INTRODUCTION

Author’s Note: Schizophrenia, a mental disorder, plays a very important role in this story. I did very intense research before I began writing this novel and I think all of my facts are correct. However, if there is something you see that is incorrect, please let me know. I will research it and correct it. Please also be aware that I do not mean to offend people with or make jokes about this debilitating disorder. Again, if you notice something that would offend someone with schizophrenia, please let me know and I will fix it. Thank you.

Here’s a crash course in the facts of schizophrenia to help you understand my book better:

Schizophrenia has no known genetic cause, but it can develop without warning around the ages 18-35. Stress can easily bring about a schizophrenic episode. 1 in 100 people will develop schizophrenia in their lifetime. Some symptoms of schizophrenia include: hallucinations, delusions (of grandeur, jealousy, or paranoia), disorganized thought or speech, paranoia, depression, suicidal thoughts, and social withdrawal. The hallucinations and delusions appear 100 real to the schizophrenic and the “disorganized” thoughts they may have make complete sense to them. A schizophrenic can have any or all of these symptoms. A common hallucination is hearing voices that no one else can hear or seeing and interacting with people that don’t exist. However, don’t confuse this with dissociative identity disorder (split-personality disorder). DID is when the patient takes on another personality (ex: One day, they may be friendly and outgoing, and the next day be grumpy and withdrawn, for no reason. If this is persistent, and more extreme than this example, the patient may be diagnosed with DID.) However, schizophrenics may imagine a person, that exists totally outside of themselves, has a completely different personality, and lives hours away. Treatments for this disorder may include hospitalization, therapy, and antipsychotic medication. With medication, it still may take weeks or months for the delusions to fade.

I hope this helped, and again, let me know if anything is incorrect. Thank you.

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I’ll post the first chapter soon!