Yejaira’s Story

Everyone else sharing their story is an adult, so I feel kinda strange sharing mine. When I was 13 years old, I went to go live with my grandmother. Later, when I turned 14, I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. I was so embarrassed by it that only a few of my closest friends knew, but only after they got to know me first. I then moved to a different state when I was 16. As I explained to a teacher about my disability, in case anything happened, one of my classmates walked over to us. I thought that she would spread it around the school and I'd be an outcast, but she instead introduced me to another classmate with the same thing. Now, I'm 17, almost 18, and I'm not embarrassed about anyone knowing that I have schizophrenia anymore. I don't tell everyone, of course, but I have a lot of friends who now understand it.