Linda

I see a number of people with Paranoid schizophrenia at our clinic. This disease can manifest itself in many different ways, and the people living with such mental illness find different ways to cope and adapt to their perceived realities.

Linda started developing signs of paranoid schizophrenia when she was in college. When I met her she was 60+ years of age, living in the tenderloin--she could have been my grandmother. Instead she lived alone in a hotel room, addicted to crack, her hair infested with lice.

She often hallucinates about different smells in the room--she is paranoid about getting sent to the psychiatric emergency room. But for the most part, Linda is able to live on her own--she now takes her medications, eats, sleeps, and baths herself.

While she can relate to you, her view of the world, the environment around her, is evidence of her illness. She knows who I am, but often confuses me for someone else--an ex-boy friend, a member of the KKK (which I thought was particularly out there).

She copes with her illness by often self-medicating--smoking crack and cigarettes. Drinking coffee to stay awake because the vivid dreams she has keeps her from sleeping.

Linda has a family, a community of people that takes care of her--helps her survive in the real world. Since being on medications her hallucinations have become less intense and disturbing. She now lives in a brand new independent apartment where nursing staff and case managers are there to assist her. Many of the mentally ill are not so lucky.