Schizophrenia - Sadie Weaver

Schizophrenia
By Sadie Weaver

“Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that affects about 1.1 percent of the U.S. population. People with schizophrenia sometimes hear voices others don’t hear, believe that others are broadcasting their thoughts to the world, or become convinced that others are plotting to harm them. The symptoms of schizophrenia develop in men and women in their late teens or early twenties. Some cases include hallucinations, delusions, disordered thinking, movement disorders, flat affect, social withdrawal and cognitive defects. Medications can eliminate many of the symptoms and allow people with schizophrenia to live independent and fulfilling lives.” I got all this information from the National Institute of Mental Health website. Now let me tell you what schizophrenia is to me.
I was adopted when I was 4 years old into a loving house in West Texas. I had an adoring big brother (who was also adopted from a different family when he was 4 months old), who told me secrets and taught me how to burp and pass gas, how to climb the tree in the back yard, and how to eat blueberry pancakes! He was the best big brother! He stuck up for me at school and taught me that words people said shouldn’t hurt me. He changed, however, the year he turned 16. I was only 12 at the time and just knew he and our parents fought a lot! They had him tested for drugs and put locks on his windows to keep him from leaving the house at night. At 21 my parents had him evaluated at the hospital in Big Spring and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, I just know our relationship had changed.
He is a grown man now with a wife and son. He holds a job and does a great job to boot! He speaks to middle scholars and high scholars about mental illness and is taking Closeral to control his illness. He has been symptom free since 1992. He is a hero to me. Sure he has hard times and I am sure his life is not easy. I bet people look at him funny and maybe even try to take advantage of him. But let those people walk a mile in his shoes. He has not let his disorder take control of him. He has fought back and fought for control of his life.
We as future teachers need to realize we just might encounter a child like my brother someday in our classrooms. We need to fill our classrooms with compassion and acceptance and remember that these children we encounter everyday might not be in control of their lives. The things they do, the things they see, and the things they say. We need to be a source of stability and love in their crazy lives for the time they are ours in the classroom. We have but a small time to mold and touch lives. I am glad for the teachers and adults that touched my brother’s life through the years; the ones that didn’t give up. I’m glad to have my brother back again!