At middle age Manuel met and married the love of his life, but only after he had taken complete control of it. As an adolescent he was raised in a very large, very poor and typically dysfunctional family with seven sisters and three brothers. His father was a typical alcoholic and his mother was overworked and overburdened with family responsibilities allowing him to practically make his own rules of behavior. Despite many bad influences in his childhood he managed to stay on the right side of the law and even attain a couple of college degrees. It seemed as if he was off and running with both hands on the wheel to what seemed a promising future, only to begin experiencing symptoms he could not understand. At first he began just having feelings guilt, insecurity and loneliness. Then his life began to derail when he started having feelings of extreme paranoia, then severe delusions crept into his state of mind. Unwilling to admit he was having serious mental problems he continued on his way not knowing he had only one hand on the wheel and one eye on the road. Only after several severe schizophrenic episodes and suicide attempts did he learn he was still sane enough to realize he was almost insane. He took complete control of his life when he finally admitted that he was a chronic paranoid schizophrenic. Under proper medication and treatment he learned, before it was too late, that he could not beat the madness that comes with schizophrenia. His only hope was to deal with it. Today, he is happily married with two wonderful children and a beautiful wife thanks in part to the medication he takes diligently every day. This is his story about survival.
