Diary of a Schizo Bitch

By Lily Bennett

When I was 15, my house caught on fire. Ever since then I have experienced auditory hallucinations. This is my chance to rant, cry, laugh, and prove to the world that schizos can be successful. This is my chance to show that people with mental illnesses can do well.

This story shows my ups, my downs, and random things that people will probably either laugh or cry out of embarrassment. But I know you should read it if you ever had someone struggle with a mental illness, or if you yourself ever have.

This is my memoir. People ask me, Hey, arent you a bit young to write that? And they arent wrong. But if I can help even one person, well that will be worth it.

-Your Favorite Schizo

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Apr 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532021244

Lily Bennett

Lily Bennett just graduated from a University. She decided to major in Psychology after her experiences with autism, anxiety, depression, an eating disorder, and most importantly—schizophrenia. She is attending graduate school to become a therapist to help others like her. This is her first time writing a book. Lily Bennett is currently living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Book preview

HOUSE ON FIRE

In the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I was doing what I always do—watching TV. I was home alone, and I was enjoying the solitude. It was just me and Jo Boxer, my favorite female dog. This was before Netflix was so huge, so I just had Grey’s Anatomy recorded on my DVR. I was staring at McSteamy’s beautiful face when I heard a pounding on my door.

My sister was at an amusement park with some friends, and I assumed she was locked out of the house. The pounding was getting annoying, so I just took my time getting up the stairs. I wanted her to suffer a minute more of waiting.

To my surprise, a strange man had his hands pressed to the window, and yelled, Your house is on fire! So I turned around, grabbed Jo, and ran out. I ran across the street to the neighbor’s yard, where the mysterious man had been washing windows. Then I saw the horror.

My house was on fire. The garage was burning down. I was sweating because for some stupid reason, I was wearing jeans, and I was trying to call my family, but no one answered. For the first time in my life, I was truly alone. No parents to save me. I had that window washer, but after that day, he disappeared. I never saw him again.

Everyone in the neighborhood came and watched. All the kids took out their cell phones and filmed it. They took pictures. In fact, my best friend was going to call me to check out the person’s house that was on fire. She didn’t realize it was mine at the time.

I kept trying to call my parents, but they were at work and they usually don’t accept calls from strange numbers. I don’t blame them because they didn’t know what was going on. But that was traumatizing. I just stared at the ruin and couldn’t figure out why I was alone at fifteen. I thought I was independent, but I guess I wasn’t.

Finally everyone arrived, and my house was like a horror movie. It was like an old destroyed building people commit murders in. We had to grab all of our stuff that we needed because the fumes were so bad we couldn’t stay there. I spent that night at my aunt’s house, until we found out that it would take six months before we could move back in. That’s when we moved into the mental rental.

—XOXO, Schizo Bitch

OUIJA BOARD

So there are three theories as to why I’m a schizo.

1. I have repressed PTSD from the fire that resulted in me becoming psychotic.

2. The genes I have that code for autism also coded for schizophrenia. I learned this while I was abroad.

3. The Ouija board I used possessed me.

Now personally, I don’t care what theory you believe because the end result is that I developed psychotic symptoms. However, once I started using the Ouija board, everything went downhill for me, so I must include it in this autobiography. Do I believe that is why I’m a schizo? No. But everyone is entitled to his or her opinion.

When we moved into the rental, the first thing we noticed was the creepy basement. It had those wooden creaky steps, and it wasn’t complete. It was just disturbing. My sister, the one I mentioned earlier, was really interested in the Ouija board because she and her friends had been using it lately, and we all stupidly decided to use it in the basement. Even if spirits aren’t real, it is just ridiculous that I decided to use it in a creepy basement considering my knowledge of horror