Fifteen Years as a Social Worker: Robert Francis<\/strong><\/p>\nI experienced\u00a0a happy, normal childhood, which was the best time of my life. I enjoyed playing sports\u00a0like basketball and football. My dad coached\u00a0many of my teams, and my mom attended\u00a0all\u00a0of\u00a0my games to cheer me on. I have one older brother who I\u00a0enjoy\u00a0a strong bond with to this day.<\/p>\n
I was greeted\u00a0by schizophrenia at age 22. I had\u00a0just\u00a0graduated with my bachelor\u2019s of arts degree from\u00a0SUNY Geneseo in 1993.\u00a0Following my graduation, I moved back\u00a0home with my mother. It was at this time that my behavior began to slowly deteriorate. I thought I had a microchip inserted in my brain by the government and that I was being surveilled. As these delusions worsened and intensified, I\u00a0became very paranoid.<\/p>\n
\u90a3\u65f6\uff0c\u6211\u4e5f\u5f00\u59cb\u542c\u5230\u58f0\u97f3\u3002\u4ed6\u4eec\u542c\u8d77\u6765\u50cf\u662f\u4ece\u5929\u7a7a\u4e2d\u4f20\u6765\u7684\u547c\u558a\u58f0\u3002\u6211\u80fd\u542c\u5230\u514b\u6797\u987f\u603b\u7edf\u5bf9\u6211\u8bf4\u8bdd\u3002\u6b64\u5916\uff0c\u6211\u8ba4\u4e3a\u6211\u5728\u7535\u89c6\u4e0a\u770b\u5230\u7684\u4eba\u5728\u8c08\u8bba\u6211\uff0c\u8bf4\u6211\u4f4f\u5728\u54ea\u91cc\u4ee5\u53ca\u6211\u662f\u8c01\u3002\u5f53\u6211\u7684\u73b0\u5b9e\u53d8\u5f97\u6301\u7eed\u5984\u60f3\u65f6\uff0c\u6211\u4ee5\u4e3a\u653f\u5e9c\u5728\u76d1\u89c6\u6211\uff0c\u6211\u88ab\u7528\u5728\u4e86\u4e00\u4e2a\u6076\u610f\u7684\u9634\u8c0b\u4e2d\u3002<\/p>\n
Schizophrenia was\u00a0never more trying for me than during my first onset of psychosis. Many patients experience anosognosia, which is lack of insight and a\u00a0common\u00a0schizophrenia symptom.\u00a0I also struggled with anosognosia. I knew nothing about\u00a0schizophrenia and\u00a0never would have dreamed that\u00a0a brain disorder\u00a0was the source of my troubles.<\/p>\n
After close to a year of rampant and severe psychosis, I was ultimately brought by my family, via an intervention of sorts, to the hospital. My family would have acted sooner, but they\u00a0also knew\u00a0nothing of schizophrenia,\u00a0even though\u00a0they\u00a0did\u00a0notice\u00a0my behavior\u00a0was becoming erratic.\u00a0It took a while for them to conclude that it was something greater than just quirky or atypical behavior. This was the first of my inpatient admissions.<\/p>\n
My first hospital admission was difficult.\u00a0I was given intramuscular haloperidol, which caused all my muscles to contract (a condition called dystonia). I could not\u00a0walk and\u00a0crawled my way down the hallway to find help.\u00a0The staff gave me Benadryl and the contractions stopped. I was off to a rough start!<\/p>\n
After this first admission, I then began\u00a0outpatient\u00a0treatment\u00a0at\u00a0a community\u00a0clinic. My psychiatrist started me on olanzapine (Zyprexa).\u00a0Everyone is different, but\u00a0for\u00a0me, Zyprexa was awful. I felt\u00a0cognitively\u00a0zoned-out and\u00a0impoverished,\u00a0and\u00a0I\u00a0was tired all the time. I later came to know the medicinal slang of being \u201csnowed.\u201d And \u201csnowed\u201d I was!\u00a0Zyprexa\u00a0induced\u00a0a lethargy\u00a0in me,\u00a0and I felt no motivation other than to watch TV and sleep.<\/p>\n
\u7531\u4e8e\u526f\u4f5c\u7528\u548c\u5b83\u7ed9\u6211\u7684\u611f\u89c9\uff0c\u6211\u5b8c\u5168\u505c\u6b62\u670d\u7528 Zyprexa\u3002\u7136\u540e\uff0c\u6211\u6839\u672c\u6ca1\u6709\u5403\u836f\u3002\u51e0\u4e2a\u6708\u540e\uff0c\u6211\u7684\u5bb6\u4eba\u53d1\u73b0\u6211\u7684\u7cbe\u795e\u75c5\u590d\u53d1\u4e86\uff0c\u518d\u6b21\u5c06\u6211\u5e26\u5230\u533b\u9662\u3002<\/p>\n
Initially during my second hospitalization, I was\u00a0very confused. I would sit for hours just\u00a0watching\u00a0the activity in the\u00a0hospital\u00a0milieu without saying a word. I was scared and paranoid.\u00a0But fortunately, during this second hospitalization, my doctor refused to give up on me\u00a0and was committed to my recovery. He suggested a medication I had never heard of before, clozapine. I was warned that there were many potential side effects, however, we determined I had to try it.<\/p>\n
\u5f00\u59cb\u4f7f\u7528\u6c2f\u6c2e\u5e73\u4e09\u5929\u540e\uff0c\u6211\u53c8\u6062\u590d\u4e86\u5065\u5eb7\u3002\u6211\u5468\u56f4\u7684\u6240\u6709\u4eba\u90fd\u5bf9\u6211\u6062\u590d\u6e05\u9192\u548c\u7406\u6027\u7684\u80fd\u529b\u611f\u5230\u9707\u60ca\u3002\u6211\u7684\u8bb8\u591a\u75c7\u72b6\u90fd\u6d88\u9000\u4e86\u3002\u6211\u56de\u5230\u5bb6\u611f\u89c9\u597d\u591a\u4e86\u3002\u6c2f\u6c2e\u5e73\u771f\u7684\u611f\u89c9\u50cf\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u5947\u8ff9\u3002<\/p>\n
After this\u00a0second and final\u00a0hospitalization, I\u00a0moved on and\u00a0started attending Continuing Day Treatment (known as CDT).\u00a0I attended CDT for close to a year (unfortunately, this treatment\u00a0modality has now been eliminated).\u00a0CDT gave my day structure and\u00a0the opportunity to be\u00a0around others with similar problems. I learned a lot\u00a0at\u00a0CDT\u00a0about the various mental illnesses. It provided me\u00a0with invaluable psychoeducation.<\/p>\n
Finally, after months of stability on clozapine,\u00a0a\u00a0social worker\u00a0at CDT encouraged\u00a0me to\u00a0apply to\u00a0become a peer counselor.\u00a0She thought I\u00a0had the\u00a0capacity\u00a0to\u00a0help others.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0eventually\u00a0became a peer counselor and really enjoyed the job. As a peer counselor, I worked in a hospital providing peer support to patients on the inpatient psychiatric units. I enthusiastically communicated that recovery\u00a0is\u00a0possible.\u00a0I tried to\u00a0serve as a\u00a0role model\u00a0for patients who were struggling.<\/p>\n
After six months as a peer counselor, I applied for a full-time job at a group home for people with mental illness\u00a0and\u00a0was hired. After one year, I was promoted to assistant manager. Six months\u00a0later,\u00a0I was promoted to program manager, and\u00a0I held this position for three years.<\/p>\n
With the desire to\u00a0further a career in human services, and specifically\u00a0mental health, I decided to apply for\u00a0a\u00a0master\u2019s\u00a0of social work\u00a0(MSW) program at a nearby university\u00a0and\u00a0was accepted.\u00a0I attended college full-time for two years and received my MSW in 2006. In 2009, I earned my LCSW (licensed clinical social worker).<\/p>\n
I have now been a mental health therapist for close to 15 years.\u00a0Over the last two years, I have\u00a0written two books about my life living with schizophrenia, including my most recent book, \u7cbe\u795e\u5206\u88c2\u75c7\u7684\u57fa\u672c\u4f34\u4fa3<\/em>. These books have been cathartic for me.<\/em>\u00a0\u4ed6\u4eec\u4e3a\u6211\u63d0\u4f9b\u4e86\u4e0e\u4ed6\u4eba\u5206\u4eab\u6211\u7684\u6545\u4e8b\u7684\u673a\u4f1a\u3002\u6211\u4e3a\u7cbe\u795e\u5206\u88c2\u75c7\u60a3\u8005\u3001\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u5bb6\u4eba\u4ee5\u53ca\u6cbb\u7597\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u4e13\u4e1a\u4eba\u58eb\u5199\u4f5c\u3002\u5982\u679c\u6709\u4eba\u4ece\u6211\u7684\u52aa\u529b\u4e2d\u53d7\u76ca\uff0c\u6211\u5c31\u8fbe\u5230\u4e86\u6211\u7684\u76ee\u6807\u3002<\/p>\nI cannot say I do not have ongoing symptoms. I do. But my recovery boils down to this: I have learned to function despite my symptoms. I have capably adapted. It took me a long time to learn to live with\u00a0schizophrenia,\u00a0but I have indeed learned, and I continue to refine\u00a0my coping skills.<\/p>\n
\u6700\u91cd\u8981\u7684\u662f\uff0c\u6211\u5b66\u4f1a\u4e86\u63a5\u53d7\u3002\u6211\u63a5\u53d7\u5b83\u6bcf\u5929\u7684\u6311\u8845\uff0c\u6211\u6ca1\u6709\u62b1\u6028\u3002\u6211\u77e5\u9053\u65e0\u8bba\u7cbe\u795e\u5206\u88c2\u75c7\u7684\u6311\u6218\u53ef\u80fd\u6269\u5927\u5230\u4ec0\u4e48\u7a0b\u5ea6\uff0c\u6211\u90fd\u53ef\u4ee5\u575a\u6301\u4e0b\u53bb\u3002<\/p>\n
\u7cbe\u795e\u5206\u88c2\u75c7\u5728\u6211\u8eab\u4e0a\u5f62\u6210\u4e86\u4e00\u79cd\u6211\u4ee5\u524d\u4e0d\u77e5\u9053\u7684\u529b\u91cf\u3002\u5bf9\u6211\u6765\u8bf4\uff0c\u8fd9\u5c31\u662f\u6211\u6240\u8bf4\u7684\u6062\u590d\u3002<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"100-width.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5603","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Robert Francis - CURESZ Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/robert-francis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robert Francis - CURESZ Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/robert-francis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CURESZ Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cureszorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cureszorg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Francis - CURESZ Foundation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-05T16:46:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/robert-francis\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Robert Francis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"CURESZ Foundation\",\"description\":\"The CURESZ Foundation provides educational updates to patients, families, healthcare professionals and the general public about schizophrenia.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Curesz Foundation\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"zh-Hans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/cropped-Logo-with-Foundation-Custom.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/cropped-Logo-with-Foundation-Custom.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":133,\"caption\":\"Curesz Foundation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/curesz.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Cureszorg\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/cureszorg\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/cureszfoundation\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCT3uVzTt8jiJ2qdhuosHPvg\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robert Francis - CURESZ Foundation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/robert-francis\/","og_locale":"zh_CN","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robert Francis - CURESZ Foundation","og_url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/robert-francis\/","og_site_name":"CURESZ Foundation","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cureszorg\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@cureszorg","twitter_misc":{"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4":"7 \u5206"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/","url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/","name":"Robert Francis - CURESZ Foundation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg","datePublished":"2024-01-05T16:46:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"zh-Hans","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-book-on-SZ.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/robert-francis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robert Francis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/","name":"CURESZ\u57fa\u91d1\u4f1a","description":"CURESZ \u57fa\u91d1\u4f1a\u4e3a\u60a3\u8005\u3001\u5bb6\u5ead\u3001\u533b\u7597\u4fdd\u5065\u4e13\u4e1a\u4eba\u5458\u548c\u516c\u4f17\u63d0\u4f9b\u6709\u5173\u7cbe\u795e\u5206\u88c2\u75c7\u7684\u6559\u80b2\u66f4\u65b0\u3002","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"zh-Hans"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/#organization","name":"Curesz Foundation","url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"zh-Hans","@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cropped-Logo-with-Foundation-Custom.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/cropped-Logo-with-Foundation-Custom.png","width":200,"height":133,"caption":"Curesz Foundation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cureszorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/cureszorg","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cureszfoundation\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCT3uVzTt8jiJ2qdhuosHPvg"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5603"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5607,"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5603\/revisions\/5607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/curesz.org\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/curesz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Francis-football.jpg\" "\\"Francis")
<\/span><\/div>