A shared house

 I live in a house together with other people who struggle with some diagnose. We are nine people here.

This is very different from a hospital, mainly because we are free to get out to the streets whenever we want. And the nursery treat me as an adult, as a ctitizen like any other. In hospitals, from my experience, sometimes nurses even engage in some bullying activities. Such as saying there are people who need to work hard to survive, and as you don´t, you are priveleged, and therefore not entitled to complain about whatever. 

I think the main problem of schizophrenia is pessimism. There´s a spirit that enters our mind, and says there that everything will always go wrong. If you are locked, that´s fertile environment for this spirit to thrive.

But here, I can develop life projects, as for example there´s a theatre play I wrote and perform, and folks here are helping me find a theatre to present it.

Another important difference are the other patients. Part of the suffering of my life was to observe people in very bad shape. That depressed me, such as saying, where have I ended in.

I believe there´s a God in heaven and friendships on earth. Taking the dose of anti psychotics they give you in hospital hinders you from experiencing God,  and the strangeness and lack of tenderness hinders to some extant your friendships.

I think this is a good alternative for me. My mother doesn´t get along with me very well, so she prefers me with some distance, although we talk by phone, and I feel insecure to live alone. 

São Paulo is a very big a complex city. It is not so easy for example to update our docements, such as an  ID  card. To find the places we need to go, may also take some effort. And people here help me with these subjects.

This might be part of the solution for those who are somewhat independent, but unwilling to share the house with their family, whatever the reasons for that.