Hello Everyone

Hello everybody, my name is Will. I have a few goals in this blog. I want to help lift the stigma of mental illness from society, and I want to provide help for those struggling. I want my first post to be a sort of introduction to myself and the illness, so here goes. I was 17 when I was first diagnosed with Schizophrenia, and later that was changed to Schizoaffective. They are both Schizophrenic disorders but with a couple variations. Schizophrenia is marked by disorganized thoughts, hallucinations of all five senses, and delusions or paranoia. That is a generalization though, as many sufferers only have to cope with a couple of those issues. I won't get into all of the details now, but Schizoaffective is practically Schizophrenia combined with Bipolar disorder. Could you imagine, for a second, looking at the world through warped glasses... an LSD trip gone bad, but it lasts right on and on. That's the best way I know to describe it. I was a troubled child, despite growing up in a loving home, with two, happily married parents. I constantly was looking for an escape. Reality was too hard. The older I got, the more I found out that my reality was not that of my family and friends. It was too difficult because I thought it was normal, when it clearly was not. I only realized this after many conversations with my cousins about my thought process. I joined the Army at 18 and was discharged after three short months for a past seizure disorder and "possible Bipolar with psychotic symptoms". As time went on, I chose to see a therapist, who after a few sessions, recommended me to the Mental Health Department. I felt destroyed... was I a freak? What was going on in my body? It was a strange time for me, but I'll save that story for next time. Thanks for reading and God bless you.
-Will