AFTER WINTER : A Real Life Schizophrenia Treatment Story

[Music] there is a science behind everything we grew up learning how to rationalize and reason our minds allow us to imagine create form connections and solve problems [Music] but what if suddenly your thoughts became irrational what if you were lost but inside your own head as a survivor of mental illness I'm living proof that there's life with schizophrenia [Music] my name is Quinton and I'm 23 I live in Halifax Nova Scotia I was born here but my parents are from France Kuantan was you know an amazing baby you know it's probably is just delivery it was you know regular baby very happy healthy Malafaia was a very curious child loves playing with LEGOs and building and drawing I was always playing different sports but I think the ones where I stuck with till now is soccer I was I was like an outdoors kid so that's me trying to do a backflip it didn't end so well he actually presented a couple of science fair projects and then he was selected to go to the national level so he went to Ottawa I was in Grenada at the time yeah won a bronze medal in science and mathematics and then an award in astronomy I liked math field I liked to problem-solve and I think having a set of conditions been trying to find a solution to those conditions is pretty cool my grade 11 everything was on track I had really good grades and I had great friends my dad decided to take a sabbatical for seven months so our family was living in Mexico we were having a great time I was learning about the culture history and the land [Music] I was enrolled in a high school there in learning Spanish I was also doing courses from Canada I was in an International Baccalaureate program for classes count towards university credits really a higher level than just really low high school so that's that's actually put pressure on any kid you know who does that for Ghana I think what really pushed it over the edges that I was actually doing to high school programs at the same time when in Mexico you went back in Halifax I could feel a bit of the tension building building Anna and it was kind of stuck in he had to do it otherwise he had to repeat grade 11 I had this big essay that was on my plate and I wasn't moving along it was really struggling with it and I think I just cracked I just couldn't take the stress anymore and that's probably where the psychotic episode came from it was a very gradual at first I noticed very small changes in my environment so for example I would see a red car outside just going down the street and then for some reason I would seem like a red flower now I would try to connect the dots I thought that seeing the color red twice represented red blood that meant someone in my family was going to die over the course of several weeks they really got worse and symptoms developed such as delusion paranoia even auditory hallucinations a lot of people would describe it as a really bad trip I haven't had a trip of three drugs I can't compare it with that but it's probably worse than any tripping and out of the drugs we think are there you think that the place is out to get you all these thoughts are very scary and you don't make a lot of sense to other people around you but for me they made sense my parents did the most they could for me but at the same time they had no idea what was going on kontin was making less unless sons it was a different person he was completely Restless he was up and down up and down he couldn't stay still on a chair he must have been what sixteen or seventeen there is also the possibility that maybe this is just a phase a sort of a teenage phase I was completely living inside my own head I was walking down a beach and my father was walking and I thought I had to walk in his footsteps in order to avoid the Sun I thought the Sun was going to burn my father so I wanted to walk in his footsteps to protect him the number one feeling I went through during my psychotic episode was fear the diving trip was what caused my parents to realize I needed help my mother was my diving partner this photo was the last photo taken before I had a complete breakdown I remember being on their water and seeing all these fish and the way they move it was very hypnotic I wanted to touch them as I thought you never get some kind of superpower from this is probably the most vivid part of my memories is that I went straight to serve it's just something you shouldn't do when you're diving Olaf Adani he went up and you don't do that like hewn you need to tell everybody there's something wrong and you want to terminate the dive and go up I got in the ship and I was I wasn't talking to anyone I was just in my own world compass silence on the boat didn't talk to me I tried to engage him he was looking up looking down Cooper see no Quentin I don't know where content was you know I kind of started to cry you don't know if you've lost him far enough so when this happened we went back in in town in La Paz and I managed to get an appointment with the Secretary's pretty quickly when I saw this like diet rest they very quickly realized I was having a psychotic episode they gave me medication immediately they told my parents that it would take time to start working we had to keep an eye on him we had to keep the window closed because we were living on a third of the first flow and the doctor said be careful no don't let him approach any window in this state's images walk out and jump because I'm not necessary because you would want to commit suicide or anything but because maybe you think that he can fly ray disoriented very paranoid very delusional and I I could have done something really bad you I was on medication in Mexico I received my diagnosis of schizophrenia in Canada Quintin is a is a patient of the Nova Scotia early psychosis program early intervention in psychosis and schizophrenia is very important not only just to get control of the symptoms but really trying to maximize those long-term outcomes and so that you can allow that person to go through that very significant developmental time period with as minimal disruption as possible it's unknown if schizophrenia is something that you're born with or if something that happens later no one knows [Music] because our friend II was constantly on my mind I was a real safe instability I didn't really know if the symptoms would come back I think understanding that schizophrenia is now with me for the rest of my life was difficult to process when I'm in back-to-school I'm grade 12 I had a relapse I was on pills and I would have to take them every day so I actually had missed my medication dosed for four or five days because I didn't get my refill on time I was like oh no symptoms are returning he's gonna control it it restarted I was walking down the hallway and I wasn't very fair that's shivering all over and you I needed to get over there and just kind of be by myself laughter the relapse the brief relapse I that's when the Depression started I just wanted to lie my bed giving my covers and just shut off the world I thought sleeping was the best thing ever nothing else appealed to me [Music] three things that were crucial in my recovery were medication family and friends support and having a good medical team how are you I'm good how are you okay the goal when you treat someone with schizophrenia is one for recovery and two to prevent relapse and in that first year things can happen especially when you're a young Kirsten who's had such an interruption to their life so how are you doing overall with with the medication pretty good Bart feeling a little fatigued I've been feeling it but it's been really good okay I think taking a medication orally every day does really doesn't give you that reminder that you that you have an illness that you're taking medication for so acquittance it's been switched to the injection has been doing really well as a physician I don't have to worry about that compliance issue because I know that person who's taking the infrequent injection is gonna be covered for that whole period of time it gives me a sense of safety for that person because there's probably less chance of relapse [Music] this one I'm going to put them in there so can I plan one right here to to Dale okay one here and one over now my parents never gave up on me they continued to support me and encourage me I kept taking my medication over time coming to accept what I had gone through and learning to live with the condition was the acceptance was quite key I graduated with honors and went to prom there was a lot of hard work but I was determined not to let schizophrenia hold me back [Music] I applied to University and got into da house II University has opened so many doors for me I'm currently doing concurrent degree at Dalhousie University in science and engineering this is a research internship that I'm doing over the summer it's just a great experience to work in a lab and they get a leg up in the research process how to make a difference in the world through helping the planet renewal energy and sustainable living has always has always been very important for my family and I won't work in the green buildings tree making buildings more energy efficient is getting more confident about himself and about what he wants to do in life most of my close friends know and they knew me before and after and they have they've seen the transformation six years ago I would probably start home my bed it feels really good to be out playing soccer with my friends like and getting exercise exercise is probably pretty important in recovery as well it's always been a goal of my life to keep active I'm very fortunate to have friends I have and for them to be able to see beyond my schizophrenia and see me as a person not as a person with mental illness everyone should have friends like that a lot of beans ready get something you feed an entire tribe with this Wow behind the bus most of it some people experience schizophrenia and they never get over it but I was able to get over it with a lot of help and very thankful for that well I said but officials are seeing Quintin goes through it was really hard but seeing him coming a little bit the way he is that's powerful [Music] I'm not afraid of schizophrenia anymore [Music] I've been able to live through it and it can get better a living proof that there's life with schizophrenia [Music] you

Channel: Real LIFE STORIES

Views: 853,603

Rating: 4.8599849 out of 5

Keywords: schizophrenia, mental health, mental illness, schizo, psychotic episode, mental problems, depression, anxiety, delusions, audio delusions, delusional, psychosis, psychotic, hallucinations, schizophrenia relapse, schizophrenia treatment, real life stories

Id: ZNDBInn5neE

Length: 15min 2sec (902 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 31 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Irishkatie]

I felt like people where out to get me and fear was not so much there. Its good that he shared his story I have good friends and family and my mental health team are one of the best where I am from so. Its good to keep exercising for the mind and body and I never forget or have no tablets.

[u/[deleted]]

Yeah the main feeling I felt with psychosis was fear as well. Its good he was able to bounce back.