“Dear Professor,
Woodrow and Bernstein. I got a great story for you about how the American government is spying on me”
Along those lines was the email that I sent to one of my old university professor whom I hadn’t seen in a decade and beyond a single course. He was an American professor at the my old American University and his American nationality was the reason I was contacting him. I wanted someone from the inside to expose the CIA/NSA/Whatever spying mechanism.
He didn’t answer my email. So I went to the university looking for someone who would help me out. On the way, I went to my old faculty of engineering and got into a conversation with an old professor about the randomness of the number PI. I was on to something. The number PI was not random and a former boss whose company was developing an encryption algorithm using the digits of PI was actually endangering Lebanese national security.
I made videos about how a smart phone could be hacked and turned on while you thought that it was off. Indeed, a modern day cell phone can appear to be off while being fully on. This was one of the revelations of Edward Snowden.
Now why the CIA was listening in on me you might ask. Why was I such an important guy? Well for the past few months I have been experiencing a miraculous healing of my pre-diabetes. This I knew for sure, for how else would I explain the energy and what I was feeling. I certainly didn’t need a blood test.
As you might have guessed, I am explaining the symptoms of a psychotic break. This break would last for more than a month during which I made an utter fool of myself, got labeled as a stalker by my former alma mantra. Got my own special file at the American Embassy. And got even picked up and interrogated by police.
This is the side of schizophrenia that everyone knows and expects. This is what people think when they hear the word schizophrenia.
Well here’s the other side:
For the past two years i have been working full time designing a GIS based system that has some of functionalities of Google Street view. A year before that I had worked on a project for two years for government solutions. Before that I designed a system for pharmaceutical companies. And all through those I have earned a decent living, which today even though I am in Lebanon compares well with a lower end salary in the states.
I take a shower every day. I keep a beard because I am bald, but other than that my hygiene is perfect.
for the past 9 months I have been pursuing a part time MBA and I have been excelling in it. I have read over 120 books in the past decade. Mostly business, technical and other non fiction books.
And guess what I don’t think the CIA/NSA whatever is out to get me. I don’t hallucinate, hear voices or have other types of strange thoughts.
This is the other side of schizophrenia. The side that you don’t hear about. The side that lets people like me lead normal lives.
How do I do it? I take medication, every day. Medication that I will have to take every day of my life.
Now I still have daily struggles, but they have nothing to do with schizophrenia. I am looking for a life partner, but can’t seem to find her. This gets me frustrated. A girl I went out with a few months ago seemed interesting, so I told her about my schizophrenia. She reacted with the same prejudice as someone who knew about the first side of schizophrenia, even though I only showed her the other side.
A priest I have talked to about my condition years ago, told me that I will never get married because of it. I am applying to immigration to Canada and think that I will probably get refused because of the condition (even though the psychiatrist reports I presented gave a very positive prognosis of my condition).
What is important for someone like me is not special access to medical care. I can pay for it myself. It is not special housing or special working conditions. I do fine with what is available to everyone else. What is important is equality. I want to be treated like anyone else. Anyone who has to take a medication to be normal. A lot of people do. Heart medication. Liver medication. Diabetes medication. They are not treated differently and neither should I.
Woodrow and Bernstein. I got a great story for you about how the American government is spying on me”
Along those lines was the email that I sent to one of my old university professor whom I hadn’t seen in a decade and beyond a single course. He was an American professor at the my old American University and his American nationality was the reason I was contacting him. I wanted someone from the inside to expose the CIA/NSA/Whatever spying mechanism.
He didn’t answer my email. So I went to the university looking for someone who would help me out. On the way, I went to my old faculty of engineering and got into a conversation with an old professor about the randomness of the number PI. I was on to something. The number PI was not random and a former boss whose company was developing an encryption algorithm using the digits of PI was actually endangering Lebanese national security.
I made videos about how a smart phone could be hacked and turned on while you thought that it was off. Indeed, a modern day cell phone can appear to be off while being fully on. This was one of the revelations of Edward Snowden.
Now why the CIA was listening in on me you might ask. Why was I such an important guy? Well for the past few months I have been experiencing a miraculous healing of my pre-diabetes. This I knew for sure, for how else would I explain the energy and what I was feeling. I certainly didn’t need a blood test.
As you might have guessed, I am explaining the symptoms of a psychotic break. This break would last for more than a month during which I made an utter fool of myself, got labeled as a stalker by my former alma mantra. Got my own special file at the American Embassy. And got even picked up and interrogated by police.
This is the side of schizophrenia that everyone knows and expects. This is what people think when they hear the word schizophrenia.
Well here’s the other side:
For the past two years i have been working full time designing a GIS based system that has some of functionalities of Google Street view. A year before that I had worked on a project for two years for government solutions. Before that I designed a system for pharmaceutical companies. And all through those I have earned a decent living, which today even though I am in Lebanon compares well with a lower end salary in the states.
I take a shower every day. I keep a beard because I am bald, but other than that my hygiene is perfect.
for the past 9 months I have been pursuing a part time MBA and I have been excelling in it. I have read over 120 books in the past decade. Mostly business, technical and other non fiction books.
And guess what I don’t think the CIA/NSA whatever is out to get me. I don’t hallucinate, hear voices or have other types of strange thoughts.
This is the other side of schizophrenia. The side that you don’t hear about. The side that lets people like me lead normal lives.
How do I do it? I take medication, every day. Medication that I will have to take every day of my life.
Now I still have daily struggles, but they have nothing to do with schizophrenia. I am looking for a life partner, but can’t seem to find her. This gets me frustrated. A girl I went out with a few months ago seemed interesting, so I told her about my schizophrenia. She reacted with the same prejudice as someone who knew about the first side of schizophrenia, even though I only showed her the other side.
A priest I have talked to about my condition years ago, told me that I will never get married because of it. I am applying to immigration to Canada and think that I will probably get refused because of the condition (even though the psychiatrist reports I presented gave a very positive prognosis of my condition).
What is important for someone like me is not special access to medical care. I can pay for it myself. It is not special housing or special working conditions. I do fine with what is available to everyone else. What is important is equality. I want to be treated like anyone else. Anyone who has to take a medication to be normal. A lot of people do. Heart medication. Liver medication. Diabetes medication. They are not treated differently and neither should I.
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