How Is Schizophrenia Portrayed In Challenger Deep

It is easier to feel sympathy than empathy about mental illnesses. Challenger Deep shows the perspective of a teenager with schizophrenia, while The Soloist shows the perspective of those around mental illness. Although schizophrenia is tough to understand, but the stories make it easier to understand what they feel. While both stories show the journey of a mental illness, The Soloist presents the viewpoint of adults, and Challenger Deep shows the perspective of the person with mental illness. Both Caden Bosch and Nathaniel Ayers have schizophrenia. They had a normal life, but they then developed mental illness that changed them forever. Their stories teach the reader about how difficult it is for a schizophrenic to live in this world. People

His story, unlike Caden, presents the perspective of a man, a news reporter, that is trying to help Nathaniel survive. It shows the problems adults have compared to children. Nathaniel had no one to care for him so he ended up homeless, and because he couldn’t work, he could not get medication so he got worse. Schizophrenia ruins adults because of how it affects them compared to kids. He started off as a cello player that was a student at Juilliard, but ended up getting a mental illness making him “a musician with mental illness” (The Soloist). It also showed were the homeless go to get help. Nathaniel was taken to a ghetto part of town where there was a non profit institute that was helping people like him. The doctor there told the news reporter that he “literally have changed [Nathaniel’s brain] chemistry by being his friend” and the change can be seen in Nathaniel’s behavior (The Soloist). The story puts the light on how desperate the homeless with mental illnesses are. Nathaniel, sadly, never ends up getting better and the movie ends with saying that he plays his cello everyday on the streets for all to

Unlike Nathaniel, he had a family to care for him and a home to live in. As his situation got worse, his parents noticed that he had a problem so they started to act. His parents had the money to get Caden the proper help and medication he needed, so Shusterman is able to show everyone the effects of medication on his schizophrenia. He was also able to share moments like how Caden did not “want to take this trip” or how after arriving at the hospital, having therapy that he thought were “so awful you can’t purge them from your mind” (Shusterman 103 and 151). You see what happens in a hospital and what this kids go through. Caden shared his moments of feeling like jello and told facts, like when you are on medication “you can’t get in your head, [and] you can’t dream” (Shusterman 153). His story presents the perspective of him and his thoughts. You are able to see what it is like to be in the mind of a schizophrenic. Because his parents send him to a hospital, you can see the process of him getting better. Caden, at the end, gets better and goes home to live the rest of his