Evidence-based treatment for schizophrenia: a personal perspective
Bethany Yeiser
July 16, 2024
Cambridge University Press
Evidence-based treatment for schizophrenia: a personal perspective
Intro
My name is Bethany Yeiser, and I am an individual living with schizophrenia. My schizophrenia has been in full remission since 2008, thanks to treatment with clozapine, the vastly underutilized medication for refractory schizophrenia.
My journey through schizophrenia and finding my way back was not easy.
I was born in 1981 to a loving family. My childhood was wholesome and happy. At age 7, I began studying violin, which quickly became my passion. I began practicing for 4 hours a day at age 13 and was accepted as a student of a violin professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music that same year.
I also excelled academically. At age 15, I discovered Ohio’s Post-Secondary Educational Options Program, allowing high school students to take classes at local colleges and universities for dual high school and college credit. After attending Lakeland Community College for 2 years, I graduated from high school with 2 years of college credits and a 4.0 GPA.
My dream school was the University of Southern California, as I was attracted to their music program. However, after visiting USC, I realized how many other exciting academic options were available to me and soon settled on a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology.
In 1999, at age 17, I traveled from Ohio to USC. I would live in the honor’s dormitory, having been awarded a half-tuition scholarship. From the beginning, I was extremely busy with difficult classes including organic chemistry. I was happy to land a position in a research laboratory during my first semester, studying enzymes that replicate DNA (which had important implications in certain human cancers). I also auditioned to become concertmaster of USC’s community orchestra and won.
But something was wrong. I remember wanting nothing to do with the other students, usually eating alone and never going to social functions or outings. I committed to attending a local church but rarely mingled. I would arrive late and leave the minute it was over to rush back to the lab.
