FWIW, he was "hearing voices" and having very strong hallucinations. But I always interpreted that as an aspect of his autism/Asperger's syndrome. The psychiatrist disagreed, putting him on two anti-psychotics (Abilify and Risperdol, where the former was supposed to eventually replace the latter).
One problem with generalizing from one's social connections is that it's easy to over-generalize. When we found out about our son's Asperger's, suddenly it seemed that large numbers of kids had it, simply because we were more aware of the problem (and started leading a support group for parents of AS kids).
I don't know about schizophrenia, but boys are more likely to be diagnosed as having AS than are girls. This is partly because girls can "get away with" having AS more easily because passive, following, behavior is more socially acceptable for girls (for better or for worse). However, that isn't the whole explanation by any means, since classical (hard-core, Kanner's) autism is more likely to hit boys, too. (It's like a 4 to 1 ratio.)
One explanation is that boys are physically more fragile (according to THE BABY BOY BOOK, among other places). And it's possible that environmental pollutants are one (though hardly the only) cause of autism and AS.
It's also possible that some or many cases of autism or AS are diagnosed as schizophrenia. After all, having autism encourages one to live in one's own little world, long after most kids have dumped their imaginary playmates and the like. Of course, autism and schizophrenia may also be "co-morbid" conditions and they may both be encouraged by environmental pollutants.
On 5/21/06, joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> Something really odd is going on... I am linked up with about a dozen
> families with teenage sons, of these four have sons that have been
> diagnosed with schizophrenia. This is a suspiciously high number.
>
> Why is it all boys? Why is it such a high proportion?
>
> I just don't believe it.
>
> Joanna
>
> Jim Devine wrote:
>
> > Doctors
> >
> >> >don't create diseases that only they can cure.
> >
> >
> > Bill Bartlett:
> >
> >> Psychiatrists do.
> >
> >
> > that's true. My almost-16-year-old son ended up on many too many
> > medications, which made things much worse. Now he's doing fine, with
> > hardly any meds. (on meds: he couldn't and wouldn't read anything
> > serious. off: he's reading up a storm.)
> >
> > Further, due to the psychiatrists' false fears of my son having
> > schizophrenia or something like it, I read an excellent and
> > authoritative book on the subject. Notable was the author's total
> > unwillingness to apologize for the lobotomies and the like, his total
> > unwillingness to express any kind of humility.
> >
> > "Our" psychiatrist is relatively humble, but has fallen for the give
> > 'em pills, give 'em pills, give 'em pills philosophy...
>
>
>
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>
-- Jim Devine / "Capitalism is the legitimate racket of the ruling class." -- Al Capone (allegedly)