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Former Lithuanian swimming champion Ramūnas Radzevičius from Vilnius has lived in the United States for thirteen years. After contracting the disease, he returned to Lithuania. The young man speaks openly of life with the disease and asks those around him not to be afraid, to avoid it, but to help them.
I did not understand what was happening
“I hope this helps other people with mental health problems, their families and friends,” Ramūnas, 39, begins to tell his story.
The Lithuanian swimmer left for the United States at age 22 after receiving a scholarship to study at St. Peter’s College in New Jersey. “I was a member of the swim team at this university and won many awards. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree, raised a family, worked as an assistant client for insurance companies, and did quite well. The position was promoted.”
“It all started five years ago, I started to feel dizzy,” Ramūnas said, causing the alarming symptom. “Later, strong sound hallucinations and psychosis (states when a person distorts perception, loses a rational connection with reality”, ed.
At that time, the man did not understand what was happening, that what he was hearing were hallucinations, he realized only much later, when he returned to Lithuania and sought medical help.
“I heard voices, comments. It used to be something you thought about, and another voice, like someone else, comments on it. I thought someone from the country was doing it, most likely the police, using new technology, were emitting those sounds, making audio or even video, “Ramūnas admitted that he had not understood that it was a disease for a long time, so he did not think about seeking medical help.
Without medication in schizophrenia, it is impossible to function as a human being.
Thought i was following
With the appearance of sound hallucinations and psychosis, the young man was fired and his family life collapsed: he divorced his wife. “When I went into psychosis, I behaved inappropriately. Sometimes it happened while sitting behind the wheel. One of the situations: I thought the car behind me was following me. The police officers did not appear, so the judge canceled all fines. receipts, “hinted the interlocutor.
As the situation worsened, Ramūnas returned to live in Lithuania five years ago. However, even here he did not go to the doctors immediately, he did not continue to tell anyone about the sounds he heard.
However, 2018 became a turning point for Vilnius residents. “During a psychosis that year, I destroyed and broke the belongings of my mother and her friend. Mom called the police,” recalls the interlocutor.
The man resisted arrest, he said, and police officers used an unreasonable amount of restraint and physical force to break his leg. “After that event, I met my mother and went to live with my father. But a few months later, due to unpredictable behavior, I also became unwanted there.
Ramūnas Radzevičius.
Medications controlled the disease
With nowhere to go, Ramūnas accepted the relatives’ request to go to the psychiatric ward of the hospital for treatment. “I spent a month and a half in the hospital. Only then did I admit that I had sound hallucinations. Doctors diagnosed me with paranoid schizophrenia,” says the man.
He compares: until he took drugs, it was difficult to concentrate, to engage in mental activity. Now, according to Ramūnas, the hallucinations have been suppressed, they have become much quieter. A Vilnius resident decided to study – he entered Vilnius University last year, where he is studying English in a master’s program at a state-funded location. “The controlled disease does not hinder the study. It is true, the quality of life is a little worse than before the disease, but you can live, study, work. Of course, it is necessary to protect yourself, not get tired so that the disease does not worsen again.
Ramūnas is grateful to his family for their understanding, to the doctors for helping to control the disease. The Vilnius resident does not ignore other people with mental illness. “First of all, you need to see a doctor. Then, take the prescribed medication and the disease will be controlled. Without medication, in schizophrenia, it is impossible to function like a human being.” We just have to help, “he said. Ramūnas addresses each of us.
Photo from the personal archive of R. Radzevičius.
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