i get a nut check so that makes me able to diagnose and treat other people's mental health issues. my sister is schizophrenic and fat offa clozeral. i'm trying to wean her off them and benzos via yardwork. she's so damn lazy though!
my brother beat schizophrenia by lifting weights and suboxin. he has a job and an 18 yr old gf. he's doing well.
in my family history, it's schizophrenia, alcoholism, suicide and a higher than average number of homos. you think that's nature's way of dealing w/ overpopulation? who knows?
on a more serious note, Rusty was my boy and he had schizophrenia pretty bad. he was more functioning than a lot of people but he had voices and shit. he really dreaded these shots they gave him. they made it so he couldn't sweat, who knows what other side effects? it's hard to know what's the right thing to do, half my family is dead set on my sister staying on clozeral and benzos the rest of her life because we've seen her worse. but i remember when she was young, even post diagnosis, she was doing better. she'd get jobs, take classes, go to the bar and live an approximation of a normal life. [then go catatonic or smoke in bed and live in filth] so it's between going for it and maybe she gets institutionalized again or attempts suicide vs knowing she's gonna be overweight and lethargic and unfulfilled but still hearing voices and smacking herself.
if she was mentally alright i'd say maybe the side effects are worth it but it's crap. and idk about Rusty either, maybe he only so functioning as he was behind the heavy medications? we're still in the dark ages and i tend to have a skeptical view of psychiatry and big pharma in general but i realize i view things through my prism.