Portraits of the jersey shore mental illness schizophrenia seaside heights

Mental Illness Schizophrenia Seaside Heights

“I love playing music. I want to make a living doing this. I only make what people are willing to give me though. I don’t make enough to live on my own, so I live at home with my mom.

“ I spent my 20th birthday in an institution for bi-polar. When I was 26 I thought everybody wanted me to kill myself. I didn’t want to kill myself, but I thought everybody else wanted me to. I was put in the mental ward because of it. I was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Music helps me get through the times I get too paranoid. I take medication too. Weed also helps. I wish they would prescribe it to me.

“These days I am doing much better because they have me on medication. I wouldn’t be able to play the guitar out here like this if I still thought people wanted me to kill myself.”

~ Seaside Heights

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