Its Schizophrenia Awareness Week and we’re asking people to say they care about a much misunderstood and shunned illness. Here, Woody, drummer of world famous British band Madness, (pictured right, top, with Nick), reveals why hes standing up for his sibling… Growing up my brother and I were pretty close. We would instinctively know what each other was thinking and always had each other’s back. Nick was the popular kid at school, really bright and really creative, much more than I was, but then something changed. The first time I noticed it he was playing a gig (he’s a great guitarist) and unusually turned his back to the crowd with his head down. He stayed like this for the whole set. After that he slowly began to isolate himself more and more from society. It was quite alarming to see and I knew something wasn’t quite right. At one point the TV was talking to him and he thought the newsreader was in the room. None of us had any real idea what was going on and at this stage my band, Madness, had started to take off so I didn’t see him as much as I would’ve liked. He’d come along to my gigs but he was a shadowy figure of the person he used to be. He would turn up and sort of shuffle in, but couldn’t engage with anyone or look them in the eye. He made quite a few suicide attempts too and it wasn’t until he was finally sectioned and put on medication that things started to improve. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was a relief at first. I remember thinking ‘yeah… duh… of course! He’s clearly not well’. The treatment started to work quite quickly which was good, but it had its downsides too. I think I thought, maybe foolishly, that we would get the old Nick back but we soon realised why some people dislike taking medication – it can numb you to the point where you are like a walking zombie. Sometimes Nick couldn’t play the guitar because he couldn’t feel anything, it was awful to see. His medication was a bit like a balancing act and I must admit that sometimes it was a relief when he was ‘mad’ again because at least he was himself and could play. I think there’s a lot more we could have done if we’d had the right information and been able to spot the signs earlier. I tried to support my mum who he still lived with as best I could, but it was very hard for both of us. One thing that helped though was music. Nick and the guitar are a marriage made in heaven and we’ve actually been making music together recently which has given him a real focus. It is really therapeutic. Nick will send me a song and because we’re so close I can say quite bluntly if I don’t like it or the lyrics are not right (or equally that I love it!) I’ll then work on the music myself and send it back and we rearrange it. Watch a video interview with Nick and Woody from our siblings network We go on like this for weeks back and forth and it’s a really positive thing. So much so that we’ve made an album together. Our musical relationship is something I don’t get with any other musicians and that for me is wonderful and it’s very exciting. Some people would call it work, but for us it is just love. It also brings discipline and a really positive direction to Nick’s life. I really want people to realise that just because Nick has a diagnosis of schizophrenia it doesn’t make him some sort of uncontrollable weirdo outcast! By speaking out and telling our story we hope to inspire others out there and hopefully we can raise awareness of all the great work you do as a charity too and get people to recognize the early signs of schizophrenia and get help. For me it’s really about a message of hope – schizophrenia doesn’t have to be a life sentence! Woody and Nicks new album, The Magic Line, is out now. Get involved in Schizophrenia Awareness Week on Facebook and Twitter. This article was taken from the autumn edition of Your Voice, Rethink Mental Illness membership magazine. You can join up here. Stand Up for Schizophrenia Find out more by vising our livebog Its Schizophrenia Awareness Week and we’re asking people to say they care about a much misunderstood and shunned illness. Here, Woody, drummer of world famous British band Madness, (pictured right, top, with Nick), reveals why hes standing up for his sibling… Growing up my brother and I were pretty close. We would instinctively know what each other was thinking and always had each other’s back. Nick was the popular kid at school, really bright and really creative, much more than I was, but then something changed. The first time I noticed it he was playing a gig (he’s a great guitarist) and unusually turned his back to the crowd with his head down. He stayed like this for the whole set. After that he slowly began to isolate himself more and more from society. It was quite alarming to see and I knew something wasn’t quite right. At one point the TV was talking to him and he thought the newsreader was in the room. None of us had any real idea what was going on and at this stage my band, Madness, had started to take off so I didn’t see him as much as I would’ve liked. He’d come along to my gigs but he was a shadowy figure of the person he used to be. He would turn up and sort of shuffle in, but couldn’t engage with anyone or look them in the eye. He made quite a few suicide attempts too and it wasn’t until he was finally sectioned and put on medication that things started to improve. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was a relief at first. I remember thinking ‘yeah… duh… of course! He’s clearly not well’. The treatment started to work quite quickly which was good, but it had its downsides too. I think I thought, maybe foolishly, that we would get the old Nick back but we soon realised why some people dislike taking medication – it can numb you to the point where you are like a walking zombie. Sometimes Nick couldn’t play the guitar because he couldn’t feel anything, it was awful to see. His medication was a bit like a balancing act and I must admit that sometimes it was a relief when he was ‘mad’ again because at least he was himself and could play. I think there’s a lot more we could have done if we’d had the right information and been able to spot the signs earlier. I tried to support my mum who he still lived with as best I could, but it was very hard for both of us. One thing that helped though was music. Nick and the guitar are a marriage made in heaven and we’ve actually been making music together recently which has given him a real focus. It is really therapeutic. Nick will send me a song and because we’re so close I can say quite bluntly if I don’t like it or the lyrics are not right (or equally that I love it!) I’ll then work on the music myself and send it back and we rearrange it. Watch a video interview with Nick and Woody from our siblings network We go on like this for weeks back and forth and it’s a really positive thing. So much so that we’ve made an album together. Our musical relationship is something I don’t get with any other musicians and that for me is wonderful and it’s very exciting. Some people would call it work, but for us it is just love. It also brings discipline and a really positive direction to Nick’s life. I really want people to realise that just because Nick has a diagnosis of schizophrenia it doesn’t make him some sort of uncontrollable weirdo outcast! By speaking out and telling our story we hope to inspire others out there and hopefully we can raise awareness of all the great work you do as a charity too and get people to recognize the early signs of schizophrenia and get help. For me it’s really about a message of hope – schizophrenia doesn’t have to be a life sentence! Woody and Nicks new album, The Magic Line, is out now. Get involved in Schizophrenia Awareness Week on Facebook and Twitter. This article was taken from the autumn edition of Your Voice, Rethink Mental Illness membership magazine. You can join up here. Stand Up for Schizophrenia Find out more by vising our livebog Its Schizophrenia Awareness Week and we’re asking people to say they care about a much misunderstood and shunned illness. Here, Woody, drummer of world famous British band Madness, (pictured right, top, with Nick), reveals why hes standing up for his sibling… Growing up my brother and I were pretty close. We would instinctively know what each other was thinking and always had each other’s back. Nick was the popular kid at school, really bright and really creative, much more than I was, but then something changed. The first time I noticed it he was playing a gig (he’s a great guitarist) and unusually turned his back to the crowd with his head down. He stayed like this for the whole set. After that he slowly began to isolate himself more and more from society. It was quite alarming to see and I knew something wasn’t quite right. At one point the TV was talking to him and he thought the newsreader was in the room. None of us had any real idea what was going on and at this stage my band, Madness, had started to take off so I didn’t see him as much as I would’ve liked. He’d come along to my gigs but he was a shadowy figure of the person he used to be. He would turn up and sort of shuffle in, but couldn’t engage with anyone or look them in the eye. He made quite a few suicide attempts too and it wasn’t until he was finally sectioned and put on medication that things started to improve. The diagnosis of schizophrenia was a relief at first. I remember thinking ‘yeah… duh… of course! He’s clearly not well’. The treatment started to work quite quickly which was good, but it had its downsides too. I think I thought, maybe foolishly, that we would get the old Nick back but we soon realised why some people dislike taking medication – it can numb you to the point where you are like a walking zombie. Sometimes Nick couldn’t play the guitar because he couldn’t feel anything, it was awful to see. His medication was a bit like a balancing act and I must admit that sometimes it was a relief when he was ‘mad’ again because at least he was himself and could play. I think there’s a lot more we could have done if we’d had the right information and been able to spot the signs earlier. I tried to support my mum who he still lived with as best I could, but it was very hard for both of us. One thing that helped though was music. Nick and the guitar are a marriage made in heaven and we’ve actually been making music together recently which has given him a real focus. It is really therapeutic. Nick will send me a song and because we’re so close I can say quite bluntly if I don’t like it or the lyrics are not right (or equally that I love it!) I’ll then work on the music myself and send it back and we rearrange it. Watch a video interview with Nick and Woody from our siblings network We go on like this for weeks back and forth and it’s a really positive thing. So much so that we’ve made an album together. Our musical relationship is something I don’t get with any other musicians and that for me is wonderful and it’s very exciting. Some people would call it work, but for us it is just love. It also brings discipline and a really positive direction to Nick’s life. I really want people to realise that just because Nick has a diagnosis of schizophrenia it doesn’t make him some sort of uncontrollable weirdo outcast! By speaking out and telling our story we hope to inspire others out there and hopefully we can raise awareness of all the great work you do as a charity too and get people to recognize the early signs of schizophrenia and get help. For me it’s really about a message of hope – schizophrenia doesn’t have to be a life sentence! Woody and Nicks new album, The Magic Line, is out now. Get involved in Schizophrenia Awareness Week on Facebook and Twitter. This article was taken from the autumn edition of Your Voice, Rethink Mental Illness membership magazine. You can join up here.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:29:24 +0000
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