Stuart – Interview 02

In 1991, after returning to London from Moscow, Stuart experienced extreme worry and paranoia. He moved to the country and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1996. He was both shocked and relieved. A befriender from Rethink helped his recovery and he now maintains a distance from psychiatry.

Stuart grew up in Essex and had family problems. He felt his behavioural problems weren’t recognised by his school and he was just treated as a badly behaved kid rather than someone who was shouting out for help. He describes how from a young age he tried to indicate to his mother that he was depressed, and was told that only selfish people get depressed. Stuart had a bad time at school, had problems with his hearing (which meant missing school) and was asked to leave school at the age of 16. After this, Stuart joined the Marines, which he subsequently left as he found he was able to cope with it physically but not cope with the mental bullying. He then moved to London and tried to find employment, but was sleeping on friends sofas. In the end, this was too difficult, so he moved down to the country to stay with his family, but he continued to have a difficult time with them. What had in his earlier childhood been sadness and depression was turning into anxiety and frustration when he thought about the preferential treatment of his twin.

During a trip to Moscow in 1991 he took part in anti-communist demonstrations and received a phone call in the middle of the night in which a man was being threatening/abusive towards him. After returning to London, he began to suspect he was being followed after a couple took a picture of him in a phone box. He eventually saw a GP in London after what he describes as a psychotic attack experienced in his bedroom, when he foamed at the mouth and for some seconds was in darkness and away from reality. After a period of intense worry and paranoia, he moved to Devon to escape the KGB, feeling that everyone was against him or part of the KGB. He also describes his feelings of paranoia about Russia at the time as something in line with the public paranoia during the Cold War. When Stuart moved away from London to Exmoor, he started to have a lot of strange experiences and wasn’t sure if they were psychotic or psychic experiences. In 1996 he moved from Devon to Dorset and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia by his GP. His psychiatric nurse described it as one of the worst cases of undiagnosed schizophrenia he had ever seen. Stuart reacted to his diagnosis with relief and confusion’ relief that someone had given a name to his experiences, and confusion that he was told what he had experienced were paranoia and delusions. He felt as if people in psychiatry were very pessimistic about his chance of recovery, or about his ability to go back to work. He also felt pressurised by the Mental Health Act to comply with their opinion. A few times he has been asked to go into hospital on a voluntary basis, but he has refused because he thought it an unpleasant place to be and not helpful to his well-being. He describes being prescribed Risperidone and having a bad reaction to it as it seemed like a mental strait jacket’. He experienced significant weight gain, and his GP encouraged his psychiatrist to change this prescription. In the late 1990s he met a befriender from Rethink who aided his recovery considerably, and assisted him to have a more positive view of himself than the one psychiatry had of him. In 2001 he was put on Seroquel which he preferred. In 2004 he felt that he needed to distance himself from psychiatry as he had moved on and progressed whereas they had not. Currently he feels that there is a great deal about schizophrenia that is poorly understood, and has an interest in furthering his understanding of psychic activity, having a history of psychics in his family. Currently Stuart does campaigning work about reducing the stigma of schizophrenia, and feels that schizophrenia is part of him, not the whole.

Nowadays Stuart has recovered from his condition and does all he can to promote a positive image of schizophrenia and to help inspire others on their own journey of recovery.

He climbs in the Himalayas and is now noted for his photography. Stuart often appears in the media and has sat on select panels at both national and international level as a spokesperson for those diagnosed with severe mental illness.

Stuart missed school due to an operation and fell behind; he started to feel stupid and depressed…

Age at interview 45

Gender Male

Age at diagnosis 31

Stuart thinks its wrong of psychiatry to assume that anything outside the box is potential…

Age at interview 45

Gender Male

Age at diagnosis 31

Stuart found that accepting his medication and diagnosis was key to his recovery, but that he…

Age at interview 45

Gender Male

Age at diagnosis 31

Stuart describes the shock he felt when he was first diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Age at interview 45

Gender Male

Age at diagnosis 31

Stuart talks about going on an anti-communist march in Russia, receiving a threatening phone call…

Age at interview 45

Gender Male

Age at diagnosis 31