I am going to speak openly about my son whom I have referred to earlier in this thread as having been discharged from the Air Force with psychotic episodes of unknown origin and schizophreniform. He is currently 23 years of age and on 70% disability.
He does not have paranoid schizophrenia although he has had some slight paranoia in the past. He thought people were out to get him, were going to beat him or hurt his car in some way. He was insistent that this was the case even though we never saw any evidence of that.
His views of what is normal are very skewed. He obsesses about things..likes movies, actors, actresses, and video games. He obsesses about previous relationships...and always claims to be in love with one of the girls he dated before he became ill.
It is very difficult for him to have good, ongoing friendships. This leaves him with his family...and with the computer. There are days when our son seems much like the young guy we remember...the one who was popular, active and hilarious. There are other days when we hardly recognize him as the person we knew. Fortunately, he is having more good days than bad.
I can attest to the fact that he does not think he is "sick" and does not see the need for medication. His psychiatric team told us that we could "force" him to take his medication, nor could we "oversee" that he took it. It was solely his responsibility. We explained that if he wanted to live in our home, he had to take the meds....so he moved out. It has been a very long road.
I'm happy for the the psych nurses who are celebrating that they survived without going "crazy," and I appreciate all they have done to help those who suffer with mental illness. I'm sure it has been a challenge. However, please remember those of us who never "retire" from facing mental illness everyday...because that mental illness belongs to someone we love...a son, daughter, wife, husband, parent.