I happen to be a schizophrenic who has struggled very hard to overcome handicaps that have caused me difficulty in socializing with other people and obtaining good grades in my university studies at McGill. Rather than prescribe strategies for other mentally ill individuals, my article will explain what I have done to help me have friends and succeed academically despite severe mental illness. I will begin by describing some of my social challenges, and then I will relate to you what I have done to help myself in school

My major social problem has been paying attention to those who are speaking with me. My attention span is extremely short if I am not making a strong, dedicated effort to attend to my partners in conversation. I have also often complained to my father and brother while asking them for social advice that I have difficulty figuring out what is and what is not appropriate in different social contexts. I have told my father that I feel as if I have no clue how to navigate the social terrain that surrounds me. My strategy for paying attention has been to try my hardest to become sincerely interested in what my conversational partner has to tell me. I also try to plan what I will say next; a strategy that forces me to pay attention in order to pick up cues to which I can respond. To deal with my tendency to gaff during social experiences, I often ask people very close to me for social advice. Sometimes I explain what I said or did and ask whether that was appropriate or not if I feel it might have been uncalled-for. Since I do not ask for advice overly often, people very close to me are willing to share their wisdom with me.
(Part 2 to be continued next week...)

Jason Settels