This Is What It’s Like To Live With Schizophrenia: Three people with schizophrenia share their stories.
Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling — but treatable — brain disorder affecting more than 21 million people worldwide. Of those people, only half receive treatment. Symptoms, which usually begin between ages 16 and 30, primarily include hallucinations and delusions, but access to therapy, medication, and effective support systems allows people with schizophrenia to successfully manage those symptoms. Still, misconceptions — like the belief that schizophrenia makes people inherently violent (it doesn’t) — persist.
Mental illness looks different for every person who experiences it. Below are three honest accounts from people who live with schizophrenia — what it’s actually like, how it affects their lives, and what they wish people understood about it.
Michelle Hammer, 27, graphic designer and entrepreneur in New York
Michelle Hammer
When were you diagnosed?
Michelle Hammer: I was diagnosed schizophrenic at 22, but I was diagnosed as bipolar when I was 18 or 19, in college. I was living with some roommates at the time and, after college, when I was living with the same people, I told them, “Hey, so they found out I’m actually schizophrenic,” and they were like, “Oh, that’s what we always thought you had.” So it was kind of like I was the last person to know.
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