family

Story topics: family, paranoia, self

The film was incredible!  It put into words and images what it really feels like to have paranoia.  People, including my family and supervisor, don't really understand what it's like to have thoughts that aren't rational and are so hard to control.  

I love the scene where John is standing in his studio saying over and over, “it's not true."  That is so real to life for so many of us.

I would be homeless or, probably, dead without my family.  I know how much a family can contribute to recovery.  Your entire family is to be commended.  I can’t tell you how grateful I am to John -  his courage, especially, is astounding.  Not to mention his determination.

- peer-counselor & client in Dallas
Story topics: brother, closer, family, schizophrenia

On Monday night I was lucky enough to view People Say I’m Crazy and I want to thank you for making the film.   I am 34 years old and have an older brother who was diagnosed as schizophrenic over 10 years ago.  As with John he has good days and bad days and as with John his illness has brought our family closer together.  We are at a point where he has found some better medication and things are far better than they once were. Hopefully my brother's darkest days are behind him.

I cannot imagine the courage it took for John to push ahead w/ this film but it has really helped me out.  It reminded me of my own family and I saw many parallels between John and my brother’s lives.  It brought back memories of the fear, pain and confusion that I felt as I watched my brother first face his disease.  The film also reminded me of how far he's come and how much more he has to live for, and to be mindful of the difficulties he continues to face.  I catch myself losing patience w/ him at times as he may write down word for word some piece of advice I have given him on how to handle a situation but then I saw the same behavior from John in the film.

One of the best things was that it just felt good to see that my family is not alone. Thank-you for that.

- a brother in Vancouver