Ryan Jeffreys' Story of Suicidal Schizophrenia




RYAN JEFFREYS' STORY

I graduated high school and got a scholarship for art school. Because I wasn’t in a liberal arts curriculum, though, I couldn’t avoid the draft, and nobody in the service believed there was anything wrong with me—they thought I was trying to get out of going to Vietnam. So I went, and finished a 3½-year term of service. I did manage to complete my education, and after that, I moved to Florida, where I’ve lived ever since.

 

In my adult life, I’ve had about nine serious suicide attempts, and I’ve been hospitalized 15 times (two of which were long-term stays). When I was 35, a doctor from Chicago started coming down in the summers. He rediagnosed me as bipolar with psychotic features. In addition to the other medicines, I started taking lithium, which helped a lot. However, I still couldn’t change my addiction to drugs and alcohol, and the use of these substances only seemed to create havoc in my life.

 

It wasn’t until the mid-80s that I found really positive treatment after I became involved with a peer support group. I learned a lot from my fellow consumers about medications and therapy that could serve as alternatives to the treatment I’d had.

 

I have been on several of the newer medications and since then my life has taken a turn for the better. Since then, I have devoted myself to psychiatric advocacy and improvement of the mental health delivery system. In 1992, I opened a drop-in center in Naples, FL, which I ran for about 5 years. This experience not only helped me in my recovery and helped me maintain my mental health stability, but it also allowed me to share and hear other ideas about maintaining a normal life.

 

I want to share my story in hopes of giving others with psychiatric disabilities the knowledge that they are not alone and there is hope for the future. Recovery is possible and there is no shame in having a brain disease.




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