Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Whitaker and many of the reviewers here have a lot to say about schizophrenics and their medical treatment. Since I actually have schizoaffective disorder (a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) myself, I'd like to say a few words. This subject is somewhat interesting to a lot of people in theory, but it's my life. I became ill in my early 20s and was beset by mania, depression, and psychosis. The mania and depression were a walk in the park on a sunny day compared to the psychosis. I heard loud, terrifying voices which threatened to kill me and worse. The voices sounded absolutely real and were impossible to ignore. I was completely disabled by them. I was a smart young woman with a good education, but I could barely leave my house, let alone work. I could not even have a meaningful conversation with my friends or family because the voices were too loud. My parents became my caretakers and my friends disappeared completely. This went on for years as I tried different antipsychotics. They worked to a degree but the voices did not go away. They certainly did not get better on their own--despite my family's love, kindness and support. Their are no words to describe how hellish and worthless my life felt. Geodon, the antipsychotic I had settled on, began to give me symptoms of dyskinesia and my doctor insisted that I stop taking it right away and start taking a new drug: Seroquel. Within weeks of starting the Seroquel, the voices dropped off and all but disappeared. They are very few and far between now and they no longer sound real. It took me a while to get used to living without my constant fear of the voices. I adjusted slowly and with cautious optimism--what if this didn't last? It lasted. Several years have passed and the Seroquel is still working. All drugs have possible side effects (Seroquel can cause dangerously high blood sugar which can lead to diabetes) so I have a battery of blood tests done every year. I am in fine shape physically and mentally. I am certainly not "subdued" or "chemically lobotomized." I am happier and more productive than I have ever been before in my life. The pharmaceutical industry, which Whitaker and so many reviewers here disdain, restored my sanity and saved my life. I am no longer afraid to leave my house and I have a good job. I have a great relationship with my family and I can talk to anyone at anytime without being interrupted by voices. I have friends and a social life again. This may not sound exceptional to a normal person, but it means the world to me. None of this would be possible without the drugs I take. I take them happily and with more gratitude than Whitaker and his acolytes will ever know or understand. I realize that my experience is not everyone's. Like normal people, all schizophrenics are different and we respond differently to different drugs and therapies. Whitaker would have you believe that all psychiatric drugs are completely useless and even detrimental to people like me, though, and that is simply not the truth--not my truth, anyway. edit: I should have mentioned that I work in NYC. The streets are full of unmedicated schizophrenics. Some of them beg for money but others are too out of it to do even that--they are completely absorbed in the fights they're having with their voices. I'd like to bring Whitaker along with me to see them--would he really claim they're better off than I am? Happier? Healthier? I give them money and protein bars (I want to make them feel better if only temporarily and I don't know what else to do) but most people just hurry away from them in fear and disgust. I would never, ever want to trade places with them and neither would Whitaker or anyone else.