Is schizophrenia a mental or physical illness? By definition, schizophrenia is a disease of the brain. It is both a mental illness and a physical illness.

This distinction is not made with other diseases of the brain, such as Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. It is also not made with brain tumors. Patients with these conditions are considered “physically ill,” and generally not responsible for odd behavior associated with the illness.

Several years ago, I met a former teacher with Alzheimer’s Disease. She had become incapable of working at the university, but did not know it. When she continued visiting certain classrooms, the university contacted her spouse, who made sure she did not travel to the campus again.

Had this teacher been considered “mentally ill” things may have turned out very differently.

I began to behave like this person in 2002, after I had my first psychotic episode. I had been receiving high grades in classes like Advanced Biochemistry and Engineering Physics. After schizophrenia took hold of my life, I could not study anymore. I told myself I was dropping out of school by choice– and not because I could no longer study. Delusional, I was confident I would soon win a Nobel Peace Prize.

For nearly three years, my thinking was clouded. I was dirty, unable to work or study, and hallucinating, but I believed the university was still proud of me. I remembered who I used to be. Like the teacher, I could not acknowledge that I was no longer welcome on campus, where I frequently slept in the libraries.

When the teacher got medical help, her former colleagues consoled the family, calling to mind her many productive years at the university.

But in my case, no one was called to do an evaluation. For similar behavior and thought processes, I was picked up and thrown in jail. My crime: trespassing on the campus of a university where I had once been a model student.

When schizophrenia is referred to as a mental illness only, it leads many to believe that odd behaviors are a choice, and not necessarily a result of a physical illness. This perpetuates the social stigma of schizophrenia.

It is my dream that someday, the mentally ill will be shown understanding and compassion, and medically treated instead of incarcerated. Patients with schizophrenia need medical help, just like patients with all other diseases of the brain.