance. Human beings are capable of all kinds of behavior. Just because a behavior doesn’t fit in with this particular culture, at this particular point in time, doesn’t mean that the person is suffering from an illness. Furthermore, most people suffering from an illness WANT to get better. I never felt Joe wanted to get better. I could see it in his eyes that he discovered a loophole, a way out. A way to get disability checks, sympathy from my parents, etc. Everyone and the system was reinforcing his behavior.Since Joe is my brother, only 2.5 years younger than me, I feel I know him pretty well. I know that he’s sensitive and shy and would get embarrassed. I also know that some of his life skills aren’t the best (neither were mine when I was a young adult but I kept thrashing forward). Joe went to school after high school and graduated from DeVry with an electronics degree. At around the age of 23-24, he got a job at FedEx as an IT support person. After a few incidents at work where he didn’t have a solution to a problem right away, he got embarrassed and quit. Instead of telling the person with the computer issue, “hold on, let me go ask someone else”, or go and google an answer, or simply state that he is not sure but will spend a few hours or days figuring it out. He instead came home and started crying to my parents that he doesn’t feel “normal”. I knew that life was tough. People take for granted how tough life is. I knew what he was going through. He needed to be told that he has the skills to do good at that job. He needed to be encouraged to go back out there the next day. Instead my parents took that too mean that perhaps he had some weakness, or problem. Perhaps he was depressed? They weren't sure so from that moment on, he was set off on a journey of phsychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, rehab, detox, mental hospitals, prison, currently Joe roaming the streets asking people for money.It was great for Joe. For the most part he could sit at home, smoke cigarettes all day, which my parents would by for him. I was told to speak gently to Joe since he was "under a lot of stress". Joe knew he had my parents fooled and that they would now allow him to sit at home and do nothing. But his little plan has backfired on him. He has stopped evolving and has therefore lost his friends, is not capable of talking to women, has no money, etc. And is now much unhappier than he ever would have been if he simply plowed through life's challenges on his own.
It’s sad watching him deteriorate like this. But I firmly believe that what he is suffering from is a broken spirit, not a chemical imbalance. He needs to be in a place where he is not allowed to smoke, drink alcohol, or smoke grass. He needs discipline and routine. He needs an environment where he is rewarded for good behavior and punished for bad behavior. He needs to be exercising regularly, eating nutritious foods, going to sleep and waking up at regular hours, and someone needs to work with him to slowly build up life skills and confidence.
Dr. Hickey, thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, for having the courage to speak the truth about this kind of behavior. Everything you write makes complete sense. You write with compassion and caring and love. You have given me so much comfort and dispelled the mysteries around schizophrenia. I have read your essay “Schizophrenia is not an Illness” many times and continue to read it. It is so beautifully and clearly written. With wisdom and truth. In a world where we are being told so many different things and being manipulated and lied to for others gain. I wish you and your family and everything you touch, only the best. You are an incredible human being and deserve the highest honors for humanity. |
The following post is a part of our “Tell Your Story” category, where our readers submit their stories about their contact with the mental health system.