Jane Doe* is a 34 year-old woman who has lived in Chino, California since she was born. For the first 15 years of her life, Jane was as normal as the girl next door. But Jane's 16th birthday brought the news that would change her life, forever. Jane was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

"My parents just wouldn't accept it. They sent me to 100 doctors it seemed. All said the same thing. I had schizophrenia. I didn't fully understand what it was that I had until about a month after I had been diagnosed."

Instead of denying the problem like her parents were doing, Jane began to research schizophrenia. She figured that it was a part of her that she

Problems focusing or paying attention. The person has problems processing information, which leads to confusion or fragmented thoughts.

"I can definitely say that I have had an uphill battle for the past 18 years of my life. I have been lucky in the fact that I have responded well to the medicine that I have been taking. It's funny, before I was diagnosed with schizophrenia, I believed that people with this illness were crazy animals that were locked up in loony bins and weren't allowed to be out on the streets with us "normal" people. I laugh now, because I see people today making the same assumptions. But I mean how could they not. With all the movies out about crazy hospitals, and crazy people, how could the public think anything different?

Inability to experience pleasure, which is very common in schizophrenia. The person can no longer enjoy activities that once brought them pleasure, such as playing golf or visiting with friends. This symptom can be very depressing.

Self-neglect, such as becoming isolated from other people, wearing dirty clothes,

Some common words found in the essay are:
Chino California, President United, , Jane Doe*, negative symptoms, diagnosed schizophrenia,
Approximate Word count = 723
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)