MAXIMUM EFFORT.

“Aren’t schizophrenic people dangerous-” No. Violence towards other people isn’t a symptom of schizophrenia, nor is it common in schizophrenic people. That’s not to say that no one with schizophrenia has ever been violent because of their psychosis, but it isn’t a symptom of or in the diagnostic criteria for the illness, and schizophrenic people in general are no more likely to be violent than anyone else.

“Isn’t that when you have multiple personalities-” No. Schizophrenia isn’t about having multiple personalities - that’s called Dissociative Identity Disorder and is a completely different mental illness. Schizophrenic people might hear one or more voices in their heads and may feel like their actions or thoughts are being controlled by other people/outside forces, but this isn’t the same as having several personalities as it’s always the schizophrenic persons own personality which reacts to these distressing experiences.

“Isn’t schizophrenia when you’re psychotic like when you hear voices and stuff-” Yes, but schizophrenia isn’t “just” about experiencing psychosis (hallucinations, disorganized thinking/speech/behavior and delusions), it also consists of what’s called negative symptoms (lack of energy, lack of motivation, social isolation, lacking or inappropriate emotional responses, lack of ability to feel pleasure) and cognitive symptoms (impaired memory, impaired concentration, learning difficulties, executive dysfunction and impaired working memory). Schizophrenia is a complex mental illness and psychosis is only 1/3 of what schizophrenic people struggle with.

“You can’t recover from schizophrenia, right-” Not true. 25% of the people diagnosed with schizophrenia are symptom free within 5-10 years of being diagnosed with the illness and up to 80% improve with ongoing treatment and support. Schizophrenia isn’t necessarily a life sentence, and while you can’t EXPECT to recover from schizophrenia and while there’s no known cure, recovery is possible for many people with the right treatment.

“Shouldn’t schizophrenic people be locked up-” No. Schizophrenic people are people just like everyone else, and we have the right to the same human rights and the same freedom as other people. We might need to be hospitalized for our own safety sometimes, but we have as much of a right to be a part of and interact with society as everyone else.

“Real schizophrenic people don’t know they’re sick, right-” Some don’t, but at least 45% of schizophrenics are aware that they’re suffering from schizophrenia, so a person being aware that they’re schizophrenic and having insight into their illness/knowing that what they’re experiencing isn’t real or normal isn’t a sign that they aren’t really sick.

“What if schizophrenic people just have special powers-” I’m not going to deny you your right to your spiritual beliefs, but I’m going to insist that you don’t force them onto me or any other schizophrenic person. Just like I’m not gonna show up at a Christians door saying that God isn’t real just because I’m an atheist, you don’t get to tell a schizophrenic person that they can see into other dimensions or talk to spirits. You risk triggering or worsening our illness by sharing your spiritual or religious speculations, so don’t bring them up. Ever.

New alignment chart:

episode six - a murder of gods.

❝ you saved me. thank you. ❞

❝ you already know my name. ❞

❝ what are they ? ❞

❝ oh motherfucker, you never just answer a fucking question ! ❞

❝ that’s not a question, ___ , a question would be: what do you believe you saw ? ❞

❝ i don’t know what i believe. ❞

❝ it was a warning to me, and a sacrifice to them. ❞

❝ sacrifice ? like –– like what, for –– for a god ? ❞

❝ what’s a god ? can we even know they exist ? people believe things, which means they’re real. that means we know they exist. so what came first ? gods ? or the people who believed in them ? ❞

❝ where was all this before i met you ? ❞

❝ there’s always a window. but people are frightened to look through it. it’s safer in the prison cell. ❞

❝ we’re not safe now. ❞

❝ who are you ? ❞

❝ i believe in some things. ❞

❝ your wife obviously has a temper. not used to getting her way, huh ? ❞

❝ your dearly departed has departed and i suggest we should do the same. ❞

❝ was she a ghost ? i mean, do you think you saw a ghost ? ❞

❝ you know, you’re not questioning any of this. i’m questioning everything right now. ❞

❝ i’m not so young nor so narrow to assume the dead are dead, and there’s no spectrum or spectral in between. in my experience, the dead that aren’t rarely come back without purpose. ❞

❝ her purpose was to let you go, now get in. ❞

❝ now you’ve seen who’s after us, and you know what they’re capable of. you can hang around here if you want, but i’m getting out of here. ❞

❝ fuck ! where the fuck is my car ! ❞

❝ yes, it does belong to the dead woman, i am the dead woman. where’s my fucking car ? ❞

❝ first piece of luck i’ve had in days. ❞

❝ worse things out tonight than you. ❞

❝ isn’t she lovely ? ❞

❝ i’ve done the math. this times that equals you’re a cunt, divided by the only way i’m gonna get what i need is if you give it to me equals the only way you’re gonna give it to me is if you don’t need it. ❞

❝ like my friend jesus christ, the only thing you need, ___ , is resurrection. ❞

❝ did you just name drop jesus christ like you know a guy who knows a guy ? ❞

❝ i can be very convincing. ❞

❝ is this you being convincing now ? because you suck at it. ❞

❝ i’m trying to convince you to live. real living. not whatever rot living this is. ❞

❝ why don’t you put that on your fucking scales and weigh it ? ❞

❝ what the fuck are you ? i mean, what the fuck are any of you, but first, tell me, what the fuck are you ? seriously, what the fuck are you ?! ❞

❝ please stop stealing my cab. ❞

❝ i have been traveling in the direction of mecca for days, looking for a jinn. ❞

❝ i’ll tell you where to find a whole murder of gods, demi and otherwise. every god damned one of them. ❞

❝ i know a charm that can lift grief from a grieving heart. ❞

❝ do you know a charm that can stop bleeding ? ❞

❝ i know a charm that can cure sickness and pain and a charm that can turn away the weapons of enemies. i know a charm that can heal with a touch. ❞

❝ excuse the cold hands. ❞

❝ there’s always been a god shaped hole in man’s head. trees were the first to fill it. ❞

❝ mr. wood was the trees, mr. wood was the forest. see, he was a very old god who saw something very new. he saw a god fearing society turn towards complete industrialization. so what did he do ? he sacrificed his trees, he sacrificed his forest, and he became something else. ❞

❝ well, at this stage it’s ‘we’ll see’, or, ‘time will tell’, but if it’ll rest your weary head, then yeah, it’s gone. ❞

❝ religion inspires in those who fear nothing, fear of the gods, and using that fear requires a certain element of fucked up. ❞

❝ i’m not scared of anything anymore. ❞

❝ i’m scared you’re never gonna shut that flapping hole of yours. i’m sitting here having a fucking anxiety attack because i am genuinely terrified that you are never gonna shut the fuck up. ❞

❝ did you kill ___ ? i won’t tell. ❞

❝ my name is ___. or … it was ___. i do not know what my name is now. ❞

❝ i just realized that i’m never gonna see my mother again. i’m never gonna hear her say my name again. i’m never gonna eat her cooking again. ❞

❝ are you dead ? ❞

❝ this is my afterlife, ___. ❞

❝ did you pray for another life ? ❞

❝ i do not pray to ask god for things. i pray to thank god, for bringing me where i am. to this time, to this place, where i finally know what i must do in this life. ❞

❝ i pray i find ___. he is my afterlife. i knew him. we knew each other. and now i wish to know more. ❞

❝ people will defend the warm safe feeling their america gives them. they will defend it with bullets. ❞

❝ less a funeral than a celebration of a sacrifice. ❞

❝ if i know my friend, somebody got tossed into the volcano. ❞

❝ this was a human sacrifice ? ❞ 

❝ that’s him. head of the crowd. the one they flock to. ❞

❝ please, go in peace. ❞

❝ what rock did you crawl out from under ? ❞

❝ playing a little hide and seek. hiding from the proverbial them, and seeking … you. ❞

❝ i need you to believe in me. ❞

❝ i’ve heard your name on the wind. ❞

❝ we’re at war already, and we’re losing. you, me, all of us. they’re taking honey from our mouths. ❞

❝ i have no use for shame. ❞

❝ it’s easier to pass for the living in the dark, if i felt the need to pass. ❞

❝ your heart’s not beating for this life anymore, ___. this life is done. ❞

❝ that doesn’t obligate him to feel shit. ❞

❝ perhaps i misjudged the kiss. ❞

❝ death do us part, take the fucking hint. he’s gone. your man came, saw you, tasted death on your tongue, and he fucking left. ❞

❝ your kind of love, ___, is the worst kind of love of them all. you can love somebody even when you know they don’t like it. even when you know they don’t want it. ❞

❝ that’s some profound fucking knowledge for you right there, wrapped up in a quaint sexual metaphor. ❞

❝ people do tend to behave if they know they’re being watched. they like being watched. ❞

❝ somebody’s watching. somebody’s always watching. ❞

❝ what did you do to become the god of this little universe that you’ve created ? ❞

❝ you’re no stranger to sacrifice. ❞

❝ they don’t sacrifice anymore. not to me. ❞

❝ you could always sacrifice yourself. you’ve done it before. ❞

❝ you ever see a man hanged, ___ ? throat crushed, gasping for life. it’s a terrible way to find your faith. faith doesn’t have to leave the faithful dangling. ❞

❝ you are what you worship. ❞

❝ the power of fire is firepower. ❞

❝ not god, but godlike. and they believe. ❞

❝ god bless the believers. ❞

❝ i’ll make you a blade worthy of a god. ❞

❝ i know who he is, and who he’s always been. i can depend on that. ❞

❝ you’re not here at the moment. you’re distracted. i wonder why. ❞

❝ she’s out in the cold, but … she doesn’t feel it anymore. or maybe … maybe it’s all she feels, now. ❞

❝ they make blood sacrifices to you. ❞

❝ you could use a blood sacrifice. ❞

❝ you sold us out. ❞

❝ you saw what i was. i was a story people forgot to remember to tell. and they gave me a gun. they put power back in my hands. and i gotta tell you; it feels good. ❞

❝ i never needed my religion to be moral. ❞

❝ moralizing religions are materialistic ones. they all need their martyrs. ❞

❝ i’m laying down a curse. i’m cursing the whole fucking thing. ❞

❝ god is great. ❞