Does high-functioning schizophrenia exist?
I had a friend who was a schizophrenic and when he was on his medication he was little different from anyone else. He held a job (he worked as a contractor writing software), lived independently, and the only real outward indication that there was something wrong with him was due to the side-effects of his medicine, which were pretty nasty — they caused him to have a number of tics as well as feeling a frequent need to pace.His illness took its toll in another way, however — he was convinced (at least this was his claim) that his unmedicated state was reality and that the medicines merely altered reality as part of a plot by his doctor, his ex-wife, the police, etc. to keep him controlled and prevent him from seeing his kids. So, eventually he would always stop taking his medication, his condition would deteriorate, he would withdraw (presumably so people couldn’t see what was happening to him) and as he got less and less capable of coping with his situation, he would eventually show up at is ex-wife’s house demanding to see his kids (violating a court order), he would get arrested, committed and put back on his meds, ready to begin the cycle anew.
What are the best films and novels about adolescents in psychological crisis?
Some Japanese films:All About Lily Chou-Chou by Iwai Shunji (Summary from IMDB: Life isn't easy for a group of high school kids growing up absurd in Japan's pervasive pop/cyber culture. As they negotiate teen badlands- school bullies, parents from another planet, lurid snapshots of sex and death- these everyday rebels without a cause seek sanctuary, even salvation, through pop star savior Lily Chou-Chou, embracing her sad, dreamy songs and sharing their fears and secrets in Lilyholic chat rooms. Immersed in the speed of everyday troubles, their lives inevitably climax in a fatal collision between real and virtual identities, a final logging-off from innocence. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0297...)Confessions by Tetsuya Nakashima (While the main driver of the storyline is a middle school teacher whose 4 year-old daughter is murdered by two of her students, the film gets into the mind of the students perhaps more so than the teacher and reveals the types of dark thoughts some kids in Japan go through [Japan has one of the highest # of incidents of youth violence amongst developed countries] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590...)Blue Spring by Toshiaki Toyoda ( A story about teen bullies and wannabe gangsters in Japan. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309...)Battle Royale by Kinji Fukasaku ( I noticed Hunger Games was mentioned here... the similarity to Battle Royale is too strong to be ignored http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266... ).
Movies that have an acid trip scene in it?
Easy Rider http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twBsqfymT...