There are alternative and creative ways to deal with schizophrenia other than medication and conventional therapy.:)

Can't you see Casper floating around behind me?And a few dead dudes are lying on the bookselves. Say hi to Casper! says Reshma Valliappan, turning her half-Mohican cut,half-shaven head to look at her friends. I wave my hand animatedly.By the way,Casper is hanging out with Jasper,and they are discussing existential issues,she continues without batting an eyelid, making fun of her schizophrenic condition.Do you wanna join them? i ask,not wanting to distract her conversation with the "gang". We're talking on Skype and Reshma is shaking her head, laughing. "Not yet. Once I'm done talking to a real person - that's you - I shall join them for a bigger discussion. I see things that are not there, but you normal  people don't even see things that are there!"she jokes, showing me the scar on her head.Reshma underwent surgery a month ago to remove a benign brain tumour the size of a tennis ball.

I had a series of convulsions,and an MRI revealed I had a tumour.I'm recuperating well and off the pain-killers now.We can talk,she says.On a good day, Reshma, 31, is bubbly, witty and full of life. On bad days, her mood swings can get so bad that all she wants is to shut herself in the room. She may act normal these days, but it has been a long road filled with frustratioin and effort to get to where she is today. Reshma was just 22 when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Hallucinations, being delusional, behaving bizarrely, disorganised speech and lack of interest in everything - these are among the symptoms she had to endure since she was a teenager. Schizophrenics hear voices in their heads,see "unreal" people and often times, believe some one is following or trying to hurt them.

After years of medication , therapy and counselling, Reshma has finally found ways to cope. Now she no longer takes medicine. Instead, she channels her negative energy and emotions into sketching and painting. Art has become her therapy, and she recommends it to regular people too. Mental illness happens to some of us - we have to live with it, and our families struggle along with us. But mental health is an everyday issue for everyone. Why limit therapeutic values only to those with an illness? she asks.