I have heard voices since being a small child. In the half light the cartoon Character’s used to talk to me on my wallpaper, comforting me and reassuring me that I was not alone. Despite this I passed my exams at school and went on to train at Brockhall hospital as a nurse for mentally handicapped people. It is now un-politically correct to say ‘mentally handicapped’; you have to say “learning difficulties”

As many people receive a duel diagnosis much of the training was about mental health. We were taught from more of a Freudian angle, than from the medication model. Although I have had to let my nurse registration lapse due to enforced treatment and being unable to for fill my re-registration requirements the fact still remains I still trained as a professional and have every right as such to have an opinion on the causes of schizophrenia. As a diagnosed schizophrenic I have even more rights to discuss what helps and challenge the psychiatric department’s perceptions of the condition. I feel I have managed my condition fairly successfully all my life.