Friendships, Relationships & Schizophrenia
Friendships, Relationships & Schizophrenia
Building and maintaining friendships or relationships after a schizophrenia diagnosis can feel overwhelming. In this video, Kody Green, a schizophrenia patient advocate, opens up about his personal journey—how he learned to be more open, break down stigma, and help educate others about living with schizophrenia.
Through honesty and vulnerability, Kody shares insights on how he’s built stronger connections by embracing his diagnosis instead of hiding it. His story offers hope, practical advice, and encouragement for anyone navigating mental health challenges while trying to maintain meaningful relationships.
📖 Check out Kody’s book: Minds Over Meetings – a raw and powerful look at living with schizophrenia and finding connection.
👉 Follow Kody on other platforms for more advocacy, education, and real-life conversations:
TikTok | Instagram | YouTube Shorts: @schizophrenichippie
💬 What’s been your biggest challenge in friendships or relationships after a mental health diagnosis? Share your experience in the comments!
#Schizophrenia #MentalHealth #Relationships #Friendship #KodyGreen #SchizophrenicHippie
3 Comments
It's honestly really unfair. Everyone's a "mental health advocate" until it comes to hallucinations and psychosis. You can't just call yourself an ally until you encounter something that makes you uncomfortable. I keep my diagnosis secret from almost everyone in my life and it is so isolating. And isolation is one of my biggest things that trigger paranoia and delusions. I swear I wouldn't be struggling so much if I could just be more open about it. But life doesn't allow it.
Also important to remember that people falling away might not have much to do with you or your diagnosis. People have problems all of their own and your issues might just be that last straw that makes them not able to deal. I live with someone with schizophrenia and follow a few content creators on this topic and my take is often a little different. There is a negative egocentricity that go with many mental illnesses and I feel many that suffer from them overestimate the effect their diagnosis have on other peoples lives.
I have asked a few creators for the same thing a few times, you included, but it has not yet been done as an episode. I would love a full detailed description from the people in your life that helped you gain insight and how they did it. Those of us living with people suffering from anything schizo have this as the NR1 stumbling block. People who don't gain insight very often die and people who do gain insight rarely do so I think this is worthy of a freestanding detailed episode. An interview with your wife and mother perhaps?
They weren't your friends. Friends would have been concerned and tried to find out what's wrong and how they could help. It's why Introverts keep such small circles. Those who decide they can't be bothered are left behind because if they don't have compassion for someone who's supposed to be their friend then who can you trust?