In this article, we will tell the story of a real person diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
How to live with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia? — historyia Alice Evans
Alice Evans first noticed the signs of schizophrenia as a student. It was not the easiest period of her life. She was only 20. She went to university and had to move from home. A new circle of friends, the need to be torn between studies and three jobs have done their «dirty deed». She began to notice that the world had lost its colors, she began to lose the thread of conversation, and sometimes she simply could not talk, she began to hear extraneous voices.
A person suffering from mental disorders does not try to advertise this, and in her case, speech disorders also affected. and she could not tell friends and family about the gravity of her condition. And she herself could not adequately assess the severity of her condition. As a result, friends took her home to her parents, where she spent the next 10 years of her life.
After the official diagnosis and the start of medication, her condition began to improve — her speech returned to normal, her thinking became clearer, Alice finally began to control her body. But numerous pills began to give a side effect — a rapid weight gain began — more than 60 kilograms in one year. This led to a new phobia: the fear of going out because of the shape of his body, which automatically excluded the possibility of exercising to reduce weight. Even the fact that Alice was able, for the first time in a long time, to find a job didn’t help. due to her health, she could not stay there for a long time. And it was a vicious circle.
But the love of parents and love for art did their job. She joined the local theater club. The disease made its own adjustments: fear of a large crowd of people, difficulty in memorizing the text, periodic memory problems. All this was brightened up by a good team that supported her. In this circle, Alice met Tristan, to whom she was able to tell about her illness for the first time in a long time. Subsequently, it was Tristan who insisted on her admission to the Chelsea Institute of Art, which changed her life dramatically.
Alice began making films in which she talked about the hardships of the lives of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. She managed to get to good specialists in the field of mental illness and speech disorders, which significantly improved her condition.
Subsequently, she began working in a charitable foundation specializing in the mentally ill. This allowed her to meet people like her. Of course, overweight and the disease itself could not pass without a trace, she had a lung infection. But her passion for art, communication with people made it possible to overcome this ailment. She even received approval for an operation to remove excess weight.
Alice currently has a master’s degree in arts on her way to a professorship. A successful teacher who says that it is possible to live with schizophrenia. It’s difficult, but possible. And for this it took her a long 20 years.