Yup. I was just reading an article on Jani Schofield (I plan on starting a thread about her if there isn't already one), allegedly one of the youngest and most severe cases of early-onset schizophrenia ever (and the most highly publicized if you ask me), and her parents talk about her diagnosis like it's a death sentence; the article called it "one of the worst mental illnesses known to man". Er, last I checked, personality disorders have worse prognoses and anorexia has the highest fatality rate, so what defines it as the "worst"? The stigma? In my opinion, I would choose sz or sza over plenty of other diagnoses (like severe OCD, panic attacks, catatonic depression, conversion disorder, even eating disorders, etc.) but I guess I'm biased because I've lived with this for so long that I can't imagine the person I'd be without it. During treatment, through talking to relatives, and online, I have met plenty of functional people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar with psychotic features-- they may not be "cured", but that doesn't mean they can't make a life for themselves.