Ep. 27 Fighting a Dragon Named Schizophrenia with Matthew Dickson

Trigger Warning: In this episode, we will briefly touch on suicide and/or suicidal thoughts during this discussion. If this may trigger extreme emotional distress for you, you should skip today’s episode. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline immediately, which is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255.  This episode is about Matthew Dickson’s journey. Matthew went off to college like a lot of young folks do, and he even biked cross country through Canada in the middle of his freshman year, but he knew something just didn’t feel quite right. He was still able to function though so he muddled through, even getting mostly A’s in his engineering classes.However, by the time his fourth year in college ended, he was hit hard by the depths of schizophrenia, and it has taken him 27 years to recover. He has been on an antipsychotic since those early days, but miraculously on February 11, 2021, his symptoms just stopped. He still continues his medication. He knows it would be a mistake to stop, but now he advocates for those with mental illness, and especially those with schizophrenia. Matthew advocates for those with schizophrenia, and additionally, he helps people with mental illness in developing countries so that they can get access to basic mental health care through his MindAid platform. MindAid is the world’s first website that features all of the groups helping people with mental illness in developing countries on one website. These organizations use models of basic mental health care that are low-cost, proven effective, and scalable. Some of these organizations have been endorsed by Bill Clinton, Forest Whitaker, Arcade Fire, Ashley Judd, as well as Robin Williams's son, Zak Williams, and Tim Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics.In This Episode:·       Bicycling across Canada. (2:00)·     Hallucinations of schizophrenia. (4:40)·       Fighting a Dragon. (36:45)Connect with Matthew Dickson:·       Website: www.MindAid.ca·       Hire Matthew to speak!·       Read Matthew’s article: When All is Lost, There Is Hope Beyond HopeLet's Connect!Facebook: The Beauty in the Mess podcast Instagram: the.beauty.in.the.messThe Beauty in The Mess Website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.