This is a guest post by Bethany Yeiser — founder of CURESZ, a foundation for Schizophrenia patients.

Discovering my Schizophrenia

I had a happy, normal childhood. My passion was playing the violin. At age thirteen, I realized my dream of joining the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. A music conservatory professor accepted me as her violin student that same year.

As a teenager, I spent countless hours dreaming about what my college major was going to be. I imagined myself double majoring in violin and physics. It felt like there was no limit to what I could achieve.

The University of Southern California was my first choice school and awarded me a scholarship to study molecular biology and biochemistry in 1999. I was seventeen years old.

When I arrived at USC, I quickly became very busy with difficult courses such as organic chemistry, where I consistently achieved high grades. I spent the remainder of my time doing research in biochemistry and serving as the concertmaster of the university’s community orchestra.

However, over my first three years at USC, there was a steady decline in my ability to focus. Early on, I took advanced biochemistry and engineering physics, and scored A’s. But in my third year at USC, I took easy classes and scored C’s. It was a bit like a “junior slump” but it went beyond — I wasn’t myself anymore.

By my senior year of college, I began having serious trouble focusing on school. Suddenly, my best efforts produced failing grades. I rationalized it, telling myself that I was the next Mother Teresa, and that she had no college degree. Unable to continue college, six months later I moved out of the university dormitory, rejected all help from friends and family, and became homeless in the LA area.

My Struggles with Schizophrenia and Homelessness

For three years, I spent my night in libraries, an evacuated dormitory, and in public bathrooms. During my fourth year, still homeless, I slept outside, and that is when the hallucinations began. A chorus of voices clouded my mind. One day I looked in the mirror to see my reflection, but it was morphed to look more like the character Lisa from the show “The Simpsons.”

After spending four years homeless, I was loudly screaming back at the voices in public, and police picked me up. The officers drove me to the university hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Over the span of twelve months, I tried five different medications, all of which had severe side effects and little benefit. It felt hopeless. My first doctor said I was permanently and totally disabled, and it seemed my life was at its end. But it was not.

Recovery and Advocacy

After a year, I began seeing a new doctor, who prescribed clozapine. My symptoms began to abate. Thanks to clozapine, after six months, my voices were almost entirely eliminated.

With effective treatment and support from family and friends, I was able to resume both a meaningful, professional career and a vibrant social life. I regained my ability to play the violin and returned to college. Two years later, I completed my bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from the University of Cincinnati, graduating with honors.

In 2014, I published my memoir Mind Estranged: My Journey from Schizophrenia and Homelessness to Recovery. In 2016, my psychiatrist Henry Nasrallah, MD and I cofounded the CURESZ Foundation.

CURESZ stands for Comprehensive Understanding via Research and Education into Schizophrenia. The CURESZ Foundation highlights stories of individuals who are thriving despite a schizophrenia diagnosis. We strive to educate the general public about schizophrenia as a treatable, biological disease. Among other things, we offer education about underutilized and cutting-edge medications, such as clozapine.

Many patients are hesitant to begin clozapine because it requires a weekly venipuncture. Traveling to the clinic to have the blood draw is inconvenient at best, and it takes time for the clinic to send over the results to the pharmacy. The mandatory blood draw is a barrier that significantly reduces the number of people who begin clozapine.

Clozapine Monitoring is Easier Than Ever

Fortunately, Athelas has created a finger stick which can replace the mandated monthly venipuncture. It takes only six minutes to deliver results, which are then sent directly to the pharmacy. Athelas makes Clozapine incredibly easy to prescribe and manage.

Athelas currently offers the finger stick for free in California. In every place where they have put a device, there has been a significant boost in number of initiations on clozapine.

Today, I do not consider my schizophrenia to be a life sentence. With treatment, I have rebuilt my life. I am thriving. With this new finger stick, I hope the number of individuals with schizophrenia who begin clozapine and achieve full recovery, as I have, will greatly increase throughout the coming months and years.