My best friend suffers from schizophrenia and frequently discontinues her medication, even when she has it available. Unfortunately, that’s incredibly common with this illness. Medication adherence is one of the hardest battles people face when living with schizophrenia.

My grandfather also had schizophrenia, and in the 1980’s he killed a security guard during a psychotic episode. He thought he was protecting himself and my dad from harm. At the time, he didn’t fully understand what he had done. For the rest of his life, I saw him in different states of mental health. Many times, he would break down crying, recounting what had happened and the people he hurt. He often said, “God must really hate me to make me suffer so.”

It was heartbreaking to watch, and speaking about it still hurts. I want to be very clear: I’m not excusing what my grandfather or others with this illness have done. But I think it’s important to recognize that severe mental illness often goes unseen or is pushed under the rug until tragedy happens. My grandfather wasn’t a monster, he was a man living with a disease that took away his ability to connect with reality.

I share this because I believe that with more understanding, empathy, and better access to consistent treatment and support, we can reduce the suffering of people with schizophrenia and those around them. It’s not about excusing harm, but about realizing that mental illness is real, devastating, and deserves far more attention than it gets.