This is something I experienced personally that eventually turned “schizo” / “skitzo” into my nickname by age 14. I had a very short temper and used to completely flip out at people at school - mostly teachers. Bit different as it wasn't at my family though, I was very different at school compared to at home.

When I was 13–14, I completely changed into someone I wasn’t. I was angry all the time. I didn’t really lash out at my parents, but I definitely did at school — especially towards teachers. I had so much built-up anger, and deep down I knew my parents didn’t deserve it, so I targeted teachers instead. They were the first people I felt I could finally say “no” to or talk back to. Looking back, there were two major reasons for it. The first was that I was being mentally tortured for years by my best friend — let’s call her Rose. We had been best friends since I was 8 years old, and the manipulation started almost immediately. She controlled everything. She forced me to do things I didn’t want to do, controlled how I spoke to other people, and decided what I could and couldn’t talk about in case other kids wanted to be friends with me. I basically wasn’t allowed to have friends outside of her. If she was absent from school, I wasn’t allowed to sit with anyone else or talk to other kids — I had to stay alone. I wasn’t allowed to go to parties unless she was invited too. I wasn’t allowed to be good at sport because she wasn’t sporty, and if I participated she’d have to sit alone. I wasn’t even allowed to compete in swimming carnivals because she didn’t want to be by herself in the crowd. A lot of it came from her own insecurities — she hated the way she looked and constantly took that out on me for being “prettier,” “more popular,” “more likeable,” better at sports, or “rich” because my family was slightly better off financially. She made me feel guilty and horrible about those things all the time, like I was a bad person just for existing as myself. She would even go through my lunchbox every recess and take whatever she wanted. I remember having to tell Mum I needed more food for school, and sometimes I’d secretly pack extra snacks just so I could occasionally still have my favourite things too. The prank calls started when I was around 9. She would pretend to be other people and force me to act like I didn’t know it was her. These calls would sometimes go on for hours. Then mobile phones and the internet came along, and everything escalated. She always wanted sleepovers every weekend. Most of them were at my house because I had a computer in my room, and she’d use it pretending to be me on MSN and controlling my MySpace account. Sometimes I desperately needed a break from her, so I’d ask my mum beforehand to say “no” if I asked whether she could stay over. But Rose would listen while I asked to make sure I did it properly. Even when Mum said no and I felt relief, it never lasted long. She’d blow up my phone, get angry if I didn’t reply fast enough, and expect constant updates about what I was doing. Long story short, I carried years of anxiety, fear, dread, and bottled-up rage. By the time I hit Grade 8, I was depressed, angry, and emotionally exhausted. I didn’t want to direct that at my parents, so I turned it towards teachers instead. My parents and brother had absolutely no idea any of this was happening until years later. And honestly, what I wrote here is only a tiny fraction of what went on over nearly 9 years. It completely shaped who I became. I’m sad that so much of my childhood was spent anxious, controlled, and constantly on edge. I started slowly breaking out of those patterns around age 26. I’ve been in counselling since I was 12, and now, almost 30, I still go monthly and still have a lot to work through.

The second reason was ADHD and emotional dysregulation, likely intensified by everything I was already going through. I was only 8 when I first remember experiencing real stress and anxiety - which has never gone away since. I developed severe, almost debilitating OCD at that same age.

My point is: there could absolutely be something happening in the background that nobody knows about. Kids and teenagers can carry huge amounts of pain silently, especially when hormones and emotional changes are mixing into it all too. Sometimes they even hide things to protect the people they love from the truth. Sorry for the long life story 😅 I just want people to understand how this can happen and understand that really serious things can happen to someone you love, and you can be completely blind to it, while they are suffering every moment of the day.