Schizophrenia Daily News Blog

MTV True Life Program Searching for People who Have Schizophrenia

We've recently been contacted by a producer at MTV's True Life program. They are planning a program on people who have schizophrenia and are looking for participants for their program. Anyone who lives in the US is a potential candidate. The MTV True Life program seems to handle the issue of serious mental illness with a reasonable level of sensitivity. To see an example of this you can view a recent True Life program they did on Autism - here: True Life - I Have Autism.

This seems like a good opportunity for people who are stable and want to help increase understanding about schizophrenia in the public, so as to reduce stigma about the disorder.

If you are interested in participating in this TV program, we encourage you to first discuss the idea with your psychologist, psychiatrist or doctor - to make sure that you understand all the pros and cons of such participation. Full details and contact information if you're interested in the TV program is listed below.

True Life: I Have Schizophrenia

Have you been diagnosed with schizophrenia? Do symptoms of your illness, such as changes in ability or personality, or difficulty distinguishing reality from delusion, interfere with your everyday life? Do your meds have side effects that are hard to deal with? Does your illness make it difficult to maintain friendships or date? Do you feel like you suffer from discrimination at school or work because of your illness?

If you appear to be between the ages of 16 and 28, and you have been diagnosed with schizophrenia by a doctor, we’d like to hear from you.

To Participate or Get More Information:

Please email MTV at tl2008@mtvstaff.com and be sure to include your name, location, phone number and a photo, if possible.

Additional Information:

You may or may not be familiar with MTV's True Life -- it's a long-running, award winning documentary series that seeks to have young people share their stories, in their own words. The format is strictly first person, which is to say that we don't filter the voices of our subjects through narrators or any similar third parties. All we do is follow them; it's our hope that by allowing these people to use their own voices to tell their stories, and communicating directly with their peers, we can impact the way people interact and engage with the world they live in.

As you probably already know, over 100,000 young adults in the United States will be diagnosed with Schizophrenia this year. With the usual age of onset between 16 and 25, schizophrenia is a medical illness that few young adults are aware of. MTV’s True Life hopes to document the everyday life of a schizophrenic – whether medicated or not. True life wants to know – are these young adults having difficult distinguishing reality from delusion? Are they getting the medical help they need? How does their condition affect their ability to maintain friendships or date? Do they face discrimination because of their illness?