For this reason I had an easier time grasping the concept that the chemicals which made the mind work properly could get fouled up and create the experiences that were part of a mental illness. He helped me understand how the brain was basically like a very complex machine.

My stepfather, Dave, was a mechanical engineer and also the smartest man I ever met. One reason why this logical reasoning seemed to come naturally to me was because I had a scientific understanding of the universe. Logic and reasoning can play a crucial role in anyone’s recovery.Therapy is, in fact, an art based on science.Therapy isn’t all about logical thinking, but it does play an important role.It’s all part of a chemical imbalance.” My friend smiled as our conversation turned to questions related to the next stage of our recovery, where would we live after we left the hospital. It doesn’t even make any sense.” I responded, “Hey, don’t feel so badly about it. He said, “I can’t believe I thought all of that stupid stuff. How can we both be right? I mean would there really be two messiahs at the same time, let alone all the other people who claim to be messiahs?” When my new friend’s own psychosis abated, a few days later he was feeling rather foolish for what he had been thinking. I thought the exact same thing about myself. I asked him, “You’re telling me that you are some kind of messiah. One young man, who was about my age, comes to mind. While there I began sharing the logic that helped me to end my psychotic thinking with the other patients there. I was in the hospital for an additional month until the psychiatrist said I was ready to be released. This type of logical reasoning combined with the antipsychotic medication helped me to recover my usual state of mind within two weeks of my hospitalization. At some point it dawned upon me that we couldn’t all be right. Many of the other people there had similar strange beliefs. I thought I was Elvis, in the Mafia, and some kind of religious figure, all wrapped up in one. Being around so many other people experiencing similar phenomenon had a profound effect upon me. This was the first time since being diagnosed with schizophrenia two years before that I was able to admit to myself that I had a mental illness. I found myself there after experiencing my second psychotic break with reality in 1998, at age 23. I never thought seriously about becoming a psychotherapist until I was institutionalized in a state psychiatric hospital. In his book, The Mindful Son: A Beacon of Hope Through the Storm of Mental Illness, James Hickman describes how he overcame poverty, orphanhood, and schizophrenia to become a Licensed Certified Social Worker, a psychotherapist, a leader in the mental health advocacy movement, and an inspiration for many others. You are about to read the remarkable life story of a remarkable man. But nothing works if the person is homeless-so decent housing is a prerequisite. Psychotherapy, social skills and vocational training, and recovery through peer support and empowerment are all enormously helpful. Most people need medication, at least during the acute phases. There are many effective treatments for 'schizophrenia'-but no one size fits all. Eventually, what we now call “schizophrenia” will turn out to be hundreds of much better defined conditions. Figuring all this out will likely be the painstaking work of many decades. There is certainly not one cause of “schizophrenia”-there may be hundreds of contributing factors working through bewilderingly complex interactions. It presents in many different ways and has many different outcomes. “Schizophrenia” is a name, not a disease.

Schizophrenia success story