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It seems like we all have one of these friends, unfortunately. Mine was one of my closest high school friends, I am not sure if I'd call him a genius but he was darn close. The guy was incredibly intelligent. He wouldn't ever have to study much for tests, it just came very easily to him. On math tests he was always the last one finished because he rarely studied, but he would actually derive the equations on the test before he started solving problems, because he was too lazy to just memorize the equations. Yet he would always be able to figure out the equations based on other information he knew, and then derive them, solve the problems, and ace the tests. It was insane, haha, it was almost like he intentionally made the tests harder on himself. He nearly had a 4.0 in high school and despite being a small guy, he was muscular for his size and a backup on the football team (that won state while we were there).
Then in college, he was fine the first year, he drank a good amount but who doesn't in college? He was an engineering major and was working really hard, also getting a 4.0 in a good number of credits. But when I transfered to the same university for the second year and got a quad with him, that was the first year he started showing signs that things were wrong. He locked himself away and studied, but turned to smoking a lot of weed. Pretty soon weed became various other odd drugs (peyote, woodrow seeds, stuff I hadn't really heard of much before). He dropped out of college in the second term, after a bout of basically going totally crazy. He started talking in rhymes, which was downright impressive I have to admit, it was so eerie, and then he sent an inappropriate e-mail to everyone he knew including all of our professors (he had then been taking philosophy classes with me before eventually switching to psychology). I left for home one weekend for four days, but when I got back he was gone. My other quadmate told me his parents had come to pick him up and take him home. He was out of contact with pretty much everyone for at least a month. He didn't return to college until the next year, having lost out on two terms total. Then he came back the next year but sometime later that year, he had another drug-related incident and dropped out again, this time going to a mental hospital for 30 days. He later returned and finally completed college in what was his 7th year I guess, after several major changes.
I've seen him about once a year for the past few years. The amount of drugs he has gotten into increased a lot, to shrooms, acid, mescaline, and a few others, fortunately no cocaine or heroine, he mostly avoids the harder stuff. But his mind is fried, honestly. He makes no sense when he talks most of the time, though he thinks he does, and he writes long essays about subjects that somehow relate drugs, psychology, religion, etc. into one big cluster of random thoughts that doesn't make sense to anyone but him. It's just kind of sad because he was one of the really smart kids with a promising future and although now he has his stuff together more so than before, I mean he is apparently pursuing teaching work in psychology, he will never be the same guy we had so many good times with as part of our group of friends back in the day. A roadside casualty, I guess.
I realize you were in college yourself but it sounds to me that your friend developed schizophrenia and was self-medicating because he didn't understand what was happenign to him. It happens a lot, it's very sad.
Happens a lot???? I've never heard of it happening ever.
People self medicate for a billion reasons. 1. Boredom. 2. Anxious. 3. Deprived of sex. It is endless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CESpeed
I realize you were in college yourself but it sounds to me that your friend developed schizophrenia and was self-medicating because he didn't understand what was happenign to him. It happens a lot, it's very sad.
I am fine. Now I champion survivorship. Also lend an ear to those who have going through the cancer journey.
Wonderful to hear! My neighbor just went through it last year and while she was going through chemo her mother was diagnosed...they are both fine now...thank goodness.
In college!! Read it again... It is common for someone with schizophrenia to be diagnosed during the college years...it's not like they catch it or something...good grief...
At least you know you are not alone since you are 1 of 20...
It is still rare. It isn't like some major illness.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrstewart
In college!! Read it again... It is common for someone with schizophrenia to be diagnosed during the college years...it's not like they catch it or something...good grief...
At least you know you are not alone since you are 1 of 20...
It is still rare. It isn't like some major illness.
Most disease are rare! BTW, the only way for diseases to be reported is if teh patient is diagnosed...many with mental health issues are not.
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It is common for someone with schizophrenia to be diagnosed during the college years...it's not like they catch it or something...good grief...
