Our conversation chronicled her experience of witnessing and managing her son’s struggles with schizophrenia. She highlighted the long prodrome of adolescent behavioural and mood changes which she pointed out typifies the onset of the illness in boys as opposed to girls.

She discussed many of the other early indicators of the illness which the family and his teachers normalised and explained away as adolescent adjustment, and these included social isolation, paranoid and grandiose ideas, odd behaviours.

We also discussed the progression of Ben’s illness as he performed poorly academically and dropped out of school, and as he struggled to maintain his family relationships and friendships.