NOT ALL PATIENTS do as well as those whose stories are summarized in this section. In many cases, schizophrenia is controlled to the extent that people can care for themselves or get along well with the help of others. A lucky few recover completely or nearly so. The accounts in this chapter accurately reflect the experiences of real people who have struggled with schizophrenia or closely related illnesses. To maintain medical confidentiality, names and details concerning the patients have been changed unless they were the subjects of published books or memoirs.