"For me, having schizophrenia is a talent."

My name is Mateo and I'm 26 years old. I live in Madrid, but I lived in Italy until I was 13. I have very fond memories of my childhood: going to the park and spending many hours playing, being in the neighborhood and feeling like I was famous because so many people knew me, playing soccer, going to school… in short, I felt like the main character in my own life.

But it wasn't all good news. My father's health was deteriorating, and he was diagnosed with a mental illness I was unfamiliar with: schizophrenia. At that point, my father refused help from specialists, and as a result, the family situation became unstable, and I moved to Spain.

After that incident, I was overcome with fear and insecurity. During that time, I didn't want to go to school and I refused to see my friends.

All I wanted was to stay in my room under the covers. I heard voices and was terrified, and I could tell everyone was staring at me. I was locked in my room for three days.

Luckily, they took me out of the room, and I was admitted to a mental health facility for four weeks. Honestly, it wasn't the best experience of my life. The positive side was that the intensity of my voice decreased significantly. The medication certainly helped improve that aspect.

After seeing several professionals, I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at age 17. It is characterized by a distortion of thought, perceptions, emotions, language, self-awareness, and behavior.

I have to tell you that I felt like a dangerous person because of what I heard on television and in the media. When I went back to school, I couldn't study and I failed. At that time, I wasn't able to understand anything.

I have to admit that I blamed my family for their decisions and argued with them so much that they even had to call the police on occasion. I became angry at supernatural beings (aliens) and thought that God didn't exist and that it was all a hoax. I didn't have a social network because I didn't want to socialize, as I felt like people looked at me askance. I felt strange and abnormal.

I thought I had no future. I imagined I'd end up on the streets or become a criminal who would eventually go to prison. I also thought my future would be tied to a mental health facility for life.

But things have changed a lot since then, and nothing is as I imagined. I cherish every day I live and I'm very proud of the progress I've made.

For example, I have wonderful friends, a girlfriend I love dearly, and a family I feel incredibly fortunate to have. I've achieved all of this through many hardships, but it's been worth it. Today, I can say I have a fulfilling life.

I'd also like to share with everyone reading this that I've discovered Mateo is much more than a diagnosis, because for me, a diagnosis is a way of labeling a person. I don't consider myself sick, but a person.

Finally, I want to explain that for me, having schizophrenia is a talent, and that I can express things that others can't. To show this to the world, I've turned to social media ( YouTube and Instagram ) with the goal of helping others who suffer from the same condition as me, so they can see that it's possible to live a normal life.