Students With Schizophrenia Build On-Campus Community

For many new undergraduates, adjusting to university life can be a challenge for many reasons: living away from home, adjusting to the coursework, and making new friends, to name a few.

But Penn State University student Cecilia McGough endured pressures far more intense than most. “In my freshman year of college, I started seeing, hearing, and feeling things that were not there,” she told Psychiatric News.

She described a scary clown, eerily similar to the one in Stephen King’s adaptation of It, who would taunt and even bite her. She would also see large spiders with long, black, leathery legs that, when crawling, made the sound of children laughing. More unbearable was a girl who seemed to know just what to say to provoke her insecurities and would sometimes even stab her in the face with a knife.

“This made taking tests, quizzes, and doing homework extremely difficult to impossible,” McGough said. “At times, I couldn’t even see the paper in front of my face because I was hallucinating so much.”

In February 2014, McGough, a freshman, attempted suicide. Eight months later, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and began treatment. “Getting medical help was the best decision I ever made,” she said. “I am confident that I would not be here today if I hadn’t gotten medical help.”

She still hallucinates constantly, but she has learned how to ignore the hallucinations, and no one knows when she’s experiencing them. “I’ve developed coping skills, and I don’t allow [the hallucinations] to keep me from living a happy, healthy, and fulfilled life,” she said.

In fall 2017, McGough decided to hold a few meetings for students with schizophrenia to gauge interest in a club focused on empowering students with the illness. “Because of the positive response to those meetings, we officially launched the Penn State Students With Schizophrenia [SWS] club in the fall of 2018 with regular meetings, activities, and events,” she said.

The club switched to nonprofit status around the same time, with McGough serving as CEO. Since then, SWS has recruited volunteers and interns to engage in peer support and educational activities and to participate in mental health outreach events.

For one such event, called a “silent disco,” attendees don earbuds, listen to their favorite music, and dance in a stigma-busting group. “People with schizophrenia often listen to music through earbuds to drown out the voices,” McGough said. “This is a healthy coping mechanism.”

SWS also hosts a scavenger hunt with clues and facts about schizophrenia that lead students to the on-campus Penn State Counseling and Psychological Center (CAPS). “Our counseling center is excellent, and we refer any students needing treatment or a diagnosis there,” said Pia Smal, Ph.D., the SWS faculty advisor. “Within CAPS, there are counselors, psychiatrists, and case managers who work with students to ensure that they receive the treatment and support that they need both here in college and at home.”

As the SWS advisor, Smal also works with the group to “build membership, create and engage in advocacy efforts, and grow as a student organization,” she explained. “At their request, I also provide education about schizophrenia or other topics of interest, such as self-care, mindfulness, and peer advocacy and support.”

Over the next five years, McGough expects SWS will offer financial, academic, career, and legal services. She also has plans to establish SWS chapters at other colleges and universities.

Wherever SWS goes, she said that the group will feel like family. This is evidenced by Nathan Shuherk, who stayed with SWS after completing a one-year internship. “Interning with Students With Schizophrenia didn’t feel like a job; it felt like helping a friend,” he told Psychiatric News. “The mission and work of SWS is centered around helping vulnerable students and providing resources during a uniquely challenging part of their lives. The potential for positive impact on students is why I chose to stay with SWS following the internship.

“Having been diagnosed with schizophrenia at 19, my work with this organization has become deeply self-exploratory. I get to use my talents, knowledge, and passion to help others I can so quickly empathize with. I see schizophrenia as a building block for communities small and large,” he added. “Schizophrenia can be something that brings people together in the most surprising and amazing ways.” ■