Mental illness is an illness , not an excuse for irresponsibility .

I did my graduate research paper on the biochemistry of schizophrenia . Intellectually , I believe that most serious mental illness has a biological component and that the visible results are partly a personality reaction to a body that can’t be trusted .

But you must decide whether you are going to pursue reality and health or to retreat into your fantasies . You have the right to retreat , but do it all the way and take up residency at the state hospital . You will be well cared for there . If you decide for reality , you will have a long fight ahead , but I can assure you that reality is worth the fight . When you make up your mind , let me know .

Psychological and spiritual components are as important or more important for you . Thoughts and feelings can change neurochemistry , just as chemistry can change feeling and behavior .

A phenomenon that might seem only backwards or silly when expressed at a social level becomes madness at the individual level.

Mental illness turns people inwards. That's what I reckon. It keeps up forever trapped by the pain of our own minds, in the same way that the pain of a broken leg or a cut thumb will grab your attention, holding it so tightly that your good leg or your good thumb seem to cease to exist.