Blog - KARTAR DIAMOND

Schizophrenia and Show timing by Kartar Diamond

I’ve been watching several YouTube channels devoted to dementia and caregiving, on behalf of a friend whose dealing with a spouse in the early stages of cognitive decline. I’d like to give her appropriate support, but I think many of us also watch these videos, wondering if we will be in the same boat one day. I’ve noticed a number of instances where there is an overlap between dementia and schizophrenia, with one of the main things they have in common being anosognosia. [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2026-10-19T22:27:11+00:00October 19, 2026|Family, Mental Illness, Treatment|0 Comments

Noah Update by Kartar Diamond

In the span of one week, I re-read my own book, Noah’s Schizophrenia, after not reading it in five years. In 2020, the book was published and I went on a series of virtual book presentations through Zoom during the COVID lockdown. In the same week, I was contacted through a mutual friend, by a husband and wife regarding their mentally ill son. This family has experienced many stereotypical setbacks, like the ones I mentioned in Noah’s Schizophrenia. They wished to speak with [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2025-07-21T20:55:46+00:00July 21, 2025|Family, Mental Illness|0 Comments

A Mother Is Only As Happy As Her Saddest Child by Kartar Diamond

The notion that “a mother is only as happy as her saddest child” is a saying that some have heard, and surprisingly some have grossly misinterpreted. I do have a friend who I don’t speak to often, but when we do, she always asks me how my son is doing. She then often repeats this famous quote to me. What does it actually mean? And is it really universally true? From my understanding, this saying about a mother only being as happy as [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2023-05-23T21:23:12+00:00May 23, 2023|Family, Mental Illness|0 Comments

Paranoia by Kartar Diamond

What is paranoia and what causes it? According to one dictionary definition, paranoia is: “A mental condition characterized by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically elaborated into an organized system. It may be an aspect of chronic personality disorder, of drug abuse, or of a serious condition such as schizophrenia in which the person loses touch with reality.” We may wonder why a person would feel persecuted or suspicious that others mean them harm. But haven’t we all had fleeting [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2023-04-11T22:11:39+00:00April 11, 2023|Mental Illness, Treatment|0 Comments

Taking Care of the Seriously Mentally Ill Should Be Like Good Parenting by Kartar Diamond

How would you feel about someone who allowed their child to live out doors just because they wanted to? Would you respect a parent who allowed their child to eat out of a dumpster, take harmful drugs or wander around in a drunken stupor? Would you feel comfortable knowing your neighbor’s violent teenager is allowed to cause property damage and make threats to hurt people? Of course not! You would know that the parents needed to buck up, set boundaries and consequences, and [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2023-04-09T23:07:42+00:00April 9, 2023|Advocacy, Mental Illness, Policy|0 Comments

From Gifted to I.E.P. by Kartar Diamond

It may be a cliché, that people with schizophrenia are more intelligent than the average person, sometimes far more intelligent, even genius level. As well, they may be artistic and creative in objective ways. And yet, when the inflammation of the brain and the disease takes hold, sometimes the person with schizophrenia can be erroneously identified as developmentally disabled. That happened one time to my son in a hospital admission. The normal functioning of cognitive skills can be damaged like a stroke victim, [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2023-03-22T02:04:30+00:00March 22, 2023|Mental Illness, Treatment|0 Comments

Is O.C.D. A Mental Illness? by Kartar Diamond

As with many mental illnesses, there is a range in severity and there can easily be overlapping conditions to complicate the matter. Often just abbreviated as “O.C.D.,” Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can plague people who are otherwise extremely successful in their careers and who can also be very happy and satisfied in their personal lives. Howard Stern and Howie Mandel, two famous germaphobes come to mind, both of whom have publicly discussed their O.C.D. diagnosis. You will get differing opinions about whether O.C.D. is [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2023-02-23T00:19:40+00:00February 23, 2023|Mental Illness|0 Comments

Government Sponsored Mental Health Services: FSP and AOT by Kartar Diamond

Across the United States, there are various support programs, for people with mental illness. The key of course, is getting the mentally ill person motivated and accepting of those services. With some of the most serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, lack of insight may undermine a person’s ability to make good decisions or even recognize they have an illness and need support and redirection. As well, some folks know they have an illness and may even admit on a good day that [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2022-11-12T17:30:44+00:00November 12, 2022|Mental Illness, Treatment|0 Comments

When Your Parent is Mentally Ill by Kartar Diamond

Much has been written about struggling parents when they have a child or an adult son or daughter who is mentally ill. But what about the reversal, when it is the mother or father who has a brain illness? As a once active member of a local NAMI Family Support group, the vast majority of attendees were mothers, concerned about their offspring, and the occasional father in attendance. Less often, a young adult would show up for the meeting, stressed and overwhelmed with [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2022-07-28T15:51:39+00:00July 28, 2022|Advocacy, Family, Mental Illness|0 Comments

What is Anosognosia? by Kartar Diamond

Anosognosia. The word itself is a mouthful. A-no-sog-no-sia. This is a medical term which has had another meaning entirely, but it has been adopted by the mental health world to describe the state of a person with mental illness who has no insight into their illness. This is a very important distinction to be made because a mentally ill person could be accused of being in denial about their illness. When a person is in denial, they may consciously know they have [...]

By Kartar Diamond|2022-07-13T15:30:20+00:00July 13, 2022|Advocacy, Mental Illness, Treatment|0 Comments