PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA My Label, My Life:
HOW I ESCAPED THE STRAITJACKET OF SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS
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“When I was diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenic it I felt as though a lightning bolt had struck me. It shattered my world. I was put into a mental asylum. I was labeled. I was shunned. My friends fell away. I was walled by a screen of prejudice and fear from the general public. Was this to be a life sentence? Was there a way to escape from the straitjacket of serious mental illness? This is my story, the story of how I learned to survive. Is it success? You be the judge”. I have used the real names of some of those whom I have written about in my book, though others I have disguised to preserve their identity, especially when I have had to criticise their actions or their impact on me. To many who know me, the full disclosure of who I am and the life I have led will come as a shock, not least to my family, however I have written about my life with the sole purpose of trying to encourage others, who have skeletons in their closets and feel guilty about their lives, to accept themselves. There are some things we cannot change. If it had not been for these circumstances, I expect my life would have been very different; however I am proud to be a survivor and come through it all as a confident, self-fulfilled, happy individual, willing to share my story. Others may take from it whatever they want. No longer do I judge others as I once did many years ago. Instead I feel each of us has a story, unique and different, worthy of attention, love and acceptance, whether we agree with what they did or not.
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About the Book
“When I was diagnosed Paranoid Schizophrenic it I felt as though a lightning bolt had struck me. It shattered my world. I was put into a mental asylum. I was labeled. I was shunned. My friends fell away. I was walled by a screen of prejudice and fear from the general public. Was this to be a life sentence? Was there a way to escape from the straitjacket of serious mental illness? This is my story, the story of how I learned to survive. Is it success? You be the judge”.
About the Author
Bruce Venter was born in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1951. Educated in South Africa, he went on to study dentistry at the University of the Witwatersrand. After a year of compulsory military service working for the Medical corps in Simonstown, he entered private practice in South Africa. In the late 1970s at the age of 27 he was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia This is the remarkable story of his life, of how he dealt with the illness and, despite the dire predictions of the psychiatrists who treated him, recovered to become rehabilitated as a fully functioning member of the community. He emigrated from South Africa in 1999 to live in the United Kingdom where he registered as a dentist, pursuing a special interest in orthodontics, until his retirement. He now lives in Eastleigh, Hampshire, where he spends his time writing and studying music.