Welcome to my home page here in Guelph Ontario Canada. I have
schizophrenia and have been on medication now since 1990, the length
of time I have lived in Guelph. I'm 54 and I have had some form of schizophrenia for about the last 36 years.
That includes about 8 years of prodromal symptoms, 12 years of untreated psychosis, and 19 years of treatment with antipsychotics.
Between 1980 and 1990, I was experiencing a very disabling poor health from dioxin poisoning, severe trauma from torture, and considerable
psychosis. I lived in abject, solitary poverty. I eventually got in trouble with
the law in 1988 and received three years probation with the condition that I
see a psychiatrist for those three years. I've been to jail, been actively
alcoholic, attempted suicide, and was homeless for six months in 1980.
My story illustrates
an interplay of biology and sociology that can make schizophrenia and trauma very
devastating conditions. There are the real life experiences, and the way we, as
a society, treat people who have those experiences.
There is good cause for optimism for psychosis and schizophenia though. The atypical medications
are more effective with fewer side effects. There is
growing recognition of the value of early intervention and
relapse prevention. The public is developing a much greater interest in schizophrenia and positive movies like "A Beautiful Mind", have been quite popular.
These three trends promise a far
less destructive psychosis experience then what I had to suffer. Psychosis is a serious health event. You should only have one episode in your life. The causes though are still basically unknown and the causes of my experiences appear to be very atypical. I experienced a tremendous amount of essentially torture from dioxin poisoning and Tibetan Buddhism between 1980 and 1990.
The charts for schizophrenia are mostly from dinner presentations and conferences I have attended
between 1995 and 2002. I have permission to use them here.
The information here is updated from time to time, but I don't have the access to the latest research that I used to. I have become more interested learning about trauma and recovery from torture of late because of unfamiliarity with that aspect of my experiences. The page on medications for psychosis is limited only to what is available in Canada, which hasn't changed in quite a few years.
I am indebted to various psychiatrists who, for the most part, took the time to
answer my questions about schizophrenia. I also have the benefit of my experiences, both on and off medication.
I was forced to close the guestbook by the number of people trying to advertise commercial web sites and keep only a small part of it up so readers can see how schizophrenia can have a major impact on people's lives. The earlier years included email addresses which caused a lot of problems for everyone who signed the guestbook.
You can still contact me by email, (ichovil at sympatico.ca). This site is now
www.chovil.com if you haven't updated your bookmarks.
You can access the charts by the regular link or if your javascript is enabled, charts and graphs
pop up by a click on the link following the symbol.
The opinions I am sharing on my website are only my personal
opinions and are not professional per se. These are my experiences and what I have been able to learn about them on my own.
Understand that they are also ongoing experiences that will continue for the duration of my life. Feel free to use any material you find useful on this site. Check out the links page for other
resources if you need other references which I check once a year. I hope you find this site useful.
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