How would you feel about having a schizophrenic person as your neighbour or flatmate? Be honest. (Not intended to be offensive).

I felt compassionate and understanding of his erratic, scary and incredibly confused thoughts and emotions.
I felt sad when he was rational and would cry and ask me what was happening to him in the times before he understood it all.
I felt despair and a sense of defeat when everything i did and everything he did and everything his doctors did, couldn't seem to alleviate the issues and emotions he was trying to deal with.
I felt loss when he was gone from me and joy when he returned to me from the far away world he lived in more often than not.
I felt anger at the ones who coerced him into taking the drugs that created the initial phycosis and resulting schizophrenic condition.
I felt stunned and shocked and anger that he actually took them and by doing so completely destroyed his life as he once knew it to be.
And most of all i felt so sorry that for this one mistake he was issued a life sentence of schizophrenia.

So hey .. if you see him putting $120 into a toy machine outside the grocery store so he can buy pretty plastic rings for all the strangers he sees - maybe you could smile and say thanks to him if he gives you one. And if you see him sitting at the dime store catching toy fish with his toy fishing rod - then tell him you hear that the whiting are biting today.
But if you see him acting crazy and out of control - just stay calm, go about your business and give his carer much needed space and time to try and settle him.
Sometimes it takes a very long time for medications to be regulated and working to their full effect.

I love you t .. always, every day, every minute, every second.

My younger brother is a diagnosed schizophrenic. He's recently 18, I'm 27. He refuses to take medications, but he's often tolerable or even pleasant if you don't expect anything from him, and don't try to reason with him about his delusional beliefs and the MANY compulsive rituals that arise from those beliefs. I have to walk on egg shells, and put up with a lot of illogical craziness, and sometimes I lose it, I admit.

He is quite prone to making a mess, especially getting everything wet, because he "needs" to take 2 hour long really hot showers, and I am always fighting off mold in the bathroom. He has little concept of reality, no use for logic or fact, there are many things he can't or won't do, and he has expensive tastes because (1) he has no concept of money and (2) often turns on the AC at full blast, even in winter, when I'm not aware of it, because "the coolness heals and comforts" him.

About 5 years ago he suddenly stopped talking to, looking at, eating food prepared by, or listening to our mother. Before that he had not presented with any symptoms, but it is very common for the onset of schizophrenia to be in adolescence. A month after he stopped interacting with mom (he would actively avoid her touch, and cover his eyes to avoid accidentally seeing her), she tricked him and ran up to him and touched his left arm. He doesn't use the left arm anymore - only for holding things that "come from Queens" (we live in Brooklyn together now, our parents live in Queens, which is infected by our mom, who he considers a "host" of a non-entity he calls "It" that wants to destroy reality and drain all his energy). He can't open many things or do anything that requires using two hands, is extra careful about not touching anything he values with the left arm, including his body, and so he always dangles his left arm out of the shower when he showers to avoid water touching the left arm and then splashing on to other body parts. He also hates his genitals and anus, and thinks all sexuality is disgusting and wrong; he isn't interested in sex, even masturbation (I know that sounds hard to believe, but I know him enough to believe it). He has horrible mood swings, and I really have to walk on egg shells around my own house and conversationally, for fear of pushing what I call his "crazy buttons" (not often to his face).

He moved in with me 3.5 years ago because I thought it would help him to be away from his mom, the center of his delusions; our dad agreed. He had already stopped showering, disrobing, or brushing his teeth back in our family home, because "It" could have touched his stuff, and It definitely touched the floor with It's feet, so he had to wear flip flops all the time. "It" could also have somehow infected the shower head, so showers became impossible, and he smelled horrible, especially since he started this near the middle of Spring, going into Summer; he made it worse by always wearing layers of clothing, including a jacket and two pairs of pants, even when it was very hot, to protect his skin from contact with things It might have touched. Whenever he visited me (almost every weekend), he would shower and brush and "come alive". He still maintains proper hygiene (my frequently wet bathroom floor attests to that).

I love him dearly, which is why I put up with it, and he isn't suicidal or violent, not even tendencies, so there isn't any immediate reason for forcing meds or commitment (other than my sanity, and this has frequently been a cause of depression and anxiety). We have been nearly evicted (30 days notice, not an official eviction) from one apartment because of water damage and nighttime noise he had caused whenever I was on business trips, and I had to switch to a different job and company that didn't require travel.

Basically, to answer the question, I wouldn't recommend it, but sometimes love makes you endure horrible things.

I think it would depend on the severity of the schizophrenia and what's being done about it.

I have nothing against people with mental illness, as I myself habe suffered from severe anxiety disorders and clinical depression. As long as the person in question is taking some sort of medication, going for counseling, or doing something to regulate themselves, I'd have no problem sharing living space with them.

The only case in which it would be a problem is if the person has an extremely severe case of it, isn't on medication, and poses as any sort of a threat.

We used to have a neighbor like that. We would have to go outside with our dog when she had to go to the bathroom because we were afraid the neighbor lady would try and poison her. She also threw pieces of wood all over our yard. She would scream at my husband for no reason when he was outside.One day I was vacuuming my car out and she was peeking in the passenger window at me. She attacked the mailman. She finally moved and the neighborhood had a party.

I'm in love with a man who has schizophrenia. Is he a little off? Of course. It's part of his charm, this perfect imperfection of his, and I wouldn't change him for the world.

I don't know much about what
could a schizophrenic person
actually do, so I wouldn't
want one to live behind
the same door.

But I wouldn't mind a neighbor
as long as there would be no
loud problems.

I would enjoy their company as long as they were not always violent or combatent.

I have a schizophrenic person right here in my family, so I am definitely going to be more tolerant than most people. I am appalled at the reports by some other answerers here, and saddened, since the behavior they are describing is not the norm.

The worst neighbor we had was a drug addict on cocaine who was a thief and had violent episodes.

If they were a flat mate you could charge them double-rent, as a neighbour you could borrow money from 1 of them and tell the other you have already paid it back!

my grandpas cousin is schizophrenic and he always comes to dinner with us..yes he is a little stange but he is very nice and we love him very much..you should not be scared of a schizophrenic person..yes i admit, they are a bit creepy sometimes but they are great people too..so give them a chance..

Well I beleive my mom has a very bad case of schizophrenia. I am no doctor but through what I have tried to cope with the past 13 years of my life was very dificult and I'm still a bit shocked. I wouldent be angry if I did have a schizophrenia neigbour or flatmate because I wouldent stand it I would not allow it. My moth abused me and starved me. She had two diffent sides to herself. One where she would act so perfect and kind. But to her family a devil. She would abuse and hit and starve and she was a clean freak thinking we were all dirty and I never saw her once clean her clothing in the washer. Truelly I beleive they should all cope that they are mentally ill and we should get rid of them.

from my aunts experiernce im not sure that even possible yearas ago she was unfortunate enough to be my schitzophernic fathers neighbouron of the highlights was driving a blade through the wall

I have had one as a flat neighbor and found it interesting.You never knew what to expect and this made life an adventure.It did not bother me.