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Knowing When to Seek Help

© Ian Chovil

Each year I coordinate 20-25 presentations about mental illnesses to high school classes. I tell them my experience of schizophrenia. Since schizophrenia strikes 1% of the population, 15 students in an average high school of 1,500 will develop the illness. This year I surveyed the students to see how they would react to possible symptoms of major illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, in themselves or their friends.

I ask them first whether they would try to help a friend who started to behave strangely, who they realized was having trouble in their day to day life at school, who stopped socializing with friends, who may have started drinking and using drugs heavily, etc. Many would approach the person, even approach that person's parents or teacher.

I ask them to "Imagine the same thing is happening to you. You just can't concentrate or do your school work, and/or you start sleeping a lot and/or you are bored all the time, and/or you start drinking and using drugs a lot, and/or you start to hear voices and believe strange things are happening, and/or you are obsessed with dieting." I ask them if "they would try to handle it themselves? talk about it with their friends to get their suggestions? talk to their parents? talk to their teacher/guidance counselor? make an appointment with their family physician?"

Twice as many would make an appointment with their family physician after hearing our presentation. A significant number though, resolutely "try to handle it myself, no matter what". I was one of those people when I was their age. I went undiagnosed for fifteen years, completely alone, psychotic, alcoholic, one attempted suicide. I didn't know that what I was experiencing was beyond my control, that there are physical diseases of the brain that you can't handle yourself.

I didn't know I had schizophrenia and I didn't know it was a treatable illness. With most mental illnesses - the longer the delay in treatment, the less effective the medication. That is why it is important for teenagers to learn when to seek help. If someone developing schizophrenia is treated in the first six months of psychotic symptoms they have a very good chance of a complete recovery. It often takes much, much longer causing much more long term disability.

No one is immune to serious mental illness. The risk is greater if there is some family history. When something is disabling your day to day life and nothing you do helps, it's time to talk to somebody about it, somebody like your family physician. It's important to know when to seek help, because you have a right to enjoy your life.

The copyright of the article Knowing When to Seek Help in Schizophrenia is owned by Ian Chovil. Permission to republish Knowing When to Seek Help in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.