schizophrenia has another victim

[tvmann]

This is not about anyone you would know, but if you know anyone with mental health issues, read on.

A friend of mine, Robert, killed himself a few days ago.

I heard from someone that he was in a bad way and kind of isolated, so I called him up last Saturday, he sounded pretty normal, although he admitted he was feeling strange for a while, he said it might have been food poisoning. He said we could get together this weekend, but this weekend never happened for him.

His mother had mental problems and killed herself about 10 years ago. His father, an accountant (CA) was kind of cold or not able or willing to deal with mental health issues, so I think the matter was not really talked about.

Robert worked for his father in a small accounting office as an assistant, and was in the CGA program for a while.

He was always a little unusual. Although a very mild-mannered person, for recreation he was into motorcycles, guns, martial arts movies, and combat computer games. Weekend fun might include driving into the forestry mountain areas for camping with one or two friends (near the latest Poundit location on Chilliwack Lake Road), almost always with with a shotgun and rifles. What is a little unsual is that Robert, the assistant accountant, would wear a green camouflage outfit, combat boots, and be equipped with a large knife, crossbow, and a dangerous-looking military folding style black shotgun or rifle.

Athough he liked guns, he did not hunt and only used them to shoot at paper targets or tin cans. He also had two handguns, both licensed and used legally only at a shooting range. It appears he used one of the handguns to shoot himself one night while in his apartment.

I found out that in the last month Robert seems to have had a schizophrenic breakdown. He imagined that Ninjas were after him, and thought they were following him when he was driving. He took the last 2 weeks off from work and stayed at home during this very hot July period, and locked up all the windows, including boarding some, to keep out the Ninjas. He lives on the second floor, so intruders are unlikely. He lost some weight, and was convinced the water was poisoned so he became partially dehydrated. At one point he was seen outside in his underwear with a cross raised in front of him towards the sun, sweating profusely and chanting or praying. This Ninja stuff is news to me, but was noticed by one or two friends and neighbours who told his father.

His father regularly checked up on Robert during his absence from work, but told neighbours only that Robert had a bad cold, obviously a denial of the true situation.

Robert was supposed to go see a doctor, but never did. It's unfortunate that nobody took action to get him into the psychiatric ward for a few weeks, or to get the police to confiscate his guns. Ironically, about 10 days ago a friend said Robert should not be around those guns because of his mental state, but nobody had the full information about the extent of his Ninja paranoia and also knew he had the guns.

We may never know exactly why Robert did this, if it was a flight from the imaginary Ninjas, or depression. It's a real waste because it was probably a short-term illness and some help would have got the problem under control. He was a nice person, made good pizzas, shared his booze, and let me play a trance CD on his stereo sometimes, and he was normally very very sane and had a sense of humour, and he will will be missed.

This is the second person I've known who committed suicide as a result of schizophrenia. This is a disease of young adults and a significant percent end up killing themselves.

[sidekick]

one of my best friends has schizophrenia.

[charly]

that makes me so sad. :(

people need to learn to be more accepting of mental issues. if they weren't so looked down upon, i think a lot of people would find it easier to come forward and get the help they need.

unfortunately it's not this way.. and many just end up suffering in silence.

[krisamata]

thats horrible.
cause there are meds that would have helped him.

i remember in highschool, when i was in peer helping...we met some people who were schizophrenic...and it was weird to see the reactions of some of the other students at school...they looked terrified..

we accepted them

they told us stories like the one above...some worse...

its unforunate...people often dont want to help becuase they are afraid of these people hurting them...little do they know these people often only hurt themselves


im so sorry to hear about your friend. there is some good to come out of this...hopefully some people that knew him, or people that read about him will understand more about the disease.

and your friend isn't in pain anymore...hes somewhere where he has control...where he is happy...where he's doing everything he loves

r.i.p robert.

[Jingles]

Originally Posted by Sidekick

one of my best friends has schizophrenia.

one of my close long term girlfriends does as well
and it's made for some very intersting times indeed over the years

finding the right dosage of meds has been difficult and she goes from livingin a state of paranoia that everyone hates her, into a state she is totally gaped out and meowing to herself, to being 'normal'

while i think many people accept that there are mental issues and diseases out there, i think when they actualy encounter them in a close connection it can be hard to accept. There are no real physical signs or wounds , so (and i have been guilty of this myself) sometimes you can find yourself thinking, if they just tried more they would be better

it can be really hard to recognize the severity of a mental disorder, and sadly, for some it can be too late before anyone steps in to help

I am sorry to hear about your friend - i can only imagine how frustrating it must be to think that those closest to him couldn't step in in time. thank-you for posting though, i think this is an important topic and that people should really take the time to try and understand

[Joanne]

working in an assisted living program toward independence for people with schizophrenia, I have seen the wonders of medication and social support in helping someone deal with schizophrenia. though relapses can occur, many of the people I work are people many would be shocked to learn had schizophrenia.

acceptance of mental disorders is definitely an important thing, but sometimes the disease itself can prevent sufferers from getting help. my friend's grandfather simply won't trust doctors or anyone giving him medication. his intense paranoia even causes him to refuse to have food made for him by someone else because he's afraid they're trying to poison him. it's an absolutely terrible ordeal for family members and friends to deal with when no help or treatment is given.

I'm deeply sorry for your loss. :(

--Joanne :P

[tvmann]

I wasn't really close friends with Robert (not his real name but similar) so it hasn't effected me too much, but others are more hurt by this. He got divorced recently, and his ex-wife got a new guy and a few days earlier had a baby and also the divorce papers came through, so that may have been a factor. This could turn her life upside down for a while, and his 2 sisters - suicide can make big emotional problems for the friends and family.

His father does not want a funeral or memorial of any kind, so it will be up to others to do something.

My other friend who had schizophrenia had a problem when she got out of the hospital. Nobody would rent her a room or apartment if they knew about her condition, even though it was under control at that point.

[MissBehavior]

That's so sad...It's horrible to hear about things like that. :(

When I was in highschool I was friends with a girl who was schizophrenic. She told me almost right away, and it never scared me or worried me to be around her. She told me that she knew when there was a problem when she would see black cats everywhere. She didn't have a very stable home life (home foster care, to back home, to foster home to back home), and she was a "cutter". She was also an AMAZING artist, and was really into Tool, NIN and The Crow (as was I at the time). We always paired up in PE and sat together in Grade 11 biology and one of my favorite memories of her is the time we made plaster masks and pizza at her place.

One day, near the end of the year in Gr. 11, she wasn't there...And she wasn't there for a week...Then my science teacher told me that "Kristen won't be back for the rest of the year", and that she had gone into the hospital...I knew what that meant, because she told me about previous relapses.

Then in the beginning of gr.12, she was back! And it was like nothing had happened. We still talked about music, art, school. But the same thing happened again in the middle of grade 12. She was gone.

I haven't seen her since then, but I think about her from time to time and I hope that she's okay. She was a really good person who got dealt a really shitty hand in life.

My heart goes out to you and his family and friends.

[Ragga_Wh0re]

shuit yo

sorry about ur friend. I just found out last week that one of my good friends has skizzzzzzzzzzzzzofreniaaaaaaaaa, im not exactly sure how to talk to her about it or even if i should, but i guess i prolly should cuz i dont wanna bury another one of my friends.


mental illness is a muttha!

[Kandyapple]

I had an uncle that had schizophrenia as well as cancer. Unfortunately I never got the chance to meet him, because he shot himself before I was born. He was diagnosed when he was a teen but lived until he was in his
mid-late 30's.
It made things really hard on my moms family with three other children in the house as well to take care of while dealing with a child with a mental illness. He was really brilliant though, and I guess was able to keep it under control, (at least on the outside) Because nobody really knew if he heard voices or anything. But I guess the disease and the cancer as well were just to much for him to bare in the end. I’m not really sure if there was as much help back then, as there is now for people with schizophrenia. It's a shame if it could have been prevented from happening.