My Schizophrenia Doesn’t Make Me A Monster

A STUDENT with schizophrenia has set up an organisation to help other pupils with the condition - despite struggling with near-constant horror film-style hallucinations. Cecilia McGough, 23, studies health policy administration at Pennsylvania State University. She experiences a wide variety of hallucinations on a daily basis, including one based on the scary clown from the original movie version of Stephen King’s horror classic ‘It’, and another that resembles the little girl from Japanese thriller The Ring. Determined to use her own battles with the condition to help others, Cecilia founded Students With Schizophrenia, which is aiming to educate and spread awareness about schizophrenia on college campuses globally, as well as offering financial aid, academic and career services along with both mental health and legal support.