5. We can be useful members of society: increasing work value and creative activities

Good news: we know from experience that this is possible. It is important that we, fellow human beings with schizophrenia, also have a role in the world.

At one of the lowest points of my life my goal was as follows: "I want to help and do creative activities through which I can create real value."

At this point, fate proved to be gracious and the “step-by-step tactics” worked. Additionally, it was a great pleasure for me to find my place again in the world of work and belong to a workplace community, not to mention that it feels good to contribute to the family budget. Initially, I started off as an office administrator and now I work as a researcher in a university research group.

Creativity also plays a key role in my life. My painting tutor, who taught me how to paint and introduced me to the healing power of art, helped me a lot.

It was uplifting to see how I evolved from basically no knowledge of painting to the level where, after seven years of preparation, I could organize my own exhibition in the magical little café of the local library.

There is a subject close to our hearts which the community could experience at the end of our article series. Giving help is the main mission of our life. We wrote our book Mentőöv (LifeBelt) in this spirit. Our mission is to travel within Hungary and give presentations together with our helpers, to whom we are thankful for this article series.

We are confident that more and more of our peers with schizophrenia will experience the joy of mental balance in their lives. We wish them a lot of willpower, humility, patience and willingness to cooperate with the helpers. This article series may help with this. Our main message to our peers and their loved ones is: "Never give up!"

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