12 Schizophrenia Quotes From People With the Disorder

Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder that can affect a person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. While symptoms may vary in type and severity, they often include delusions and auditory hallucinations.

But insights from these artistic and intelligent people with schizophrenia can help others understand the human side of living with the condition.

12 Quotes on Living With Schizophrenia

“Schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood diseases on earth. It is a physical brain disease, like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and stroke, but more treatable.”

— Bethany Yeiser

Bethany Yeiser, who lives with schizophrenia, is the president of the Comprehensive Understanding via Research and Education Into Schizophrenia Foundation, which she founded in 2016 with her psychiatrist, Henry Nasrallah, MD. Yeiser is also a motivational speaker and the author of the memoir Mind Estranged: My Journey From Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery.

“It’s not your fault. … And to the parents also, it’s not your fault. It’s just the luck of the genetic draw.”

— Daniel Laitman

Daniel Laitman, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 15, is a cofounder of Team Daniel: Running for Recovery From Mental Illness, a foundation he started with his family in 2011. Team Daniel is an advocacy organization that supports and brings together people with mental health conditions and their families.

“I think that I’m a better problem-solver because of my schizophrenia. When you have to question reality every single day, I think that makes you change how you view the world.”

— Cecilia McGough

Cecilia McGough, who lives with schizophrenia and autism, is the founder and director of the advocacy organization Students With Psychosis, which aims to support and provide resources for students with psychosis.

“The best thing that people around you can do is to listen. Remember, a person with schizophrenia is trying to process the things that are happening. You may not be able to see or hear the voices or things that are happening in that person’s brain.”

— Mindy Tsai, Becoming Whole

Mindy Tsai, who lives with schizophrenia, is a business development lead for a global consulting firm headquartered in Evanston, Illinois. Tsai is the author of two memoirs: Becoming Whole and I’m With Me.

“I hid my illness for many, many years. I hid my illness because of the stigma and misunderstanding out there.”

— Andrew Dugmore

Andrew Dugmore, who lives with schizophrenia, is an educator, a national trainer for Mental Health First Aid in Wales, and the founder of Reconnect in Nature, a walking group for people experiencing mental health issues.

“I didn't consider myself a drifter; I was just a victim of schizophrenia. I had gone 10 years without getting any kind of treatment. Once I accepted and cooperated with the treatment, I started to beat the illness.”

— Lionel Aldridge

Lionel Aldridge, who lived with paranoid schizophrenia, was a football player for the Green Bay Packers and an announcer for Packers radio and NBC. Aldridge died of natural causes in 1998.

“Whenever I’ve been told to stop — by someone who thought they had power over me, by something that happened around me, by the voices I heard in my own head — I kept going.”

— Brian Wilson, I Am Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson, who lives with depression and schizoaffective disorder (a condition closely related to schizophrenia), is a singer, songwriter, composer, and original member of the Beach Boys. He coauthored the memoir I Am Brian Wilson about his childhood, musical career, and struggles with mental health.

“I learned a saying in the hospital. When you get cancer, people bring you cake. When you get a mental illness, people run away. But that’s not my experience at all. My friends and family all supported me. It’s not all bad.”

— Mindy Tsai, Becoming Whole

“My accomplishment is that people are hearing what can be done. People can and do recover from mental illness.”

— Lionel Aldridge

"If you are a person with mental illness, the challenge is to find the life that's right for you. … My good fortune is not that I've recovered from mental illness. I have not, nor will I ever. My good fortune lies in having found my life."

— Elyn R. Saks, The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness

Elyn R. Saks, PhD, who lives with schizophrenia, is the Orrin B. Evans Distinguished Professor of Law, and a professor of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law and the director of USC’s Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy, and Ethics. She authored the memoir The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness about her struggles with schizophrenia.

“Perhaps we are the real experts in schizophrenia. Ask us. Involve us. Acknowledge us. We can offer hope to others who are trapped in the snares of this illness. We can show a light on the path toward recovery.”

— Andrew Dugmore

“Yes, my schizophrenia is a life condition, but I do not see my schizophrenia as a life sentence.”

— Bethany Yeiser

The Takeaway

• Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder that can affect a person’s thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• The symptoms can vary but they often include delusions and auditory hallucinations.
• People including musicians, athletes and business leaders with schizophrenia have shared their experiences in hopes of lessening the stigma of the condition.

Additional reporting by Christina Vogt.