Bethany Yeiser,CURESZ 基金会主席

The onset of psychiatric brain disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and alcohol and drug abuse, are higher during the teens and twenties than at any other phase of life. To help educate students about brain disorders, the CURESZ Foundation (which has education as one of its major missions) organized its initial event for students, 校园心理健康, in February 2020 at the University of Cincinnati. In the fall of 2020, CURESZ founded its first CURESZ on Campus Club at the University of Cincinnati. Through our clubs, we hope to educate students and encourage them to seek professional help as well as inspire them to support their friends who are struggling. We aim to equip students to recognize the early warning signs of psychiatric disorders, and know what actions to take.

As a schizophrenia survivor and President of the CURESZ Foundation, I have become aware of many people like myself who have developed psychotic symptoms, dropped out of school or work and became homeless. Their parents contact me, at a loss to know how to proceed. Recently, a mom called me about her son who is a physics PhD candidate in his last year of school. Months before he was supposed to graduate, he fled the university, began living in his car, and refused all contact with his family members.

I wonder, could this physics student’s life have been different if he, or his friends and family members had been educated about the early warning signs of mental illness (i.e. psychiatric brain disorders) and known what to do?

我对教育学生充满热情,因为我在大学四年级时经历了第一次精神病发作。在我失去奖学金后,我

校园心理健康

在接下来的四年里辍学并无家可归,饱受妄想和幻觉之苦。

2007 年,在对嘲弄我的幻听进行尖叫后,我终于被捕并住进了精神病院。最终,经过艰苦的斗争,我完全康复,出版了一本关于我的疾病和康复的书,现在很荣幸担任CURESZ基金会主席。

回想起来,有很多事情我希望在我最初的精神病发作之前就知道。我希望我受过教育,能够识别精神分裂症的早期征兆,并将其视为一种可治疗的脑部疾病。在我最初诊断为精神分裂症时,我希望有人告诉我,如果常用的抗精神病药物不能消除症状,那么氯氮平是一种有效的选择。我也希望我的医生向我解释,如果我在病情好转后停药,我可能会对曾对我有效的药物产生耐药性,并且需要越来越大的剂量,这也意味着更多的副作用.

我想知道,如果我在高中或大学时接受过有关脑部疾病的教育,当精神分裂症扰乱我的生活时,我会不会有更好的准备?

Lizzie Kozarik,CURESZ 校园负责人,辛辛那提大学

当学生表现出不符合他或她性格的行为时,重要的是要注意警告标志并采取行动。不正常的行为可能表现为曾经成功的学生的学业成绩突然下降,或者通常喜欢社交活动的人的社交退缩。不进食或暴饮暴食,以及忽视个人卫生(如淋浴)也可能是警告信号。

In addition to learning about the early warning signs that may start in high school or college, I wish I had been told that there should be no hesitation to seek help for a brain disorder, and that the earlier one receives treatment, the better the response and outcome. I wish my teachers and professors had encouraged students to be compassionate observers as friends to their peers who suffer from psychosis, depression, anxiety or any other type of mental illness.

我们鼓励您在 2021 年支持 CURESZ 基金会,因为我们渴望为这一弱势群体提供急需的教育信息和希望。即使对于跌得最远的年轻人,就像我在无家可归的四年中所做的那样,那些同意并积极参与治疗的人仍然有希望和未来,就像患有糖尿病、哮喘或癫痫的人一样。